We all have a self and a shadow. The self is everything that we recognize as being “us”, what makes us different and unique from every other person, how we define ourselves. We define ourselves by what we do and how we think – put labels on our self. The labels we use define us – both to our self and to other people.
Our shadow is everything that we disown and deny as being part of our self.
When we have a good sense of who we are and our position in society we feel secure, and content. When we don’t have a good sense of personal identity and where we fit in – it is natural to have feelings of anxiety and depression about it.
People who feel threatened and insecure about themselves often use external objects as a means to make themselves feel more secure. This can involve attaching themselves to those who they consider to be more powerful and able to provide support. It can involve the development of rituals and habits to help us to feel more secure. It can involve the use of addictive drugs to make us feel powerful and complete.
Using drugs of addiction is a way to overcome negative feelings that we have about our self. When a person has good self esteem – they have been able to detach from negative thoughts and feel happy about themselves.
When we have suffered from stress and trauma, instead of developing a positive sense of self, we see our self as being of little value. It is the shadow – what we are not, that contains our images of power.
Therefore we want to become ideally like our shadow – fearless, brave and noble, independent and serene – everything that we consider that our self is not.
Unless we get help to sort out our problems and put some positive affirmations into our self – we are very much at risk of taking drugs of addiction to create an illusion that we are more powerful and enabled.
Reversing negative patterns that make us think that we are bad people and unworthy can take some time to sort out. If we choose a drug rehabilitation program that encourages us to continue to use drugs – this only reinforces the image that we have of our self as being somehow inferior and unable to “cope”. People given substitute drugs to try and ease their emotional pain are given no incentive to achieve their full potential in life and so regain their health. Teaching people to manage and cope with circumstances of life that are simply oppressive tends to leave them under stress – and still addicted to drugs.
It is said that when we turn our faces to the sun – all our shadows fall behind instead of confronting us. So what we need is a powerful sun that can brighten up our lives – making the shadow something that we rarely see or even have to think about as we get on with a positive life.
We all have the same potential to be anything in the world, our circumstances and personal preferences tend to limit what we think we can do or are able to achieve. When locked in with drugs of addiction we probably see no means or possible route of escape. We need addict help.
Holistic detox and rehabilitation has turned around many people’s lives –turning negative into positive –if you have an addiction – why not try holistic help.
Author: National Addiction Resources
America's Best Treatment Directory
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