I have written about Brene Brown before but wanted to expand my opinion on her thoughts, and studies. Brene talks about vulnerability and its effect on personal happiness. She emphasizes the importance of allowing oneself to mess up, and to not be perfect all the time. If you are constantly living in fear of messing up, you never allow yourself the opportunity for happiness. Also you must believe you are worth of belonging. When you believe you are worthy of belonging you find compassion, connection and whole-heartedness.
One aspect of Brene’s speech that intrigued me was the idea of selective numbing. Selective numbing is the idea that when you’re upset or have deep seeded issues, you try to numb the sadness you are experiencing. However this is not possible. When you engage in drugs or alcohol you numb not only all emotions, but cognitive and motor functioning as well. I find it extremely sad when emotionally damaged individuals engage in risky behavior to try and numb their sorrow. I have a friend that had a terrible childhood, and found it absolutely necessary to get drunk to the point of blackout every weekend to cope with sadness.
In the long run, dealing with your problems by use of substances, or risky behavior is more damaging internally, then going to a professional to work through your problems. Substance use is only effective in the short term, where-as using constructive means is beneficial in the long term
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