The Environment’s Big Role In Addiction And Recovery

When people develop an addiction, may it be for food, illegal drugs, shopping, social media, and other addictive things, it’s easy for us to point to things that can help these people. It can be subjecting these people to various kinds of rehabs, introducing them to medical experts, or letting them develop new hobbies that can help counter their addiction.

It’s so easy for us to determine how to solve these people’s addiction, but we rarely ask ourselves about how they developed it in the first place. We rarely ask how a person’s environment and various life experiences can affect people as they delve into their condition.

In this article, we’ll list some of the things that can play a part in a person’s initial addiction and further recovery.

Family

If there’s one thing that has a big effect both in a person’s addiction and recovery, it’s the family. Good family dynamics is necessary for people to survive from addiction, especially for those who belong to the younger ages.

The family builds a person’s character from childhood to the later parts of life, and most of the experiences and things that build a person’s identity have a connection to the family. From parenting styles, which can highly dictate how a child grows up to be, to other family members like siblings and grandparents, they all contribute a lot to how a person builds their own identity.

Due to this, the family is essential to building a person’s mental health, which can play a huge role in a person’s addiction.

When a person grows up in a loving, well-built family, they can have strong mental health and a mindset that they have a family that they can rely on when things get rough. Also, good family dynamics allows a person to have a better ability to cope with difficult situations.

On the other hand, a person that grows up in a family with troubling dynamics may have a lesser ability to cope and can turn to other things for help other than their family. It’s very evident, especially for those who suffer from abuse committed by members of the family.

Friends

While the family is key for a person’s mental health and stability, oftentimes, our closest friends play such an integral role in our lives that we consider them a part of our family, albeit without the blood ties. They play an even larger role in our lives, especially during our younger years, where we’re still wild and curious.

When your close friends are prone to erratic decisions and have toxic lifestyles, it’s so easy to try and imitate how they live because we want to belong. No one wants to be left out when it comes to their friends. If your friends regularly use alcohol or drugs, it’s tough to deal with the pressure of not trying them as well.

Temptation and peer pressure often hinder logic, and that can result in bad decisions that may lead to addiction when repeated time and time again. If left uncontrolled, it can continue to happen to a person up to their adulthood.

Media and popular culture

People grow up indulging in media and pop culture. There are many types of media out there in movies, music, and art, among others. Each of them having a different perspective on things. While some of these can offer great insights and entertainment, others can also be toxic and destructive.

In current media and pop culture, it’s easy to find one where there’s violence, alcohol, drugs, and sex, and it can influence how someone can develop an addiction. It’s very tempting, and many fall for it. However, it’s the younger people who are always accessing media who are most affected by this.

Work and school

Whether you’re now a professional or you’re still a student, you spend most of your day in these places. Of course, when we are in these environments, there are many things that we can experience.

While it’s nice to have a work/school environment that’s wholesome and supportive, that rarely happens. There’s always a compromise at one part, and a toxic environment in any of these places can highly affect a person’s chances of developing an addiction down the line.

Social media

While social media is a form of media, it’s a big community where everything crosses over, as most people connect to their family, friends, media, popular culture, work, and school through social media.

Nowadays, almost everyone uses social media, and it’s not going away anytime soon. With many things to see on social media, it’s easy to find things that can trigger bad decisions.

For example, imagine someone who suffered from physical abuse by their father seeing photos of wonderful father-child relationships. It can trigger something within them and lead them on the path to addiction.

Social media is a powerful tool that bridges physical gaps, but it can also lead people to emotional problems if not used in the right way.

Treatment

Most of the things in this list can have both positive and negative effects, but treatment comes comes close to the family in its ability to become a driving force in a person’s journey away from addiction

If you need help with an addiction or knows someone who needs it, Calm Rehab offers the best Bali drug rehab services. Contact us now, and we’ll set up a meeting to see how we can best help you.