You may be familiar with someone who drinks to “unwind” after a brutal day or uses a substance to quiet social anxiety. These are common ways to cope with stress, pain, and discomfort. When people lose control over those methods, despite the harm they cause, it becomes a pattern of substance use, offering a powerful but temporary escape.
If the substance is the “solution,” what is the issue it is attempting to resolve? Substance use is not a moral failing. Many see substance use as a misplaced attempt at coping, often through self-medication.
In this article, I explore these coping strategies.
The Mechanics of “Coping”: How Substances Create a Shortcut
Substances hijack the brain’s reward system. They artificially induce feelings of calm, euphoria, numbness, and confidence that the person struggles to generate naturally.
At first, it’s a quick fix; then it becomes a problem. The substance removes anxiety, sadness, or memories, reinforcing the behavior—the rewarding removal of an unpleasant state.
Substance use often serves as a coping strategy. Rather than resolving deeper emotional, psychological, or traumatic issues, it masks them. This self-medication provides temporary relief. However, over time, it worsens underlying problems, leading to cycles of dependence and relapse [1].
While the immediate “fix” works, it becomes the go-to solution, overshadowing the development of healthier coping skills and allowing the underlying issue to worsen. So the short-term relief leads to a cycle of negative long-term consequences.
Unmasking the Underlying Pain: What’s Being “Covered Up”
There is a variety of common root causes that may be covered up by problematic substance use. The substance is a flawed answer to a very real, often legitimate, human hurt.
Chronic stress, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) often lead to substance use as individuals seek to relieve distress or manage intense emotions [2]. Unresolved loss, abuse, neglect, or interpersonal conflicts are all common hidden factors, with research showing that more adversities correlate with higher addiction risk.
The self-medication perspective associates early trauma with adult substance use, suggesting that drug selection corresponds to particular painful emotional states. Individuals with substance dependence have high rates of concurrent psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia (11%) and bipolar disorder (16%) [3].
Unprocessed Trauma and PTSD
Substances can be used to numb flashbacks, suppress hypervigilance, or escape traumatic memories of adverse childhood events. The substance isn’t about pleasure; it’s about survival and creating distance from unbearable psychological pain.
Untreated Mental Health Disorders
Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and personality disorders are common when substances are used to alleviate symptoms such as low mood or hyperarousal [4].
- Anxiety Disorders: Depressants such as alcohol or opioids are used to quiet a racing mind or to dampen social anxiety.
- Depression: Stimulants such as cocaine may be used to generate artificial energy and fleeting pleasure, or depressants may be used to numb hopelessness.
- ADHD: Using stimulants (or other substances) to self-medicate focus issues or depressants to quiet mental chaos.
Overwhelming Stress and Emotional Dysregulation
The individual struggles to control intense emotions such as anger, grief, or shame. The substance acts as an emotional “off-switch” or regulator for those who never learned healthier ways to sit with and process feelings [5].
Profound Loneliness and Disconnection
Substances can provide temporary relief from the pain of social isolation. This relief creates a false sense of belonging or simply fills the void of meaning and connection.
Chronic Physical Pain or Illness
Trying to manage untreated or undertreated physical pain, or even illness, with substances can directly lead to chemical dependency.
The Cost of the Cover-Up: When the “Solution” Becomes the Problem
Several severe consequences follow from not addressing the root cause:
- Worsening Symptoms: Over time with substance use, underlying mental health conditions typically worsen.
- Stunted Growth: The individual doesn’t develop resilience, emotional skills, or true self-efficacy.
- Compound Trauma: Addiction compounds the trauma and deepens the original pain by bringing shame, loss, and physical health problems.
The Path to Healing: Addressing the Root, Not Just the Symptom
The main challenge in a courageous journey of self-discovery is to develop alternative perspectives from a life of coping with substance use. The first step is to remove the substance in detox and finally hear the pain substances were silencing.
Freedom comes from asking, “What is this really about?” and then seeking support for answers. Healing the underlying pain is an essential step to break the cycle of addiction for good. Some key initiatives include:
- Change the Goal: It’s not just about “quitting.” It’s learning to understand why you were using substances and then finding the courage to begin your healing path. The goal is to build a life where substances are no longer needed as a way of coping.
- Integrated Treatment: Treatments that combine trauma-informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), or Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with medications for both addiction and mental health are key to tackling the main reasons behind addiction. These build adaptive skills, reduce relapse risk, and promote long-term recovery.
- Building a New Repertoire: Essential steps to take in the recovery journey, beyond coping, include therapy, support groups, mindfulness, self-care, and developing healthy relationships and interests.
Find Supportive Care at Red Rock Recovery
Substance use disorder, or addiction, can feel insurmountable, but Red Rock Recovery Center is here to help you begin your recovery journey today with our core values of Community, Connection, and Purpose and a trauma-informed approach.
RedRock Recovery Center stands out from most drug and alcohol rehab centers in Colorado by offering a full continuum of care approach to substance use disorder (SUD) and addiction treatment.
Our Colorado rehab center is proud to offer an addiction treatment program that includes all necessary steps to healing, from medical detox to aftercare services. Located close to major cities such as Colorado Springs, we are uniquely equipped to help countless families find healing.
Sources
[1] Magee, K. E., & Connell, A. M. (2021). The role of substance use coping in linking depression and alcohol use from late adolescence through early adulthood. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 29(6), 659–669.
[2] Broekhof, R., et al. (2023). Adverse childhood experiences and their association with substance use disorders in adulthood: A general population study (Young-HUNT). Addictive behaviors reports, 17.
[3] Mariani, J., et al. (2014). The self-medication hypothesis and psychostimulant treatment of cocaine dependence: an update. The American journal on addictions, 23(2), 189–193.
[4] National Institutes on Drug Abuse (US); 2020 Apr. Common Comorbidities with Substance Use Disorders Research Report. Bethesda (MD).
[5] Sinha R. (2008). Chronic stress, drug use, and vulnerability to addiction. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1141, 105–130.