Most people feel don’t feel good about themselves from time to time.
In my experience though, people in active addiction and entering addiction recovery don’t feel that great about themselves a lot of the time.
This is completely understandable. If we are working moving ahead on our recovery program, in all probability, we have found a certain amount of wreckage and consequences in the past and present that can generate some very unpleasant feelings.
I think it is very important not stay stuck or locked into having a low opinion of ourselves. After all, isn’t our goal in being sober to gain happiness, peace, and serenity? One of the key pieces in that journey is to start believing that we are worthy of it.
Feelings of low self-esteem may be triggered by being treated poorly by someone else recently or in the past, or by a person’s own judgments of him or herself. This is normal. However, low self-esteem is a constant companion for too many people. Low self-esteem keeps you from enjoying life, doing the things you want to do, and working toward personal goals.
You have a right to feel good about yourself.
However, it can be very difficult to feel good about yourself when you are under the stress of having feelings and emotions that are hard to manage, when you are having a difficult time, or when others are seeming to, or in fact, treating you badly.
At these times, it is easy to be drawn into a downward spiral of lower and lower self-esteem. For instance, you may begin feeling bad about yourself when you start thinking that you should be moving faster and making better progress in recovery and sobriety than you are right now. Then you can begin to start talking to yourself in a negative manner, saying something like ‘man, am I stupid, I’ll never get this’ If you talk to yourself long enough in this manner, you’ll start to believe it.
If you start to believe it, you just might do something to make it come true, a self-fulfilling prophecy. That may make you feel so bad about yourself that you do something to hurt yourself or someone else, such as getting drunk or high.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. There’s no doubt that even aside from general bad feelings, clinical depression is very common among addicts and early recoverers.
In fact, I believe that working on these issues, especially for some people, may be the key to success in early recovery.
I am addicted to this site. Just love the quality of the posts and the message they carry. Hats off.
It is always not very easy to come out of low self esteem. Being positive and staying positive is a matter of awareness. A lot of motivation and inspiration is required to come out of low self esteem. Doing something that can get you some appreciation may help.
Of course we all feel stuck once in a while, even the so called most successful people. Thing is to have the personal tools to handle it without hurting oneself…
Rgds.
I am looking for books or any info> on king baby syndrome spicifically. Alraedy have lit. on addiction and recovery. Need to explore king baby syndrome.
Low self-esteem is very tough to overcome, especially in recovering addicts. I think finding positive people to surround you and encourage you during the hard times is keys, such as having a mentor in rehab, close family members, etc. Your “How to Change Negative Thinking in Addiction Recovery” post also gives good tips on how to boost your self-esteem by changing your thinking patterns.
Chelsea´s last blog ..Reduce HIV Transmission – Shooting up, clean needles, and addiction treatment
I think that lo self-esteem is something we all deal with in our own way but it can hurt us so much. When I was younger I suffered from it so much and would retreat into my own world. It was a hopeless thing for me. I was lucky enough to have a good support system though.
Moving Pads´s last blog ..Types Of Moving Pads