Why Numb Emotional Pain With Drugs Makes the Problem Worse?
All you can think of at times of overwhelming conditions is, how can things be back to normal? Hence most people use drugs to cope with their emotional pain. In such situations, medicines such as marijuana, alcohol, and painkillers effectively alleviate your emotional pain.
Emotional pain is the pain or discomfort that originates from non-physical sources. Often, emotional distress results from the action of others & it might also be due to regret, grief, or loss of loved ones. In some cases, it might be the result of untreated mental health conditions like anxiety or depression.
Emotional pain is often considered more severe than physical pain. There are several common feelings associated with emotional distress which can impact your health, both mental and physical.
However, for many reasons using drugs to manage & try emotional pain is not a good idea.
The Rebound Effect
Astonishingly, painkillers can make your pain worse. Trying to escape your emotional distress with the help of drugs can be more destructive. Running your emotional pain through the use of drugs will only leave you in a cycle that requires more and more potent substances to curb sensations. This phenomenon is termed the Rebound effect.
Some people who have chronic pain find it hard to live with their condition's constant physical and emotional demands. To protect themselves from what they experience as an unmanageable amount of distress, these individuals turn towards addiction-inducing drugs, which provide temporary relief by numbing out both types- emotional as well as physical.
Learn how to deal with your feelings and emotions. No matter how unpleasant they seem to be, they will liberate you from addiction.
Why Drug Worsen Emotions?
Suppressing your feelings with drugs only worsens the problem. The best way to deal is by talking about them instead of bottling up emotions you don't want any longer!
For instance, consider shame if you feel wrong about something that happened or didn't happen. Then if you get drunk to forget those feelings of shame- there's a good chance you may feel guiltier or embarrassed that you did under the influence of alcohol to amplify the guilt you feel for the next day.
Facing up to your embarrassment and resolving to understand what you did will help develop more compassion for yourself. It'll be less likely that you make the same mistake again because drugs don't impair your judgment, and so it will embarrass you more quickly next time.
Facing Emotional Pain:
For the short term, a drink or dose of opiates may relieve your pain instantly. However, the effect will last as long as you are under the influence. As soon as the drinks or drugs wear off, the emotional pain will come back probably in a worse state than it was before.
The vicious cycle of pain, shame, and disappointment are hard to escape. You may go through it for years before realizing that the effect will always wear off- leaving you feeling underneath all those negative emotions again. As tempting as it might be, there's only one way to escape your emotional pain - and that is by facing it.
Coping with your emotions:
You should seek professional help if you are struggling with a pain-relief addiction. The best way to avoid developing or worsening the problem is by dealing directly with your emotions, including feelings of guilt and shame and emotions that have burdened you.
There are many strategies that you can use for doing this on your own, likes:
- Read self-help books.
- Join mindfulness, yoga, or meditation class.
- See a therapist or counselor.
Getting the proper medication:
Sometimes, emotional and physical pain are caused by depression or anxiety disorders. Many physical conditions can also cause emotional symptoms, such as low mood and irritability. These feelings can mirror those that arise from depression without being directly caused by it--a phenomenon known as "emotional syndromes."
It's important to understand that these are not "normal" emotional reactions and can be effectively treated with medications if correctly identified.
Antidepressant medications are not usually addictive, although anti-anxiety drugs can be. Both should only be taken when prescribed by a medical professional to ensure they work for you without any adverse side effects!
Though antidepressants are not usually addictive, stopping abruptly can cause withdrawal symptoms and lead to a relapse. Several medications like Tapentadol 100mg are available for those who struggle to manage their physical pain independently.
Talk to your healthcare physician if you're not able to manage the emotions in yourself on an ongoing basis. They will be able to help determine whether another kind of medication is suitable for what's going on with them, too!