Abandonment and substance abuse are complex issues when considered separately but when both problems exist simultaneously, the impact is devastating to emotional health. Abandonment is a contributing factor in many instances of substance abuse. Working through an underlying abandonment issue will help in resolving the substance abuse problem.
Abandonment
Abandonment or fear of abandonment produce emotional scars that can cause a decline into substance abuse or other destructive behaviors. Depending on the age and gender of the person experiencing the abandonment, the effects can vary in severity. According to "Counselor Magazine," the common forms of abandonment are a loved one's death, separation because of divorce and outright abandonment. Of these forms, outright abandonment and divorce have a bigger impact. With death, many people have the ability to cope without blaming themselves for the absence of the loved one. Divorce and abandonment cause a person to believe he is the cause of the abandonment.
Substance Abuse
Getting to the reason for substance abuse requires counseling and examining past emotional issues. The causes of addictive behaviors range from resentment for lack of control over personal relationships to abandonment by a loved one. Parental involvement is important to an emotional healthy person. When someone is abandoned by a loved one she feels alone and confused. If the loved one is a parent of a young child, the impact is worse. Emotions, bottled up sometimes for years, may surface as a form of destructive behavior. The National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that parental involvement influences the occurrence and severity of substance abuse and addiction.
Abandonment Therapy
Substance abuse with abandonment issues requires a considerable amount therapy. If the root cause of the addiction is abandonment, treatment with a therapist is an efficient method of working through the emotional damage caused by abandonment. Discussing your fears with a therapist is a great beginning. Therapists, trained to deal with abandonment fears, focus on helping a person deal with the issues caused by abandonment trauma.
Addiction Therapy
Treatment for substance abuse concerns finding the causes for the behavior and dealing with it. Treatment options for addiction differ depending on the severity of addiction, reason for the addiction, presence of denial, determination to beat the addiction and the addict's attitude toward recovery. A comprehensive mental evaluation is an effective way to determine the proper type of treatment.
Identification
There is a need to identify substance abuse with abandonment issues at the first sign of destructive behavior. It allows addressing the problem before it gets so severe and the person spirals into full-blown addiction. The warning signs for substance abuse include loss of interest in normal activities, withdrawal, rebelling, change in sleeping and eating habits, lack of proper hygiene and irritability.
