Self-Doubt and Addiction

Addiction is a behavioral disease that feeds on many negative emotions. However, few things can feed into the mindset that fosters addiction more than self-doubt, especially for recovering addicts. The feelings that you’re not good enough or that you’ve made too many mistakes are what empower a driving need for validation. Allowing that level of fragility to control a person’s decision-making abilities can lead a person to turn to harmful decisions, such as substance abuse.

Esteem is a major factor of addiction

So much of addiction recovery is based around the idea of building a foundation for a person to build positive habits from. In order to maintain this foundation, a recovering addict needs to have a strong sense of self, which starts with a high self-esteem. In this sense, self-doubt is directly tied to an addict’s ability to fight back against substance abuse and regain control of their lives.

How to fight self-doubt

Here are some tips for how a recovering addict can fight against self-doubt and foster a higher self-esteem in their own life:

  • Practice things you love: Self-esteem improves when we are able to take pride in something. Sometimes, simply practicing something that you enjoy doing for a few minutes a day is enough to feel progress that empowers respect for yourself, and that is a major step towards erasing an unhealthy amount of self-doubt.
  • Embrace healthy habits: It’s a lot easier to feel more comfortable in your own skin if you are engaging in simple habits that improve your physical health. For starters, getting enough sleep to feel refreshed during the day goes a long way to improving your self-esteem. Likewise, avoiding poor diet decisions will have the same effect.
  • Foster loving relationships: Fighting addiction often revolves around human connection. Building a support system is one of the most crucial steps towards a lasting recovery. Having people around you who can build you up and remind you what you are working towards is the strongest tool in the addiction recovery toolbox.

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