It should come as no surprise to anyone that depression and anxiety are closely linked to drug addiction.
According to research published by the American Medical Journal, as well as research independently corroborated by the Desert Cove Recovery organization, an overwhelming percentage of those dealing with drug addiction today – more than 80% – self-report feeling issues of depression and anxiety on an almost daily basis.
These feelings almost compel these individuals to continue to abuse drugs and alcohol on a regular basis, all in an effort to self medicate and fight back against the problems that are plaguing them.
There is a very close link between depression, anxiety, and drug addiction and we are going to shine a bit of extra light on the subject below.
People living with depression and anxiety regularly self medicate with drugs and alcohol
As we highlighted above, a tremendous amount of people that are fighting back against depression and anxiety are constantly on the look out for anything and everything that can help them feel better than they feel right now. Depression and anxiety eats away at a person’s very essence, crushing their ability to enjoy everything that life has to offer and instead robbing them of special moments that they otherwise may have been able to enjoy all on their own.
Drugs and alcohol are effective as “medicine” against anxiety and depression – but only in the sense that these substances cover up the feelings that people are fighting with. These substances don’t actually cause the problems to go away (and, in fact, likely only make the issues even worse), but they do offer some kind of release and some kind of relief – and that’s often enough for people with serious depression and anxiety.
Depression and anxiety can be symptoms of mental illness
Depression and anxiety are also regularly linked to mental illness, and those living with a mental illness – especially one that has gone undiagnosed – are much more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol according to information published by the Desert Cove Recovery facility (on the DesertCoveRecovery website – DesertCoveRecovery.com) and most other reputable medical organizations around the world.
These kinds of mental illnesses can also contribute to drug addiction and abuse, forcing people to spiral out of control faster than they ever would have expected or anticipated and causing them to deal with a lot more strife throughout their lives than they might have if they had only received a proper diagnosis.
