How Low Self-Esteem Can Lead to Addiction

People with low self-esteem are often more predisposed to developing addictions. Find out what links low self-esteem with the addictive personality.

How you view yourself affects your life. If you have low self-esteem, this can affect how you accept the experiences and events in your life. Those who have low self-esteem usually finds it hard to experience genuine satisfaction and happiness in their lives. They also find it hard to appreciate the things that they have. This will make them have attention-seeking behavior for approval. They may also turn to abusing drugs and alcohol or engaging in addictive activities in order to seek solace.

Causes of Low Self-Esteem

People who have low self-esteem may have the following causes:

• Child abuse or other trauma experienced in childhood
• Dysfunctional parenting, when their parents failed to make them feel valued, important, and loved as they were growing up
• Getting too much criticisms while growing up
• How they were treated by their peers and family members
• Having issues with their physical appearance and capabilities that make them feel unattractive and inadequate
• Not fitting in anywhere

Addiction and Low Self-Esteem

Those who have an addictive personality, or people who are more predisposed to developing addictions, are found with low self-esteem. This said, they turn to drugs, alcohol, or addictive behavior believing that this will make them feel good about themselves, increase their confidence, make them fit in, or make them happy. Soon, they begin to heavily rely on these substances to cope with everything. Then, their life begins to fall apart and have problems, making them turn to the addiction even more, making it an endless vicious cycle.

They may find a different circle of friends who are also using or are abusing substances like them and think that they finally belong somewhere. The drugs and alcohol can also make them forget about their inhibitions, making these substances more appealing to them.

However, the thing is, these are temporary fixes that later on destroy them. The real solution to their problem is to increase their self-esteem through healthier means, such as daily self-affirmations, finding a hobby or passion, or just exercising.

Do you know someone who have low self-esteem and have resorted to drugs, alcohol, or behaviors that are addictive? Talk to us at Bridges of Hope to find out how we can help them out. Contact 09175098826.