Do You Practice Self-Medication?

Many people deal with their troubles and distress by medicating their pain. They do whatever seems to work (even if it may be temporary) in order to ease or numb the pain.

Maybe you can identify with some of these situations.

• Perhaps you are in chronic physical pain. Every day your body hurts.
• You ache with loneliness. You don’t want to sin but lately you have been preoccupied with whatever might numb the pain.
• Your job isn’t working out. Your finances are a mess. You owe so much money due to credit card debt. You feel like a failure. You would do anything to be able to forget this mess for a little while.
• You long for a life that is more than what you’ve experienced. Yet, it seems to be out of reach. Lately, you’ve longed for a few moments of pleasure.
• You have been betrayed by a friend. Now you have become very guarded, refusing to trust anyone. In your isolation, you’ve experienced intense temptation.

Recently, I read the following in Peter Scazzero’s book Daily Office, p. 94, regarding our tendency to medicate our pain.

“The capacity to grieve in our culture is almost lost. People use work, TV, drugs, alcohol, shopping or food binges, busyness, sexual escapades, unhealthy relational attachments, even serving others at church incessantly — anything to medicate the pain of life. Year after year we deny and avoid the difficulties and losses of life, the rejections and frustrations. When a loss enters our life, we become angry at God and treat it as an alien invasion from outer space.”

“This is unbiblical and a denial of our common humanity. The ancient Hebrews physically expressed their laments by tearing their clothes and utilizing sackcloth and ashes. Jesus himself offered up prayer and petitions with loud cries and tears. During Noah’s generation, Scripture indicates God was grieved about the state of humanity (Genesis 6). Jeremiah wrote six confessions or laments in which he protested to God about his circumstances. After the fall of Jerusalem, he wrote an entire book called Lamentations.”

“In Scripture, the God-like response is neither a spin nor cover-up. The model and teaching is for us to deal honestly and prayerfully with our losses and disappointments (big and small) and all their accompanying confusing emotions.“ (The Daily Office, p. 94)

Question:

In what ways are some of us tempted to medicate our pain (ways that are not mentioned in this post)? What have you observed?