When you are struck with grief, your life seems to turn upside down as you learn to cope with the loss. Grief can be caused by many reasons, such as losing a loved one, losing a relationship, losing a job, and more. Feelings of grief can last as long as you need to adjust to the changes in your life. However, some individuals don’t know how to cope with their grief in healthy ways, leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as self-medication through drugs and alcohol. Self-medication can lead to addiction, which can wreak even more havoc on one’s life. By understanding how grief impacts addiction, you can learn to avoid self-medication and find healthy ways to cope.
It is important to understand grief and its phases. Kübler-Ross developed a cycle that is still used today to understand grief. There are five stages are as follows:
It is essential to know that everyone’s grieving journey will be different, so you may go through the stages in a different order, only experience some of the phases, or go through them as Kubler-Ross laid out. The various stages involve different emotions that will affect you in multiple ways during each stage.
When you are grieving, it seems only to take place in your head. However, grieving can cause numerous changes in your body, such as affecting the limbic system. This effect can cause disruptions in the chemicals of your brain, which can cause problems with your moods. Specific chemicals that are affected include dopamine and serotonin, which affect pleasure and emotional regulation. When you are grieving, these chemicals may not be producing at the same normal levels, causing you to feel more depressed and lack pleasure.
Many individuals will self-medicate with drugs and alcohol during this time to help cope with their negative emotions. It is no coincidence that these individuals often become dependent on these substances -- they also affect the chemicals in your brain. Over time, your brain will become dependent on these substances, which is how addiction develops from grief.
Studies have shown that there is a link between grief and the development of addiction. Alcohol use is common in those that are grieving and will often increase over time if proper care is not given. As the person self-medicates and doesn’t get adequate help for their ongoing grief, their body will learn to become dependent on the substances they are using. Because grief can affect dopamine and serotonin levels, the brain will most likely begin to rely on drugs and alcohol to produce them.
While some studies show that women are more likely to experience grief, it is crucial to understand that men are more at risk of substance abuse. Grief and addiction do not discriminate, no matter your gender, background, socioeconomic class, etc. When you are struck with grief, you should reach out for help and find healthy ways to cope; this is what will help you keep away from self-medication and avoid addiction later on.
If you are struggling with grief and are thinking about using drugs and alcohol to cope, remember that there are other healthier means of healing. First and foremost, you should educate yourself on grief and how it works. Learning Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief can help you prepare for and understand your emotions. From there, it is a good idea to reach out to a professional counselor or treatment program to help you move through the stages of grief healthily. You can consider inpatient or outpatient care depending on the severity of your symptoms and what you are going through. Remember, you don’t have to be “bad enough” to seek help. If you are currently battling grief and are using drugs and alcohol to self-medicate, early intervention will give you the best chance at healing. Take the step today and reach out.
Many people often associate addiction with common negative feelings such as anger, sadness, loneliness, and more. However, grief is often overlooked because it can be a taboo subject to discuss. Grief can have a significant impact on addiction because of its effects on your body. You are craving some relief from the pain you feel, so you may turn to drugs and alcohol to help you cope. This can lead to dependence and even addiction later on. If you are currently struggling with grief and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, get help early on. NorthStar Transitions can help you find recovery and learn to maintain it for the long term. We provide individualized treatment programs utilizing a number of modalities to address your specific needs in recovery. Together, we can work through your grief and help you come to terms with the loss in your life. From there, you can learn how to cope properly. Call us today to learn more at (303) 558-6400.
