Many of us who struggle with addiction are no strangers to the intense feelings of shame and self-deprecation that not only make us feel bad about ourselves but also fuel our addictive patterns. The more we use, the more our shame snowballs. Because we’ve come to depend on our drugs of choice as means of escape from our shame, we continue to use in order to try and cope with how much pain we’re in. We perpetuate this recurring pattern, of using to escape our shame and then feeling even more ashamed of ourselves, until we experience worsened mental and emotional health challenges like depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Many of us experience major breakdowns, and our intense, debilitating shame can ultimately contribute to our hitting rock bottom. What happens when our shame goes unhealed?
Our Feelings of Inadequacy Hold Us Back
When we feel ashamed of ourselves, we feel much more than passing guilt for something we’ve done wrong. We feel a crippling sense of inadequacy and worthlessness. We tell ourselves we’re not good enough. We believe we don’t deserve happiness. We assume we’re incapable of getting better, or of being successful in our lives. Our shame touches every part of our lives. We stay in unhealthy relationships. We sabotage ourselves in our careers. We hold ourselves back from pursuing our passions. We keep ourselves small. We don’t reach for our goals or make progress in our lives. Because we feel so ashamed of ourselves, we feed the limiting beliefs telling us we don’t deserve more.
We Keep Ourselves Unwell
When we don’t heal our shame, we set ourselves up to be unable to recover from our addictions. We don’t believe we deserve the peace and joy that come with recovery, so we don’t take steps forward. We don’t believe we deserve the help from other people that we need in order to get better, so we shut ourselves off from support. We feel so ashamed of ourselves that we don’t reach out for help or confide in people about how much we’re struggling. We keep our addictions a secret as much as possible, and we isolate ourselves from the connection and support we could be receiving that would help us to heal.
Our unhealed shame is a major contributing factor in our addictive patterns, and in order to heal ourselves, we have to begin to address and dismantle the shame that is holding us back.
The caring, compassionate staff of The Guest House is here to support you as you start your journey to recovery and healing.
Call 855-823-5463 today for more information.