According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 22.8 million Americans need help for drug or alcohol abuse. Of those people only a small percent completed rehab successfully. Students took the same survey and of those students, 2.3 million ages 12-17 reported they needed help for drugs or alcohol. Only 8.2% actually got help from a rehab center. Whatever your choice of addiction is, they have one thing in common, low self esteem.
According to Selfesteeminternational.org, recovering addicts and alcoholics indicate that low self esteem is the biggest problem in their lives. They feel alcohol is only a symptom to the alcoholic's real disease, alcohol or drugs act as a mask. Low self esteem causes and contributes to anxiety, neurosis, defensiveness and ultimately
Selfesteeminternational.org surveyed some 18 year olds who reported using drugs or alcohol heavily. They reported using when they were as young as seven. They indicated feeling alienated by their families, not good enough, anxious, unhappy and overly impulsive. 66% of high school seniors surveyed reported using drugs or alcohol heavily in order to fit in and fill a personal void.
Low self esteem is painful and difficult to deal with, so many people start self medicating through drugs and alcohol but it soon turns destructive. By drinking or using drugs a vicious cycle of more self hatred starts and before you know it, your life is completely out of control. One drink turns into two, two turns in to three and before you know it your life is all about drinking. You family doesn't want you around, you have spent all your money and lost your job. Your actions only lead to more self hate and disappointment in yourself.
It is difficult to estimate how many people are experiencing low self esteem, but it is safe to say many people suffer from at least one of the symptoms. Maybe you are happy to see someone fail, overly aggressive, do not recognize your own good qualities, or try to please others because you do not know how to say no. There are many reasons why people have low self esteem however, it is not just one isolated incident that causes it. Typically low self esteem is brought on by many years of unpleasant memories and criticism. The criticism can come from anyone, a parent, teacher or society.
One of the most important factors in recovery is acceptance of the disease and being able to identify why you choose to be an addict in the first place. Often it is difficult to address years of low self esteem in a twelve week program. That is why follow up counseling and treatment is recommended. One new treatment that is being recommended is hypnosis. Hypnosis works with the subconscious mind to identify painful memories causing the low self esteem and help the patient work through the memory and develop new self confidence. Hypnosis is done in a safe environment and is chemical free which appeals to many recovering addicts.
Some people feel therapy and counseling is the best and only treatment needed to help recovering addicts. Unfortunately, if this were true all rehab facilities would offer a 100% cure rate. Most can not even offer a 70% cure rate. It is important to have a treatment plan that will help to identify why you started abusing drugs or alcohol in the first place, and this is difficult to do with a counselor. Often addicts have little trust in anyone let alone counselors and are more censored when talking until they get to know the counselor. Since hypnosis works with the subconscious mind, it allows the addict to think and speak openly about low self esteem issues.
Drug and alcohol abuse is a very serious problem, but what is more concerning is the underlying behavior of self hate. Until that issue is dealt with, the thought of alcohol and drug abuse is always there for the addict. There are many ways to help improve self esteem but why not do it in a safe environment and start dealing with the real problem today.
Many people have a hard time getting through the holidays and tend to drink more alcohol and abuse drugs more than normal just to get through this time of the year. The holidays are often stressful for reasons unknown to the individual who can be trapped in past experiences which means the person is not tracking with present time. Sometimes a person is sort of thrown into the past and is actually reliving past experiences instead of being able to be in the present time situation. For the individual this means they don't know that this is happening to them and they don't understand why they are so unhappy since the holidays are supposed to be a happy time of year. The reason a person will turn to alcohol and drugs is to cover up the pain and the problems that they themselves are dealing with and probably don't even know why they are having these problems. So what happens with these individuals after the holidays are over? Do they just stop using and abusing alcohol and drugs or do they continue? Well, most do not stop using when the holiday season is over but they tend to go back to what is considered a normal state of being for them even though the problems and pain still exist they are not at the front of the persons mind because the holiday time is over which is what caused the person to feel the way they were feeling in the first place. So, what is the downside of after holiday drug and alcohol abuse for the individual? The downside is that the problems and pain the person is suffering from during the holidays still exist all through out the rest of the year even though the person may be unaware of it. The person is still suffering in some way and most likely still using and abusing drugs and alcohol on some level. Now, the question is how do we help these individuals and how do we ourselves recognize when are friends and loved ones are having a problem? What can we do to help those we love overcome this endless cycle of pain and abuse? The first thing is find out what are the sings of addiction? The second is to talk with your friends and loved ones about their problems and try to help them through out the year to over come the barriers they may be up against. If you are faced with a problem yourself please talk with someone whom you trust to help you through it or call a hotline for information and reach out for help in some way. There is NEVER not a way out! There is always a way out you just have to want to try. If you are struggling through the holiday seasons and don't know why you should talk with someone. If you or someone you know is having problems during the holiday season or after the holiday season please find help now. There are unlimited resources available to help people who are struggling with addiction.
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