Dallas Bragg describes a cycle where loneliness drives substance use, which creates temporary connection but deepens isolation after the comedown. The pattern repeats: rejection from community, seeking the drug to fill the void, brief relief, then worse loneliness. Breaking the cycle means recognizing it and finding other ways to handle the pain.
You're lonely because you do Tina. You do Tina because you're lonely. You're stuck in this loop and you're buffering. You can't move forward and you can't move backward. You don't feel comfortable in the queer community. You've been rejected by the gay community, and so your only sense of connection is to do Tina. The connections you make in the Tina community seem real, they seem lasting, they seem intimate, But you know, in the comedown, those connections aren't real. So you feel even more lonely than you did in the beginning. 2 weeks, 3 weeks, a month later, you forget. You get back on Grindr and you start looking for Tina because you feel lonely. This is your sign to break the cycle, to break the pattern, and to know you're not alone. And going back to Tina is never the answer.
