Written by Karl Perera BA, MA, DipLC
Updated: March 7th, 2020

The Slippery Slope of Self-Medicating

Self-medicating is trying to use medication or alcohol to stabilize your mood when you suffer from mental illness. Many people turn to mood-altering substances long before they approach a medical professional when they suffer from anxiety or depression. When something triggers the emotional response of mental illness, a sedative or stimulant can seem to make things better and help a person face daily life. Self-medication can be effective for months or years, but eventually adds to the problem rather than fixing it.

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Where to Begin

self medicating for depressionOne of the biggest hurdles facing those who self-medicate in the face of chronic anxiety or stress is where to begin when trying to put a stop to the behavior. As the experts of the leading drug center detox Atlanta note, addiction brought on by long-term self-medicatation can cause addiction. This is due to changes in the brain’s chemistry due to the recurring dependence on drugs or alcohol to manage emotions. Oftentimes, such detox solutions are the only way to break this cycle, but rarely are those who self-medicate interested in taking the initiative with treatment.

Increasing Expense

Most drugs, even legal ones like alcohol, can be expensive. If you are self medicating for a mental illness you may need to use that substance for a long time. It can be tough to keep a steady job if you are under the influence, so you may eventually find yourself unable to maintain your emotional balance. The addictive nature of many mood-altering substances can cause you to need more to achieve that balance. This might eventually lead to emptying your bank account or resorting to illegal activity just to keep up your supply. If this continues and does develop into addiction you may lose control over your life. As a result, your insecurity and lack of confidence can easily develop into depression.

More Extreme Highs and Lows

Taking mood-altering substances to control a mental illness can be dangerous because no one is monitoring your response to them. Depression and drug use is unhelpful because when the drug wears off the emotional crash can be worse than the initial depression. Drug and alcohol use eventually cause higher highs and lower lows. This can exhaust you and make you feel worse than you before you started taking them. You may find that you build up a tolerance for the drug, so you will need to take more and more to feel the same effect. As your dosage increases, you risk the danger of an overdose or alcohol poisoning.

The Emergence of New Health Issues

Drugs and alcohol may bring health problems that will eventually compound the initial problem that led to their use. Alcohol might numb the pain of depression temporarily, but it also saps the body of nutrients. This may cause dehydration if used in excess. Stimulants can cause the heart rate to increase and add dangerous stresses to the cardiovascular system. Health problems caused by self medicating only increase emotional and physical problems. If you suffered from depression before, and this caused you to self-medicate, your situation will only become worse until you seek professional help.

Ineffective in the Long Run

Although the substances might make things seem better at first, in the long-run they will cause more trouble. The reason self-medication is rarely effective is that the drugs or alcohol do not address the initial problem. If you suffer from mental illness and take drugs for the symptoms the mental illness does not go away. The drugs and alcohol wear off, but the issues that cause the problem remain until they are treated directly. You can only solve depression by addressing the reasons why you are depressed, and this requires guidance from a professional counsellor or therapist.

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Website Author Bio

Karl Perera is a fully qualified Life Coach, Teacher and Author of Self Esteem Secrets. He has overcome severe depression and now helps others to do the same. His qualifications include Masters and DipLC. He has taught at various universities including Durham University, University of Leicester and Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. He is a member of Mind. He founded Depression-Helper.com in 2001 and is an expert in Depression and Self Esteem.