Recovery

The music we listen to says a lot about our likes and interests, our personality, our perceptions on life and also how we feel. There are a number of reasons why we may play certain songs or keep the station on the radio for a bit longer – and while sometimes it’s merely to pass the time, it’s often the case that we listen because we either feel a certain way or we want to feel a certain way. Consider the last time you were feeling depressed. Did you listen to positive, upbeat music or did you find yourself leaning towards songs that expressed pain and sadness? Human beings are vulnerable, and we desire to connect with others through emotional messages in music.

As the body heals from the damage caused from substance abuse, it’s common that many people in addiction recovery feel aches and pains. Withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, insomnia, anxiety and discomfort may arise for awhile – but even after withdrawal symptoms have subsided, the body may still experience pain as it heals. Holistic care opens many doors for patients in recovery to heal and restore their mind, body and spirit. Massage therapy is an excellent practice that can bring you many benefits if you’re open to it. Massage therapist Nicole Cutler explained on the main website for the Institute for Integrative Healthcare that massage is beneficial for someone in addiction recovery in all stages: withdrawal, detoxification and abstinence. She stated, “The physical, emotional and spiritual components of recovery all can be directly benefited by the healing power of therapeutic touch. The nurturing contact of massage utilizes skin as the translator of the therapist’s intent.”

Individual psychotherapy (also known as talk therapy) can afford us the opportunity to dig deep within ourselves; the therapist-client relationship is so important because it fosters a person’s growth and development in areas of a person’s life they wish to thrive in. Recovery involves so many different aspects of healing and restoration – and individual therapy isn’t the only way those in addiction recovery can grow. Group psychotherapy sessions provide a unique, safe space for individuals to build upon the foundation they’ve developed in other areas of treatment; because it’s a format different from individual therapy sessions, clients can gain different benefits from attending.

As we progress through recovery, we learn more about ourselves; we learn more of what matters to us, what we struggle with in life as well as our personal beliefs about ourselves and life. Essentially, life is a classroom with so many different lessons – and for many people in recovery, the concept of boundaries is a bit blurry. Even after seeking treatment, it’s common for those in recovery to deal with cravings to use again; people, places, situations and emotions can spark that feeling to return to substance abuse, because that’s what’s made us feel comforted in the past. With this new stage of life, however, it’s important that you develop certain boundaries with yourself so that you can stay on the road to success. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), highlights the work of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in forming a relapse prevention plan, which truly helps those in recovery establish healthy boundaries with themselves. A scenario of a person who previously struggled with alcoholism, for example, may work on identifying several factors:

We’re not given a “Book of Life” when we’re born, and if that were the case, a lot less people would struggle with mental illness, addiction, and other painful experiences because we’d have already taken the right steps to seeking help. It just doesn’t work that way – and, unfortunately, it’s typically not until we’re well into adulthood that we begin recognizing distressing symptoms. Even as adults, we may believe that this is how life really is – and we may not seek any help at all. If this is something you can relate to, it’s important to know that seeking treatment is not only going to provide you with more answers regarding your day-to-day experiences, but it will also help you prevent any conditions you have from developing further.

There are some beautiful moments in recovery when we find ourselves at a steady pace – we’ve set a routine, we’re building momentum and we’re starting to see our goals become actualized as we continue to push forward. As this occurs in life, however, this too occurs in recovery; we find that even after having just been recently confident in our recovery efforts, we suddenly take a plunge and we begin to go back into the “lows”. There’s no stopping the highs and lows from coming and going, but if we take the lows too seriously, we may wind up holding ourselves back in recovery. A few years ago,  a young man shared his journey of recovery via Be Inspired Everyday. He explained that through addiction, he learned to become comfortable with conflict and chaos; even after he’d been working hard in recovery, he found himself self-sabotaging. He explained, “One of the lessons I learned in the process is that addiction and other forms of self-sabotage come from internal conflict…We become convinced, though usually not consciously, that our self-sabotaging behavior is necessary in order to protect ourselves.”

