The need to escape reality is actually a desire to run from our distorted view of everything. We perceive the world through our brain / mind / conscious / subconscious. Long term substance abuse perverts these filters. This is in addition to our veteran mind, which is not well suited for the civilian life either.
Addiction distorts our minds and that includes our view of the world. It puts us into depression, anxiety, paranoia, anger, and negativities of all kinds. Our AA book says we are, “restless, irritable, and discontent” as substance abusers.
Since we are seeing society and the world in a (mostly negatively) skewed way, of course we want to escape it! This is yet another downward cycle pulling at us. Our drinking or using continues to pervert our outlook, which makes us want to escape more!
For me specifically, I was a huge consumer of beer, weed, and whiskey for many years. Often, this put me in paranoia and depression, making me withdraw further. I would drink and smoke for any reason: negative thoughts, boredom, when I saw bad news, or going out for any reason. I just wanted to feel different and escape the reality I was experiencing. But doing all that made my outlook of the world even worse.
Recovery and sobriety has led me back to accepting reality. Working through our steps can correct our distortions. This means our inner, skewed reality which we believe is the outer world. Seeing that our views are warped is actually the path to bringing them back to alignment.
Plain old everyday life is what we learn to accept, allowing people, places, and events to unfold as they do. That’s what reality is! Just because we expect something or someone to act in a certain way does not mean they have to follow our wishes. Coming back down to everyday existence may not be as exciting or dramatic as when journeying through addiction, but at least it is not killing us or ruining our lives!