Early recovery is the first six months to a year of sobriety, or recovery from any mental health condition. During these months, overcoming triggers is the most difficult. As you navigate the choppy waters, keep these things in mind.
It’s True, Alcohol Is Everywhere And That’s Hard
At some point of your life, alcohol wasn’t part of your life. Though you might have been young, you did live without alcohol for many years. It wasn’t until you learned what alcohol was, how alcohol affects you, and had the experience of consuming alcohol, that things changed. Early sobriety can feel like you’re running through a tactical maze, trying to survive every hurdle, distraction, and attack that comes your way. Remember, you’re making an important choice every day not to consume alcohol because you’ve learned it can be life threatening for you.
Recovery Has To Be Your Priority
“It’s a selfish program” you often hear about recovery. Recovering from drug addiction and alcoholism is incredibly self-centered. More than ever before, you have to care about yourself above everyone else because your life depends on it. Conflictingly, alcoholism and addiction are often described as selfish diseases of self-centeredness. Here’s the trick to differentiating the two: before you were focused on destroying yourself. Today, you’re focused on helping yourself heal and live.
You Still Have To Accept The Things You Cannot Change
The changes you experience in early recovery feel miraculous. Cravings, the longstanding chemical reactions which used to disrupt your life over and over again, are gone. Things which used to disturb you no longer do. You have a clarity you haven’t felt in years. It can be easy to start thinking you’re some kind of superhero. If you can be changed, then everyone else can,too. If everyone could change the way that you have, the world would be a better place. Your path to recovery and personal growth was personal and unique. The world will move at the pace it is supposed to. Unfortunately, despite your growing wisdom, that isn’t up to you.
Continue Being Honest
Honesty is what got you to treatment. You had to be honest with yourself about your problem with drugs and alcohol and how your life had been taken out of your control. The honesty doesn’t stop there. Bringing honesty into every area of your life helps you to maintain manageability. Lies can spread quickly because the brain is programmed to attract negativity. Keep working on growing that positivity magnet inside your head.
Avalon Malibu is a certified dual diagnosis treatment center providing primary residential care for both substance use and mental health disorders. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 (888) 958-7511 today.
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