Are you an addict who is ready to quit your addiction but cannot get past the hump of admitting that you are an addict? Or, do you have a loved one who is struggling with a serious addiction but you are not reaching out for help at the addicts request? The most important advice anyone can give you is this: break out of the isolation pattern! The moment you begin to bring other people into the situation, it will begin to improve. Be selective and careful who you tell; do not bring people into the situation who will make it worse. But whatever you do, do not stay silent. It could be a matter of life and death. Speaking up will get you connected with the addiction treatment, anxiety and depression treatment or whatever other type of treatment you require.
When you isolate yourself with addiction, you isolate yourself with debilitating shame as well. Every addict is conscious on some level that their choices are hurting themselves and hurting the people in their life. So long as they have some morals in tact, this realization will fill them with regret and shame. But it is also the pattern of an addict to push the shame down in order to keep returning to their addiction. Ending the isolation will put a stop to this harmful cycle.
Being isolated with addiction also isolates an addict with their denial. Denial is pivotal to making an addict return again and again to their addiction. If an addict truly believes that their well being depends on quitting their addiction, they will take steps toward ending it. The addict knows this on some level, which is why they will go to great lengths to convince themselves that their well being does not depend on quitting their addiction. This is a means of serving the addiction; by defending it even to their own better nature.
Which brings us to the third thing an addict isolates themselves with: worship of the addiction. This may sound fantastical, but worshipful is exactly the word to describe a severe addict’s reverence to the object of their addiction. They will put their addiction even above their family members in importance, as well as serve it and defend it from attack.