Exploring Potential Links Between Environmental Stress and Substance Use

Mental health is not impacted by just internal stress, but also by environmental factors. In 2025, noise pollution, digital overload, and climate anxiety are major contributors to environmental stress. At the same time, addiction specialists are uncovering potential links between these factors and an increase in substance use.

Beyond life’s common stresses, the modern age brings new environmental concerns. Digital devices offer accessibility, but can be overstimulating. Major cities contend with light and noise pollution that contributes to poor sleep and natural disconnect. For the environmentally conscious, climate change introduces anxiety.

“People don’t realize how deeply environmental stress affects the nervous system,” Melissa Legere, LMFT of California Behavioral Health, stated, “chronic exposure to noise, screens, and uncertainty can quietly push people toward alcohol or drugs as a form of self-regulation.”

Increasingly, substances are seen as a distraction from environmental stress. Professionals like Mehrnaz Ravanbakhsh, LMFT of New Beginnings Detox, acknowledge that taking the first step toward healing is the hardest, but the challenge of modern detoxing involves facing both oneself and one’s environment.

In 2025, Detox California medical director, Dr. Michael S. Valdez, explained, “addiction treatment has to address more than substances. We’re treating burnout, climate grief, and nervous system exhaustion.”

In order to address the complexities of stress recovery alongside addiction recovery, there is a growing need for multidisciplinary professionals like Dr. Sanjai Thankachen, medical director at New Leaf Detox. Environments are pushing individuals toward addiction, and addiction exacerbates the stress of their surroundings.

“Clients increasingly describe a sense of ‘background panic,’” Garden Springs Wellness clinical director Bethsaida Rivera, LCADC, CCS, said. “That kind of stress erodes coping skills over time.”

Professionals like Golden Road Recovery executive director Jason Aaronson, LMFT, CATC-IV, encourage others to think of addiction not as a disease that can be completely cured, but a chronic disease that can be managed. Today, part of that management could involve a direct change to one’s environment.

“Recovery is harder when someone returns to an environment that constantly triggers stress,” The Grove Recovery Community medical director, Dr. Clint Salo, added. “Sustainable recovery now includes lifestyle and environmental changes.”

Beyond the alcohol and drug concerns treated by professionals like Cliffside Recovery clinical director Samantha Marxen, LCADC, CCS, digital devices are gradually introducing a new kind of addiction. Exposure can exacerbate anxiety while simultaneously leading to overstimulation or even outside addictions.

“We’re seeing more clients who don’t just feel stressed,” Crossroads Healing Centers executive clinical director Megan Fischer, LCSW, explained, “they feel constantly overstimulated. [Amid] nonstop digital noise, substances often become a way to turn the volume down.”

“Grounding practices like time in nature, reduced screen exposure, and mindfulness aren’t luxuries,” clinical psychologist at Forward Recovery, Dr. Renee Solomon, shared. “They’re protective factors against relapse.”

For many patients, the addition of environmental stress can make the challenge of addiction seem insurmountable. However, the road to recovery remains accessible. Though the paths may branch among various stresses, skilled professionals are prepared to help anyone along their way. Despite the modern stress landscape, treatment is possible.