Therapy is an incredibly important part of addiction recovery because it gives you a chance to face some of your internal battles, but it can be really nervewracking if you don’t feel all that comfortable sharing details of your life with someone you don’t quite know yet. Comfortability in therapy takes time, but once you’ve reached a steady dynamic with the person you’re working with, you’ll feel much better moving on to more deeper parts of your mind. In 2017, writer Jas T explained how uncomfortable he felt in therapy via The Mighty, a website that publishes relatable stories on addiction, mental illness, recovery and more. He stated, “Before my first-ever meeting, I was so anxious about seeing the college psychologist that I had a panic attack. I still remember my first few meetings. I did not say a single word or all I could say was, ‘I don’t know’. It was mostly my psychologist doing the talking.” If this is something you’re currently going through, know that you’re not alone – and there are some tips to help you ease into the idea of therapy. Tip #1: Write out what you’d like to talk about, or even just how you’re feeling before entering the session. By doing this, you’ll be a bit prepared for what you’d like to work on. It gives you session a foundation to build off of, and you don’t even have to feel nervous about what to say because you already have it prepared. If you’re too uncomfortable explaining it all outloud, you can even have your therapist read it themselves. Tip #2: Jot down thoughts or realizations as bullet points. This may help you before, during and after your sessions so that you can get a clear sense of what you’re experiencing in therapy. It will also hep simplify some of the thoughts you don’t want to forget. Tip #3: Find a therapist you feel comfortable with. If you don’t feel comfortable with your therapist, ask to try a different person. Get to know your therapist and spend some time building a dynamic with them. It may feel awkward at first, but it’s completely normal.

12-Step support groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) receive much of the spotlight when it comes to addiction recovery, but did you know there are alternative groups that a person can become involved in? A common thread amongst non-!2 Step support groups is the open concept of religion and spirituality, whereas many 12-Step support groups promote these areas as being vital to healing and growth. As Very Well Mind emphasized in 2017, those who do not find prayer and other religious messages to be of importance may find non-12 Step programs to be more their style; each person is different, however, and not one model of support can truly fit everyone – that’s where various non-12 Step programs come into play.

Relapse holds a lot of weight when it comes to fears and stigma, and many people in recovery want to avoid relapse at all costs. Relapse is defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as, “…A return to drug use after an attempt to stop.” If you’ve recently entered recovery, you may be hearing intimidating messages from friends or family about relapse – but most of what people tend to believe regarding this topic is false. The more we can educate ourselves on what relapse is, how it normally tends to effect people and how common it occurs, the better our chances are of taking preventative measures – and of approaching recovery one step at a time. Take a look at the most common myths our society tends to hold about relapse, followed by the truth:

Relapse is an incredibly scary part of addiction recovery, because nobody wants it to happen. All of these stigmas and beliefs about relapse – such as that a person has failed recovery, a person is weak, a person won’t be able to get back on track – make relapse even more intimidating, even though they aren’t true. Relapse is a considerably normal part of addiction recovery, but by understanding what relapse is and how it affects a person, you may be able to take some preventative measures as you navigate this journey of sobriety.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has emphasized that nearly 21-29% of patients who are prescribed opioids misuse them, and between 8-12% of patients go on to develop an opioid use disorder (OUD). Opioid prescriptions are used to treat pain – whether from an accident, an injury, or a medical issue .Whether used from prescriptions or used recreationally, however, the mind and body become used to the euphoric effects that opioids create, and that’s part of what can make the healing process in recovery quite uncomfortable. If you’ve been struggling with opioid addiction, it’s important to know that your mind and body are going to go through certain changes in recovery – but that doesn’t mean that healing isn’t possible. By learning more about what you may experience in recovery, you can take proper actions to ensure you’re supported in the best ways possible during this transition.

We don’t always realize that we’re hurting those around us when addiction is active, and as we sober up, we begin to become more aware of this. It’s shocking, it’s painful, it’s devastatingly real – especially when we hear from those around us that we’ve hurt them, but even more once we let it sink in. There’s no turning back the time, and this may very well be one of the hardest lessons we’ll have to learn in recovery. We can’t go back to a previous time before our relationships with loved ones were broken. We can’t undo the damage that’s been done – and sometimes this truth can make a person feel absolutely horrible. It was previously stated on the American Psychological Association’s webpage that when people feel guilt, they: “…tend to focus on behavior. Guilt is more proactive.”