For those who live with addiction, understanding who you are is a complex topic. Being addicted to a substance alters perception in a variety of ways. To start with there are immediate ways it changes your view through its psychoactive properties.
This is simply the beginning…
When a substance leaves the body, your perception is altered due to the longer negative impact on brain chemistry and hormonal balances.
Aside from this, there are two other huge ways that substances affect your sense of identity:
Identity is your answer to the question, “Who are you?” A question that might seem simple, but actually many people can struggle to answer it. Many will define it by the job they do or their role within their family.
Identity is much more than this.
Who you are is created by an amalgamation of the following:
Who you include every part of you. The light and dark. It includes what has happened to you and what you have done.
Ask yourself the question: Who are you?
Think about it carefully, honestly. Make it an exercise for you only so that you aren’t tempted to “dress things up” in the image you’d rather people see (i.e. that “social media” image).
Think about how other people might describe you and how you might describe yourself to others too.
If you have an addiction, it’s really important not to define yourself just by the addiction. Calling yourself “an addict” is extremely reducing. There is much more to you than the problem you have with drugs or alcohol.
This might feel hard to believe. Especially with how substances stop you from connecting to who you really are, your thoughts and feelings, and even the consequences of behaviours.
Identity can be difficult to see clearly if you’ve had an addiction from a young age or if you’ve experienced trauma. People who haven’t been able to express their views or who have had unfair responsibilities or experiences thrust upon them at a young age can particularly struggle to identify who they are.
The consequences of addiction can be life-changing, they might create an illness, accident, or injury that completely changes how you function in the world. If you lost a limb due to injecting or had a car accident due to drunk driving, then the idea of who you are would radically change again.
It might be easier to see the unhealthy parts of who you are, than the positive. Addiction is an expert in filling people with self-hatred and blame.
Some people with addictions will switch between two mindsets: “I can handle this” Vs “Everything is an insurmountable mess”. People without addictions are more consistent in how they approach and view themselves and life.
Entering recovery supports you in being able to start thinking with a similarly consistent point of view.
Another way addiction can affect your sense of identity is through a phenomenon known as splitting. This is where you only identify with one side of your identity at a time.
So one day you might feel as though you’re a substance user and that’s all you can see – you think about, seek, and take the substance. Another day you see yourself as in recovery – you’ll focus on healing, self-compassion, and safe activities.
It’s useful to remember that every person has different sides and parts to who they are. What’s important to remember is that this splitting can be extreme when you have an addiction. It can have seriously dangerous effects too as it can result in very risky behaviours.
When you enter recovery, you begin to develop a sense of self. One that incorporates different aspects of who you are.
You are much more than the part of you who is addicted to drugs or alcohol.
One helpful technique you can adopt right now is to think about the way you view certain personality traits you have. Your personality traits can lead to both healthy and unhealthy behaviours.
When you look at a trait through a positive lens, it’s more likely to lead to healthy behaviours.
Unhealthy lens Healthy lens
Unmotivated and lazy Relaxed and laid back
Obsessive/fixated Great attention to detail
Stingy Good at budgeting
Critical Notices and observes
So make a list of traits you know you have. Notice if any of them sound negative. If they do, put on your healthy lens and change the way you label that trait.
All traits can become a positive impact when you look through a healthy lens. This can be massively influential in supporting your recovery.
By learning to see yourself through a healthy lens, you’re more likely to participate in safe behaviours. It also helps to build self-confidence around your abilities to heal.
When writing a list of your traits, remember to also list the positive parts of you. Perhaps you’re generous, kind, or hard-working. It’s beneficial to have a well-rounded perspective.
There are many ways your identity changes when you enter recovery. All of a sudden you’re tweaking thoughts and feelings.
You become better able to manage responses to other people and events. You’ll also start to participate in much healthier behaviours.
Some people might have endured serious traumatic events which led them to addiction. During recovery, these people become survivors. Others may have been victims who weren’t able to express themselves, recovery empowers people to find their voice.
Think about how you can move from being the main character in your story to the hero. What is it you would need to do to realise that?
Entering recovery has great power in supporting you to shape your thoughts and behaviours so that they’re healthy and positive. When you do this, your identity can be a great force for change and healing.
When you have an addiction, it can be too easy to define yourself by that alone. Actually, your identity is much more than a drug or alcohol problem. There are many parts to who you are.
Changing how you view yourself really supports your ability to recover. When you adopt a healthy lens so that you view yourself in positive ways, you support the healing process.
Recovery in itself can be an incredibly powerful force for change when it becomes a part of your identity. You can lean on it and its resources to ensure you enhance the parts of your personality that want to give up drugs and alcohol.
To find out where you can go for help to quit substances, call Rehab 4 Addiction. Our team of advisors offer advice, guidance, and practical support on your first step towards a healthy new you.
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an addiction expert with more than 20 years in the field. His expertise covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an addiction therapist and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the BBC, Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
