Loneliness among people with substance use problems: A narrative systematic review

Therefore, when the teacher-student relationship is good, adolescents can feel higher social support and are prone to positive coping styles, while vice versa are prone to negative coping styles. Meanwhile, the results showed that coping styles played a mediating role in the influence of social anxiety on IA in adolescents, and hypothesis 3 was validated. Social anxiety positively predicts negative coping styles and is inversely correlated with positive coping styles.

Loneliness in Recovery

Social media is often called a “highlight reel,” displaying the best parts of a user’s life. However, having access to other’s highlight reels can increase our own feelings of dissatisfaction with our own day-to-day. This can impact self-esteem, trigger anxiety, and make us want to use social media more. FOMO can also compel users to constantly check social media so that they don’t miss out on what’s happening. Seeking out treatment for alcohol use disorder is essential to a person’s wellbeing.

Mental health and pregnancy-related death

  • Feeling of loneliness has a direct relationship with the emotional domain and individual cognitive function and causes lack of adaptation in cognition, experience, and social expectations (7).
  • In conclusion, the relationship between loneliness and addiction is complex and multifaceted.
  • Therapy can provide coping strategies for handling feelings of loneliness and help individuals improve their self-worth.
  • With the cooperation of relevant institutions and faculty, a total of 1527 valid questionnaires were collected.

Empathogens contain substances that increase a person’s ability to connect with others and enhance dopamine release. Since the substance causes an intense boost of dopamine and serotonin, it can cause a person to have drastic mood swings when they are sober or going through withdrawal. People use substances that derive from the plant and synthetic substances to replicate the effects of the natural cannabinoids. These substances have addictive properties and side effects that can harm a person with regular use. Opioids work by blocking the pain receptors in the brain, which prevents the body from knowing about the pain. Prescription opioids are common after serious injuries or surgeries, but these are often used illicitly and the growing issue of opioid use and overdose in the United States shows that these substances are dangerous in addiction.

Repair and foster connections with non-addicted friends and family

Although there was no difference between the scores of men and women, the mean scores of romantic and emotional dimensions were higher in non-substance dependent women. By understanding the connection between addiction and loneliness, we can see why treating addiction must also include addressing the root causes of loneliness. Furthermore, recognizing these patterns allows us to create more effective interventions and support systems that heal both the mind and body. Loneliness Index, many Americans say they feel lonely, and different groups experience it in different ways. For example, a study by Cigna found that younger adults, especially Generation Z and Millennials, often feel lonely, even though they are more connected online than older generations. Additionally, loneliness can also show up in physical ways, like fatigue, sleep problems, or even pain.

Assessment of common method bias

  • You are bound to meet new people who share your interests — and maybe feel good about contributing to your community.
  • Accepting and remaining accountable for your actions can help you come to terms with the issues and help you heal from them.
  • Eleven studies were conducted in Turkey, 4 in China, 2 in USA, and 2 in Korea; the rest of studies were performed in Hong Kong, Kosovo, Pakistan, Italy, Greece, Australia, and Hungary.

When these feelings become persistent, they can lead to serious health concerns, including depression, anxiety, and even addiction. Recovery may feel lonely because you must distance yourself from old social circles or activities revolving around substance use. Abandoning once-central relationships and pastimes may create a void leading to loneliness. In addition, the difference of the mean score of emotional domain, which is the sum of romantic and familial domains, was statistically significant between two groups.

A vicious cycle of loneliness and internet addiction

addiction and loneliness

Therefore, it’s important to address both loneliness and addiction together to support recovery and emotional healing. By understanding how they are related, we can create better strategies to help individuals break this harmful cycle and build genuine connections. This situation shows that we need to look deeper into why people feel lonely in a world full of digital connections.

addiction and loneliness

The study was sponsored by Investigation Project of Kaifeng city of philosophy and social science (ZXSKGH-2023–2631). The datasets can be made available to any interested person(s) contacting the corresponding author via email. The IA scale used Internet Addiction Test (IAT) which compiled by Kimberly Young 39. Each item uses a Likert five-point scoring method, which ranges from 1 (never) to 5 (always), the total score range is 20–100 points. The score ≥ 50 points can be judged as IA, the higher the score, the more serious the problem of IA.

“Connection with others clearly matters in reducing both feelings of loneliness and isolation. When the opioid reward system in the body is dysregulated by social isolation or increased feelings of loneliness, it could drive an individual to use substances that stimulate the opioid receptors. Likewise, after chronic substance use that stimulates opioid receptors or other reward pathways, a person may begin to feel loneliness or social pain.

The emotional consequences of isolation

Our commitment to quality includes the Sober living home information we publish on our website. Our recovery specialists are standing by 24/7 to help you or your loved one. You are bound to meet new people who share your interests — and maybe feel good about contributing to your community.

Hindered development of coping mechanisms

The correlation coefficients, mean ± standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis results of each variable in this study are shown in Table 2. The scale scores of adolescents for IA, social anxiety, positive coping styles, negative coping styles, and loneliness in this study were 2.381 ± 0.66, 2.618 ± 0.85, 2.571 ± 0.54, 2.167 ± 0.58 and 2.273 ± 0.47, respectively. IBM SPSS Statistics addiction and loneliness 26.0 and the PROCESS Macro (v4.1 by Andrew F. Hayes) was used for statistical analysis in this study. First, the participants’ demographic characteristics and the IA, social anxiety, loneliness, and coping styles scores were measured using descriptive statistics (percentages, means, standard deviations, etc.).

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