Depression is a mental health illness often caused by psychological or social stress
Depression is a self-saboteur which at a point in time, over half the earth’s population will experience for varying reasons on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Although depression is medically treatable, patients often seek other forms of coping mechanisms that are unhealthy and self-damaging in the long run. One of these unhealthy coping mechanisms is drug abuse.
Below are six ways Depression can lead to drug abuse.
- Denial: More often than not, patients do not realize their symptoms. Even though there are clinical tests to help ascertain if a person is living with depression, there are also signs to look out for such as moodiness, lack of interest, hopelessness, and in severe cases hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. These signs are commonly misinterpreted as “having a bad day” which the fellow’s response will be to state a refrain from Deor’s Lament: That evil ended, so may this, and grab a bottle of alcohol at the nearest bar. Noticed any sign of depression leading to drug abuse? Run ahead to Legacy Healing West Palm Beach.
- STIGMA: Even though depression and several mental illnesses are now common and notwithstanding the several Mental Health Awareness campaigns that now exist in our society, people still fear the stigma of being seen as living with depression or mental illnesses alike. Rather than seek help, most people living with depression will rather self-medicate with substances keeping them on the high for a while.
- Fear: Apart from eating out of cans and refusal to clean up, another thing most people living with depression share in common is fear. They are scared to ask for help. They are petrified of having to ask for the required help they need. Some might have cut themselves off from friends and family that they could reach out to. This in all cases either leads to suicide, self-injury, and the most common of all, Drug abuse.
- Discouraged by the side effects of Psychiatric Drugs: A good number of people living with depression have testified that they are usually discouraged, if not afraid, of the pills prescribed by psychiatrists. They happen to be scared that the side effects of the pills might alter the way they function, in the long term and resort to self-medication with harmful substances that do even more harm.
- Overpriced therapy: Ever heard the saying “depression is for the rich”. Most people living with depression will rather buy a three months supply of alcohol or buy drugs than pay its equivalent worth of cash for one therapy session. A feeling that comes with depression happens to be irritability and seeing everything as pointless, hence the first reaction to a probably overpriced two-hour talk of regurgitation of thoughts and dreams and life patterns over the past few weeks will be “This is shit” and then go ahead to drown in the delusion of the temporary relief gotten from harmful substances.
- It never gets better only worse: This is a mantra chanted by people living with depression because depression has a way of severely damaging one’s sense of self-worth that the victims often feel they can never recover or they are not worth happiness making them sink even deeper in their rabbit hole of self-pity, loathing and indulgence in damaging habits like substance abuse.
Conclusion: Depression is a major challenge in various societies and substance abuse has become a vast spread coping mechanism. If you do know anyone living with depression, chances are they won’t get themselves to a therapist on their own, ensure help gets to them as soon as possible.