Recovery

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford Perspective is everything in recovery – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, which makes it a very big deal. What makes one person successful and another person fail? Whether it comes to creating and maintaining a business, learning a new instrument or reaching a goal in recovery, people become successful first and foremost because they believe they can. They have a vision, and they have identified the steps to getting there. The people that haven’t reached success yet or have stopped chasing after a venture is likely because they have imposed on themselves one of the following harmful beliefs:

As someone stated on The Guardian when sharing their story of addiction and sobriety, “Ten years ago I wrote, ‘I can’t believe I’m writing this but being controlled by alcohol is so awful that even giving up drinking forever still feels better.’ Still is, still does.” For many people all over the world, and especially in the UK, “Dry January” was a month to kick off the New Year with sobriety and healthy habits. Some people considered it a way to drink less, while others consider it a way to begin detoxing from NYE celebrations. Fox News claims that taking a month of sobriety won’t necessary “undo” damage from excessive alcohol drinking in the past, nor should it be an excuse to drink excessively any other time of the year. Whether you participated in “Dry January” or not, why not make a commitment to sobriety each day? There are many benefits that sobriety can provide you with:

As young woman explained her story on The Guardian: “Not every sad story has a tragic ending. Looking at the statistics, you might think I should be dead. My sad story includes a beginning that was riddled with family dysfunction including domestic violence, neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation. This traumatic upbringing was followed by drug abuse and forced prostitution. And yet here I am today, a sober, emancipated, successful and happy woman.” Whether you’ve gone through traumatic events, a mental illness, or substance abuse, recovery can be challenging. We may feel sorry for ourselves – if we could go back in time, maybe we could do something different. We may ponder the reality of our current situation and feel upset by how we got here. However, moving past those feelings and entering a state of strength, hope, growth, endurance, and determination is what can propel us to the place we really want to be. The Florida Council Against Sexual Violence explains the stages of healing that we experience after traumatic events have occurred:

Contributor Merylee Sevilla shared her experience with cutting family ties on Elite Daily: “I broke up with my parents and most of my family when I came out as gay. Growing up, I spent years and years unknowingly sacrificing my happiness and my mental and emotional health in the name of family. I believe I had to do anything and everything for them. And that’s because most of us have been trained to believe that turning our backs on family – no matter how bad or abusive they are – is reprehensible. But, that belief is severely flawed.” The idea of family is one that leads us to believe in connection, closeness, respectfulness, people whom we can depend on and trust, and more. If you have family relationships that are based on these premises, you likely have a good support system. While most of us try to uphold these critical components of a relationship, we cannot control the way our family treats us. Some of us may believe that holding onto family no matter what is best, but this is not always the case. A toxic family member can cause danger to our overall sense of well-being, safety, and recovery. There are several cases you should consider for terminating a family member from your life:

Valentine’s Day is known for flowers, chocolates, romance, cards, champagne, and more. However, those without a significant other may feel strong emotions on Valentine’s Day due to the expectation that you should have someone special on that day and if you don’t, you’re lonely. Emotions that could arise from this include guilt, sadness, depression, anxiety, and anger. No matter the case, sobriety is key for those of us in recovery, and those emotions could trigger us. Here is your ultimate guide to getting through Valentine’s Day, no matter where you’re at in your recovery:

Throughout the day, we may experience many phone calls, emails to check, errands to run, deadlines to meet, and more. The day is filled with so many activities, and in between each one we are driving from one place to another, attempting to get it all done. Most of us tend to get into “automatic” or “zombie” mode – simply rushing through the motions without putting much thought into each movement we make. Is this hurting our mental health? What else are we doing throughout the day that’s discreetly damaging our mental health?

