When we are lacking in self-love, we self-destruct and self-harm in countless different ways. We struggle with addiction and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and these can cause us to have such an unhealthy relationship with ourselves and our emotions that instead of being self-protective, we become self-hating and fall into cycles of self-destruction. What are some of the ways in which we self-destruct?
Our addictions are not limited to substances. In addition to drugs and alcohol, we also self-destruct with sex and relationships. We have compulsive casual sex that often leaves us feeling lonely, sad and unfulfilled. We stay in toxic and abusive relationships. We fail to know our worth with both friends and romantic partners, and we allow ourselves to be disrespected. Our relationships can function just like addiction in that we can be so attached to a person, just like we are to a drug, that we can’t let go no matter how unhealthy it is for us. Sex can function like a drug in that in our unhappiness, we’re desperately seeking some relief from our feelings. We would rather feel the high than our emotional pain. Sex and relationships can become our go-to form of escapism. The problems we’re distracting ourselves from, however, don’t resolve themselves, and on top of that, we often have much healing to do from these unhealthy relationships, and we accumulate multiple layers of issues we have to heal from.
We self-destruct in other compulsive behavioral ways as well. Some of us drive drunk, others shoplift. Some of us lie or cheat. Some of us get involved in crime, finding some kind of comfort in joining gangs and selling drugs. Some of us rack up debt or lose our savings to gambling. Some of us waste our lives playing video games all day. Others of us overeat till we’re sick, and we binge on food or TV to avoid feeling our emotions. Some of us struggle with eating disorders, where our self-perception is so full of hate and self-rejection that we’re physically, intentionally destroying ourselves.
All the ways we self-destruct point back to the same underlying cause – a lack of self-love. Our instincts for self-preservation and self-protection get lost. Our internal dialogue is critical and unkind, and it beats us up rather than encouraging and uplifting us. Addiction feeds off of our self-destructive nature and festers from our self-hate.
The community at Riverside Recovery has personal experience with addiction and self-destructiveness. We’ve done the work to recover and want to help you reclaim the life you love. Call (800) 871-5440 today.