Harvard Psychology

What Really Causes That Urge To Relapse?

🚨 Moderation Is a Lie Your Addicted Brain Tells You. Let’s get into Section 2: The Psychological Traps of Relapse. Why do we keep crawling back to the same bottle, pill, or hit that wrecked us the last 87 times? It’s that gaping void inside your chest—the one that screams for relief when life sucker punches you. That’s the emotional trap, and it has a name: 📚 The Self-Medication Hypothesis (Harvard Review of Psychiatry). We don't drink or use to have fun. We do it to numb grief, trauma, loneliness, or just the soul-sucking boredom of folding fitted sheets at 2AM. But here's the cruel twist: 🚫 Substances don’t fill the void—they just shovel it deeper. Every high is a temporary escape followed by a deeper emotional crash. Over time, those dopamine dips get lower and lower… until there's nothing left to numb. That’s why so many people in addiction spiral into shame, isolation, and eventually even suicidal ideation. Because when you’ve chased the high for years and the lows keep getting worse, it starts to feel like there’s no way out. But there is a way out—and it doesn’t come in a bottle. It starts with facing the pain you’re running from. 👊 This isn’t about willpower. It’s about rewiring how you cope. You’re not weak. You’re in a trap. Now let’s break out.