Certainty, a false feeling of control, and no coping skills. That mindset is: Without substances and/or any skills how to work through life issues, who knows how we’ll feel? We’ll be adrift and at the mercy of the storm of our wild minds. We take substances because we know how those substances will make us feel, “I can either let my demons beat the shit out of me or I can instantly make them go away” by self-medicating. Unfortunately, in that state, ingesting substances doesn’t seem crazy, it seems logical.