Lesson 3: Why Do People Use Drugs?

Physical and especially chronic pain can be mismanaged by medical providers, or those without insurance or access to medical care can slip through the cracks to manage it themselves. Drugs can be one of the easiest options for people to self-medicate and self-manage chronic pain. Pain can make living unbearable, lead to suicidal ideation or attempts, and can completely disrupt a person’s ability to function, making drug use feel for some like the only thing that makes it possible for them to live a normal life.

Sometimes people who use drugs are literally just trying to have fun! The same way that people go out to bars to socialize, people use other drugs besides alcohol to make connections, break through social anxiety, bond with others, and build communities of people with shared experiences.

Trauma can lead to isolation, substance use and dependence, co-morbid mental and physical health conditions, physical pain, dissociation, fear/anxiety, aggression, and more. People may use drugs to manage the emotional or physical effects of trauma, sometimes unknowingly.

Mental health conditions that aren’t being managed well by other means can be cause for someone to use drugs to self-medicate. The care of people with schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions can be mismanaged or undersupported by medical professionals. People also might not have access to wraparound services to help manage episodic conditions, or they might not have stable/supportive family to provide a safe place for them to live. All of these factors can lead a person with mental health struggles to use drugs to make these conditions bearable, or to find temporary relief from the symptoms of their condition.

Lack of housing might mean that someone uses stimulants to stay awake and keep themself safe if they’re living outside. Consider people drinking alcohol or using drugs to stay warmer or more comfortable while dealing.

Lack of access to medical care or health insurance means that someone might purchase unregulated substances as medication on the street. Sometimes that can lead to dependencies on much stronger substances, and/or substances that they may not have initially intended to use.