![]() Similarly, alcohol has the ability to eliminate unpleasant emotional states. If we come to rely on them to handle common emotional experiences, we can become dependent on them. This is one of the ways in which all of the above medications and drugs are habit-forming. She goes running for the shelter of a mother’s little helperĪnd it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day “Mother’s Little Helper,” the Rolling Stones, 1966, on anti-anxiety drug use. Mother needs something today to calm her down When we rely on drugs or medications to avoid or eliminate these feelings, we erode our natural emotion management skills. This requires us to sit with unpleasant feelings. Emotions also have a natural course - if we allow them to run that course, they recede. Think of emotions like rainstorms they make everything feel different for a while, but then they pass. We all have a natural capacity to tolerate unpleasant emotions. The downside is that using drugs in this way systematically undermines our ability to cope with difficult emotions. These medications are effective in eliminating some unpleasant emotions. Sadness, anxiety, shame, and many other emotions can be drastically reduced by taking a pill or having a THC edible. Whether it’s marijuana, Xanax, Klonopin, Ambien, or others, medications can be a powerful way to quickly change the way we feel. Negative reinforcement typically affects anxiety through one of three ways: drugs, alcohol, and avoidance. But anxiety can increase quite significantly through the use of a drug like Valium. In the Valium example above, the Valium did not create the anxiety - the anxiety was there first. Negative reinforcement doesn’t typically create anxiety, but it often makes it stronger. Negative reinforcement is often very relevant in understanding anxiety and in working to overcome it.
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