What Does Being an Empath Have to Do with Addiction?
Empaths are susceptible to pretty much everything because they have a lot of open energy pathways that allow them to feel more than others. Emotionally, psychologically, and physically, they feel more than most, tap into other people’s pain, and overload their senses quite often. Thoughts and feelings can become overwhelming. An empath is someone for whom addiction may take root quickly and may not be easy to get rid of because it becomes ingrained in their psyche as to who they are, not just a part of themselves. There are some ways empaths can overcome addiction. Often finding the right alcohol rehab can be of paramount importance for these individuals. It takes time, patience, and trust for them to work through their challenges.
Empathic Energy
People who are empathic tend to become addicted more easily than others. Many empaths are undiagnosed and don’t realize overstimulation and high sensitivity to their environments drive this desire for drugs, substances, or other-worldly experiences to take them out of their bodies and minds. Feeling sensitive to food, people, substances, medication, or other things can be a sign of being empathic, as well as being attuned to people’s emotions more than others. People who are empathic experience energy from others in that they ‘read them’ or feel how they feel and want to offer support for them. This leads to poor self-care quite often and not paying attention to their own feelings. Empaths quite often turn to substances when:
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Feeling hurt
- Feeling exhausted
- Feeling rejected or blamed
- Isolated or not able to connect
- Feeling drained
Feelings are a huge part of empathic people’s lives. They often live in their emotions and find it hard to think logically about situations, though not always. This can lead them to use substances to cope with overwhelming feelings.
Strategies to Heal
When empaths have self-awareness, they are not shaming themselves for things they cannot control. Awareness is best, along with appreciating how to cope with empathic nature. This also means honestly assessing how people drink or use drugs to cover up their feelings. It starts with awareness and ends with compassion for the self. Nothing will be of comfort more than dealing with life as it comes. There is no refuge other than coping more positively with changes in life. With plans to address addiction, it is helpful to have support from family, friends, loved ones, and therapists who can address the issues and offer guidance to rehab where necessary and get help for addiction. Letting go of the need to self-medicate empathic feelings will be healing but it takes a journey that starts with a few steps forward to find hope.
The Last Resort provides a safe, supportive environment for men in a retreat-like setting. Nature is an important component of recovery and healing. We strive to provide a place of enrichment that cultivates the inner as well as the outer journey of recovery. However you find your way to the Last Resort, we endeavor to provide a haven where you can journey through recovery feeling like your life and story have meaning and a purpose.