Thoughts and experiences of life and mental health

Emotional numbing Part 16

When reality kicks in, we all run to some form of abuse that numbs emotions. 

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It appears that we abuse ourselves more often than realized in an attempt to numb our emotions due to the difficulties that life cause. Below are some points I would like to debate.

- Self-harm

- Substance abuse

- Abusive relationships

- Abusive debt

- Technological abuse

- Gluttony

The tribulations of life affect each one of us differently. Life becomes tormenting, I believe we can all agree on this. When I look back on my life, there are a couple of numbing abusers I steered toward whenever life got rough.

Every stage of my life has a different story, and every one of these stories includes one or more ways that I abused myself when life got me down. Maybe you agree with me in some of these instances, and if you don't, you can add some of your own experiences to the list.

The examples I am sharing come mostly from personal experiences in my life.

Self-harm

Previously I discussed self-harm, this is one of the more frequent abuses that I turned toward when the reality of life kicked in. This is why I am mentioning this topic again.

Self-harm came later in my life. I never turned toward self-harm at a younger age, I attempted self-harming in high school, but this was only an attempt. I experimented a couple times in my teenage years, but never as I did later in life.

Again, different stages, different abuses. Physical pain numbs emotional pain. Self-harming was my way to cope with stressful moments in life.

I read somewhere that self-harm is not limited to physical harm. Self-harming includes emotional harm, convincing yourself that you are not good enough for something or someone.

Substance abuse

I believe most people use substances to break away from reality. I began with alcohol at a young age, after which it was cigarettes. After a while, I started using lighter gas and petrol as a substance, this was predominantly in my teenage years.

The pressure of life attacks us from a young age, some sooner than others.

After quitting school, harder substances began drawing into my life because they became more easily obtainable. Life becomes more pressurized as we start working and becoming involved in relationships, and so do the substances also become harder.

My main substance abuse has always been alcohol. The issue with substance abuse and steering to this form of abuse for comfort is that the more we use, the more it takes over our lives.

Substances temporarily numb the emotional pain and enable us to forget some moments we wish to forget. As soon as we awake to the realization that we have to face life again, we notice that life is worse because our realities become intertwined between life and the next ecstasy, not knowing what is true anymore.

Substances merely remove the pain momentarily. Reality consistently waits for us at the end. Substance abuse becomes a life or death situation and forces us to choose between the two.

Abusive relationships

I've been there. Stuck in an abusive relationship and not knowing how to break free.