Why are you addicted?

Why am I addicted? I won't get into details here for a number of reasons, but what lead me to addiction was a need to escape. Reliving things over and over in my mind is too much. I needed a way to make it go away, to shut it down. My addiction facilitates that. It's essentially a coping mechanism. Unhealthy and dangerous, but it works.

For my self-harming addiction, it was a means to punish myself when I felt like I deserved to suffer but it was the "rush" or "thrill" that came after that kept me hooked.

As for my other addictions, it was a way for me to either escape reality or just to feel something whenever I felt empty inside.

It helped to distract me from my grief, depression and other painful experiences but at a price of course. However, sometimes when I weigh the price I pay for continuing the addiction versus the relief it brings me, I get really tempted to act out again as I would try to justify why the price I have to pay "isn't so bad".

A very good question! I think in my case, my addictions with caffeine and the Internet are coping mechanisms for stress, anxiety, and depression. I also use them as self care. Of course, I'm doing my best to balance them and find alternatives for handling my mental health and self care.

Because its a reason to forget Im alone. I drink until I can crawl into bed. And forget everything. Thats why. And if tomorrow doesnt come, thats ok too.

sugar and soda

@ItsPreeti It distracts me from having to deal with my past traumas, and difficulty in dealing with my current life. It makes it easier for me to socialize with other people and form connections. It makes me feel like a different, more confident person. It reliefs boredom without me having to do things that cause me anxiety. It can be fun. It's got to be a habit and a way of life.

Also, with opiates, part of the reason I got addicted to them was because I had an eating disorder at the time, and they helped to suppress my hunger and make it easier not to eat.

Basically there are a lot of interconnected reasons, and the reasons also change over time, which is part of what makes recovery so tricky.

I guess I started because of a death. I used to self harm but found drugs and alcohol. What ever was need for sleeping or staying awake. or just to feel human of course there's always peer pressure too.

It must have bern a bad joke for destiny to play on me...what can I do but lough...