Shame and guilt are powerful emotions that often play a significant role in the development and continuation of addiction. While guilt stems from actions and can guide corrective behavior, shame involves a deeper, negative perception of oneself and is linked to mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, and social isolation. Both emotions can fuel substance use, contribute to relapse, and co-occur with conditions like PTSD, making recovery more complex. Align Recovery Centers addresses these root causes through a comprehensive, whole-person approach that includes luxury detox, residential treatment, individual and group therapy, dual-diagnosis care, and ongoing recovery maintenance. Their programs help clients process these emotions, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and work toward self-forgiveness and lasting recovery.
How Shame and Guilt Fuel Addiction
For many people, shame and guilt are more than fleeting emotions. They can shape everything from your interactions with other people to your self-esteem. Even though shame and guilt are not synonymous, they are both common among people with substance use disorders.
Align Recovery Centers takes a whole-person approach to addiction treatment. We address the factors that contribute to substance abuse, such as shame and guilt, as opposed to surface-level symptoms alone. So, what should you know?
First, let’s go over the difference between shame vs. guilt. Then, we’ll talk about how shame and guilt fuel addiction and how Align Recovery can help.
Shame vs. Guilt
While the words “guilt” and “shame” are often used interchangeably, there are differences between the two. Understanding these differences can be critical in addiction recovery because it means that you can pinpoint what you’re feeling appropriately.
Guilt tends to arise from actions; if you feel guilty for something, you likely understand that you have done something wrong. This can guide your next steps. For example, you can work to make amends and change your behavior.
On the other hand, shame is described as a “highly unpleasant, self-conscious emotion.” It often relates to a negative view of yourself, and it is associated with a range of mental health concerns and behaviors that can disrupt your well-being. For example, anger, social isolation, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
How Shame and Guilt Fuel Addiction
As for how shame and guilt fuel addiction, here are some of the possible complications that can arise when they’re left unaddressed (or improperly addressed):
- May trigger initial or recurrent drug and alcohol use. First and foremost, feelings of shame and guilt can trigger the decision to use drugs and alcohol. People use substances for many reasons, but it is very common to use in attempts to stifle negative feelings. If you do not have other coping skills, this could lead to addiction.
- Relapse. Feelings of guilt and shame may play a role in relapse. If this is true for you, this is a sign to seek support and uncover how these feelings have affected your substance use. There’s nothing to be ashamed of; identifying relapse and the need for support is often the first step to getting help. There are ways to meet your needs in healthier ways, which treatment can help with.
- Mental health disorders. Conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can come with guilt and shame. These disorders often co-occur with addiction. When that is the case, addressing them as an underlying cause and, in turn, releasing the guilt and shame you feel can be a critical part of treatment and recovery.
While unaddressed shame and guilt can be barriers to recovery from drug and alcohol problems, self-forgiveness and acceptance can be anecdotal. This is part of what we teach in our programs.
Overcoming Shame and Guilt in Treatment
Overcoming shame and guilt in treatment doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll never experience shame or guilt again. Instead, it means that you will have the tools to cope. Here’s how our programs help:
Luxury Detox California
When you stop consuming drugs and alcohol after prolonged use, your body goes through an adjustment period. At this time, you are at risk of withdrawal symptoms, which can range in severity. Our luxury detox in California uses advanced monitoring technology for vitals and treats withdrawal symptoms as needed. Most clients are in detox for somewhere from a few days to a couple of weeks before they enter residential inpatient treatment, where the bulk of the healing work is done.
California Residential Treatment Centers
The inpatient program at our California residential treatment centers lasts approximately 30 days. During that time, clients follow a structured daily schedule that includes groups, individual therapy, family therapy, and other activities, like supervised outings. In individual therapy sessions at our center, you can work on concerns like guilt and shame privately with your assigned therapist. In group sessions, you will learn a range of skills, including those that can help you process and navigate emotions such as shame or guilt. We also offer family therapy, which can help to facilitate relationship repair.
Dual Diagnosis Treatment in Northern California
We provide dual-diagnosis treatment in Northern California for clients with co-occurring mental health conditions. If shame and guilt are something you experience in relation to a mental health concern like trauma or PTSD, getting treatment at a center like ours that addresses these as underlying concerns can be crucial.
Recovery Maintenance
It is strongly recommended that clients pursue outpatient treatment following residential treatment. Align Recovery provides aftercare planning, outpatient treatment, and virtual care options that aid recovery maintenance in clients transitioning out of residential care.
Call Align Recovery Centers for Help Navigating Shame and Guilt in Addiction Recovery
Align Recovery takes a whole-person approach to substance abuse treatment. By understanding how shame and guilt fuel addiction, we are able to help you overcome these challenges, alongside any other barriers to recovery you might face. Call Align Recovery Centers for help navigating shame and guilt in addiction recovery today at 1-707-659-0383.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does the research say about shame and addiction?
People with substance use disorders often feel guilt and shame. Various studies look at the connection between substance abuse and shame. For example, a meta-analysis found that shame is linked to early-onset substance abuse and poor functioning. Additionally, a study looking at 110 men facing stimulant abuse found that shame and guilt are barriers to reducing stimulant abuse. The good news is that overcoming shame is possible. Since it can very much so fuel substance abuse, working through shame can be an essential part of addiction recovery programs.
How do I balance self-awareness and accountability with working through shame?
First, decouple remorse from shame and self-stigma. You can acknowledge that you made a mistake without internalizing the fixed idea that you are “bad,” which is common among those who experience persistent feelings of shame. Changing your perspective to “I can take accountability for my actions without believing that I am inherently ‘bad’ moving forward” can be helpful. Alongside self-forgiveness, relationship repair, and other common focuses in addiction treatment, this is a goal you can work on in therapy for addiction.
What causes shame?
Shame has various causes. Feeling shame does not necessarily mean you have done anything wrong. Many trauma survivors internalize feelings of shame, and it is often linked to adverse experiences like sexual assault and bullying. You may also feel shame as a result of internalized messages from others, such as authority figures. When this is the case, it can be helpful to pinpoint where your feelings of shame came from, why they are not a reflection of you, and how freeing yourself from shame could improve your life.
What are some therapy skills for addressing guilt and shame?
Radical acceptance and cognitive reframing are helpful skills for addressing guilt and shame. These are often taught in therapies used at our center, such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).