Recovery

For those suffering from an addiction to alcohol, engaging in a recovery program can be invaluable for learning more about oneself and one’s goals within a safe, supportive and sober environment. However, it is essential to remember that the recovery sphere is a tightly curated setting that is intentionally devoid of specific stressors that a person may otherwise encounter in their daily lives. When making the transition back into the “real world,” or even when a person meets with family members, it is possible that aspects of drinking culture can seep their way into one’s mind. Addressing drinking culture is a crucial point in recovery. Therefore it is essential to identify what the culture looks like, how one intends to interact with it, and safe ways to avoid harmful practices or establish a new culture focused on sobriety as a whole.

Our modern lifestyles don’t offer us many ways to spend time outside naturally. Make a conscious effort this spring to get outdoors to enjoy the beauty this season offers. Spending time outside supports the health and well-being of every person. For those in recovery, the advantages of time outdoors bring an even more profound beneficial impact. Although time outside cannot cure addiction independently, it builds upon the healthy lifestyle that recovery encourages and provides a space for healing and connection. Here are some ways spending time outside promotes your recovery.

Achieving lasting recovery becomes complicated when your ego still rules you. The ego is one major contributor to addiction for some people, leading them to believe they don’t have a problem or push others away since they don’t think they need their advice or help. If you are in recovery and still have your ego assuming an influential role in your decisions and life, know that it affects you on many levels, not just in your recovery. Likely, it is also preventing you from truly connecting with yourself, your partner, and others.

The words “recovery” and “treatment” are often used interchangeably through each individual’s journey to sobriety. However, they refer to two distinct parts of the process. While “treatment” is the actual program in which a person is enrolled, such as their detox or residential treatment that has a distinct start and end date, the term “recovery” refers to the entirety of an individual’s journey to sobriety. Recovery is not just the things an individual learns during treatment but also incorporates how a person conducts themselves outside of the treatment sphere, reflecting the entirety of one’s new journey through their sober life. This recovery may have a start date that coincides with their treatment depending on the individual, but recovery as a whole will often extend far beyond when a person may have graduated from a treatment program. Completing a treatment program is undeniably an impressive and difficult feat, but it doesn’t mean that one has completed recovery as a whole. Because of this, aftercare planning and preparation are paramount for maintaining many of the skills and mindset initially instilled during treatment.

Turning off the voice inside our heads that tells us we need our next quick fix is made much more complicated by the world around us continually reinforcing that instant gratification is entirely normal. Everything is available to us at a push of a button, from the information we want at a second’s notice online to the food we can get delivered to us from almost any restaurant. Living in a world that promotes instant gratification makes it harder to exercise impulse control. However, by self-imposing delayed gratification into your lifestyle, you may become more successful in long-term recovery.

The addiction world is full of helpful resources and information, compelling stories of individual recovery journeys, and countless recovery centers dedicated to the success of helping those struggling to find lasting sobriety. Among this beautiful world of helpers and healers trying to support and encourage others in their path to sobriety, myths and misconceptions persist and prevent some from getting the treatment help they need. Probing the truth behind these claims helps to bring greater understanding to the reality of addiction issues. Dispelling common myths about addiction can stop the cycle of hurtful misinformation that brings unnecessary pain to family, friends, and those suffering from addiction.

Depression has a way of rewiring how a person operates, from their eating and sleeping habits to their activity level and how they communicate with others. Sometimes people struggling with their mental health may be discreet in hiding their depression and conceal their innermost thoughts or feelings, so knowing if a loved one is struggling with depression may be difficult. By looking for certain patterns in their language, you may be able to detect they are struggling. In recent years, there have been breakthroughs in the study of language and depression with researchers developing new computerized text analysis methods to determine the linguistic patterns unique to people struggling with depression.

One of the organs that is most affected by drug and/or alcohol abuse is the liver. After years of excessive drinking or abusing drugs, the liver has had to work relentlessly to rid the body of these toxic substances and may have suffered permanent effects from this abuse. The liver is an incredibly important organ as it helps our bodies metabolize fats, filter the blood from our digestive tract, and is our main detoxifying organ. It is always encouraged to have your doctor check your liver if you have substance use in your past or present to know if you have a form of liver disease. Regardless of the disease state of your liver, you can always include foods in your diet that promote the health of your liver.

Resentment may play an important role in fueling an addiction or as a potential trigger for relapse. It may have even been somebody’s resentments towards themselves or another that began their substance abuse as a way of numbing these negative emotions. Healing these deep-seated feelings of resentment is crucial because resentment can sneak up on you, fester and ultimately be a big roadblock to success in long-term sobriety. As difficult as it is to look at the resentment you hold and unpack it with honesty, it is worth the commitment to heal your past and free yourself from the grips of resentment.

Addiction can be an isolating and debilitating experience. However, it still affects the people in one’s life — friends, workplace peers and especially one’s own family.  While a person may want to address their struggle with an addiction to drugs or alcohol in a private setting, addiction will often have ramifications for their family and loved ones. It is important to acknowledge the familial element throughout addiction recovery to create a supportive healing environment, both inside and outside of the treatment facility. Addressing addiction as a family can bring about more in-depth understanding and support. It can also help each member move through their own experiences with addiction, whether they are coping with urges themselves or learning to forgive and support loved ones who are.

When you start a new life of sobriety, it’s important to practice healthier coping skills and discover new activities or habits that can fill your time other than your addiction. This may seem like a simple task at first, but what if you end up replacing your addiction with another one that’s just as harmful.

A widely-held belief is that 12-Step programs are religious in nature, and if you are an atheist or agnostic who wishes to participate, then good luck. This is not the case and is a common misconception people have. An important distinction to make to understand the true intent behind 12-Step programs is realizing the difference between religious and spiritual.