Toxic people are of a wide variety – some are just fleeting interactions while others are relationships, whether intimate or not, that we have held on for a little too long. Toxic relationships can lead us into a depth of despair – clinging on for more, even when more isn’t available. This holding on causes us to sink rather than swim, and we deserve more thriving connections in our lives. It can become so easy to give all our energy to others, but that leaves us feeling depleted both mentally and physically. Toxic people, whether they act in overt cruelty, passive aggressiveness, or out of sheer pleasure – never want to take responsibility for their actions. They either dismiss, deny, or place blame on others and refuse to admit they have done anything wrong. For those of us who are willing to admit when we’re wrong, it can be hard getting blamed by those we care about and we can accidentally take on that blame – a weight that does not need to be carried. Peg Streep, author and co-author of 11 books and writer for Psychology Today, provides an effective strategy for stepping out from underneath the toxic people in our lives:

New Year’s is a time to reflect on the past year and have hope for the future. It’s a time to celebrate with friends and loved ones, converse with those you haven’t seen in awhile, and have fun. Many people have been choosing to throw “sober parties”, an event where the host can control the temptations of alcohol to help their own and others’ recovery, or to create a welcoming environment for a sober loved one. Hosting a sober party is a fantastic way to connect with others in a safe and clean environment. The following are steps you can take to host your own sober party for NYE:

Amidst the opioid crisis in the United States, it may feel as though our country needs quite a bit of reshaping. Even in tough times it’s important to remain positive towards those that are working hard to promote recovery. The Addiction and Recovery Awareness Music Fest in Westminster, Maryland “gathered music fans, treatment advocates and professionals, supportive friends and family members, and those in recovery at the event located in the Carroll County Agricultural Center”, according to reporter Brittany Britto of The Baltimore Sun. Jesse Tomlin and Kyle Leonard created the event. According to the Carroll County Times, Tomlin stated, “I said let’s go above and beyond with it. I want to reach a lot of people, not just his followers. Let’s do something that’ll reach the whole community.” Rising Above Addiction, a non-profit organization that hosted the event, sold over 500 tickets and raised over $6,000 to go towards addiction treatment and recovery.  The event was held on July 15th, 2017, and began at 4 p.m. Entry was $10, and the event featured rap artists Rem One, Ridge Long, The Signifiers, Prospekt, and more. These artists were all featured because they are also going through recovery. The main goal of the event was to promote the message that sobriety is obtainable. Featured speaker Bryan Novak, skateboarder from the MTV franchise Jackass, spoke about sobriety by stating, “This isn’t an epidemic…it’s a pandemic. I don’t know exactly how I can change the War on Drugs…but I let people know that recovery is possible. I want people to know there is a solution…there are resources available and most importantly if you’re breathing, it’s never too late”. According to The Fix, over 2,000 people died from drugs in Maryland last year, which was a 66% increase from 2015. The music festival helped not only to inspire others, but to encourage people to support one another. It also attempted to prove the point that addiction does not discriminate – there is no one “type” of person or circumstance that can be pulled in by addiction. It can happen to anyone, and we all must come together to help each other get through it.

While many of us are aware of the damaging effects that stigma can have, unfortunately there are many people that do not yet understand. Common misconceptions surrounding mental illness can easily take on the perceptions of heavy television viewers and hearsay, often making it more difficult to combat. The following are several reliable ways to cope with stigmatization if you experience it:

Group therapy may seem very daunting – meeting new people, sharing personal information, and the overall new experience of group therapy may provoke anxiety. While these reasons are understandable, group therapy can provide several benefits. The most crucial step you can take before you begin group therapy is to adjust your perception, change your mindset that group therapy will be beneficial to you because this will set you up for a more positive experience. Associate Editor Margarita Tartakovsky of Psych Central has noted several ways that group therapy can uplift us in recovery:

When it comes to recovery, finding healthy outlets is key. Recovery is a time for growing, learning, and bettering ourselves. A time where we can focus on how our mental illness or addiction affects us and others – and during recovery we develop tools so overcome our addiction or tools to better work with symptoms of a mental illness. These tools are incredibly important – we take them day by day, and over time we transform.