When we’re struggling with our addictions, many of us find ourselves in the most vulnerable place we’ll ever experience in our lives. We tend to fear this vulnerability as a sign of weakness, and when we’re feeling weak, we’re inclined to reject the love and support other people are trying to offer us. Ironically, it is this care from other people we’re often most in need of and wanting. We’ve been grappling with depression. We feel isolated, sad, hopeless, lost and alone. Love and support from others would make a huge difference in how we feel. They would help inspire us to reach out and get help in our recovery. Why does addiction make us shut down and reject love and support from other people?
Addiction functions like depression and other mental health issues in that it taints how we feel about ourselves. Our sense of self, our self-perception, our self-image and our internal dialogue are all filled with self-rejection rather than self-love. We struggle to accept and embrace ourselves. We stay stuck in the past, consumed by our mistakes and unable to forgive ourselves. We hold onto the false belief that we don’t deserve love and forgiveness. We feel we are inherently unworthy and undeserving, so we’re quick to reject love any time it presents itself. We only accept into our reality what we feel we deserve. We’re more likely to manifest relationships and circumstances that don’t provide us with the care and support we need, because we have a misguided and skewed perception of our worth.
When we feel so low about ourselves, so down and ashamed, we want to retreat inwards to keep people from getting too close to us. We’re afraid of being hurt, judged and rejected, so we try to maintain our distance from other people who might hurt us or take advantage of our vulnerability. We have a very hard time trusting people, especially if we’ve felt betrayed in the past. Addiction can cause us to isolate and close ourselves off from other people, in an attempt to protect ourselves and prevent further hurt.
While deep down we might be craving the love and support we could be getting from people who genuinely care about us, our addictions can make us reject it and push it away. This can cause us to resist getting the help we need, postponing and delaying our recovery.
You’ll be welcomed with care and support here at Vista Taos. We understand addiction and recovery and want to be part of your recovery team. Call (575) 613-4810 for more information.
