Coping with loneliness can be an essential skill to keep you from relapsing after leaving treatment at Bayview Recovery. We thrive on helping clients recover from substance use disorder and co-occurring mental disorders. If you suffer from anxiety, depression, or another mental disorder, you may have difficulty relating to other people. These conditions can lead to loneliness and isolation. Learn to trust yourself and others and find social circles that are open and inviting, where you can build a network of support. For more information about our mental health treatment programs at Bayview Recovery, contact our experts today at 855.478.3650.

What Is Loneliness?

Humans are social creatures, and everyone gets lonely once in a while. Some people have an easier time coping with loneliness, at least on a short-term basis. However, from time to time, each person struggles with feeling isolated or alone. This intimate experience can impact how you view the world, causing awkwardness, discomfort, and pain. For example, you may have a big family or go to work with people surrounding you and still feel alone.

So, what is loneliness? For many people, loneliness means a feeling of emptiness and solitude. Others describe it as an inescapable feeling of separateness.

Building Social Support

Feelings of loneliness can lead to mental health challenges, such as depression and anxiety. Coping with loneliness can help you overcome an aversion to other people. This essential coping mechanism allows you to build a social support system that can help you deal with your feelings of isolation without turning to drugs or alcohol. At Bayview Recovery, clients benefit from several programs designed to combat mental health and co-occurring substance use disorders.

These programs include the following:

• Depression Treatment Program
• Anxiety Treatment Program
• Dual Diagnosis Treatment Program
• Substance Abuse Treatment Program

The Dangers of Loneliness

Dealing with substance abuse without addressing underlying feelings of loneliness can cause depression. When you feel lonely, you may have difficulty falling asleep or eating correctly due to a lack of appetite. Coping with loneliness through cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and similar approaches can give you the courage to benefit from group therapy sessions. Additionally, 12-step programs can allow you to build relationships based on shared experiences and a safe environment.

Loneliness can cause you to relapse if you don’t overcome the feelings of loss, separation, and hopelessness. Lonely people have a higher risk of self-harm and suicidal ideation, and some return to substance abuse to cope with loneliness.

Loneliness in Addiction Recovery

When you successfully complete a substance abuse recovery program, you may have to give up friends who still abuse drugs or alcohol. Many people who don’t form a new network of friends risk relapse. Don’t let your hard work go to waste! At Bayview Recovery, we teach you healthy ways of coping with loneliness to improve your lifelong recovery odds.

In our life skills training program, you learn interpersonal interactions, independent living, and stress management to help you maintain your sobriety and process thoughts and feelings positively.

Addiction Recovery in Tacoma, WA

You don’t have to live in isolation anymore. You can open yourself to new experiences and new relationships when you come to our substance abuse treatment program. However, before you can do that, you have to reach out for help. Contact Bayview Recovery in Tacoma, WA, at 855.478.3650 to find out more about our programs for clients struggling to find their way back to a productive life. Coping with loneliness helps you build the skills you need to feel confident and fulfilled. Gain the strength you need to have the experiences you deserve today!