Sometimes it’s hard to make sense of why we do such dangerous things as part of our addictive patterns, why we endanger ourselves in such toxic ways, and why we put ourselves at risk. Some of us become addicted to risk-taking, to the adrenaline rush and the excitement, to the feeling of euphoria after surviving a close-call. Why do we become addicted to the thrill of risk, knowing our safety and security are in jeopardy?
Self-endangerment, self-harm, and self-sabotage are all forms of self-destructiveness that we create habits around because we’re subconsciously self-hating. We don’t value and love ourselves. We’re struggling to accept ourselves the way we are. We struggle with self-esteem and self-worth issues. We lack confidence. We take chances with our safety and stop prioritizing our well-being because deep down within ourselves, we feel we don’t deserve to be good to ourselves. We feel we’re not worthy of our own self-love.
At the root of our compulsive, risky behaviors, underlying this self-destructiveness, is often a fear of inadequacy that makes us feel unworthy, unlovable and unloved. When we’re constantly questioning whether we’re good enough, doubting ourselves and putting ourselves down, we’re more likely to seek the thrill of risk in order to distract ourselves from our pain and to serve as our means of escape. We’re more likely to turn to our drugs of choice and be reckless, compulsive and risky with them. We’ve lost our instincts for self-preservation because we fear we don’t deserve our own self-care, nurturing and protection. We don’t feel an instinctive need to be good to ourselves, to look out for our best interests and to take our safety and security seriously.
Part of recovering from our addictions to substances means healing our attachment to our addictive behaviors, the compulsions, and habits we become dependent upon for mental and emotional escape, the coping mechanisms we use to make ourselves feel better in the moment. For many of us, these behavioral patterns are centered around risk-taking, and a great deal of our work in addiction recovery is figuring out why we’ve been taking such dangerous risks with ourselves, our safety, and our mental, emotional and physical well-being. When we get to the root of the problem, we often find a lack of self-love and fear of inadequacy, and as we heal, we discover that learning to love and accept ourselves unconditionally is one of the greatest things we can do for ourselves in recovery.
The caring, compassionate staff of The Guest House is here to support you as you start your journey to recovery and healing. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.