My work focuses on self-development, realizing your potential, and sobriety—speaking from personal experience, having overcome both poverty and addiction. I did it, but I wish someone had warned me about the emotional challenges I’d face when I quit drinking. You also need a reason that will help keep you from having relapses, dealing with withdrawal, and staying committed to your goal of sobriety.
Repair stage
- I used to be a heavy drinker, but eventually, I got tired of the hangovers and dealing with the embarrassment of my drunken behavior.
- You may need to sever ties with not only your drinking buddies or dealers; but also family members or friends who may have been inadvertently enabling your habits.
- At the start of a day, an evening, or even a minute, commit to and enjoy the anticipated positive results of sobriety.
- While it may be difficult to understand, addiction is not easy to break.
Employing these strategies can help you enjoy some version of that behavior without letting it take over. Once you do return to work, it’s important to create a budget being sober around drinkers and take steps to safeguard yourself as work stress can be a relapse trigger. Consider reaching out to a vocational rehabilitation counselor or career coach to help you update your resume, practice job interview skills, and locate jobs that match your skills and experience.
Exercise and Healthy Eating
Understanding the nature of addiction, how sobriety may change your relationship, and what you need to do—and don’t need to do—to facilitate recovery is therefore very important. When we drink heavily our brains miss out on the part of sleep that helps us process guilt, called REM sleep. So, we’re more likely to wake up with “alcohol guilt” or the “beer fear.”
Staying Healthy
Health experts I spoke to told me this could be a sign of withdrawal. Apparently, if your body is used to being put into a relaxed state by alcohol, it may struggle to get to that state for a while without being medicated. “If this is the case, you would probably find it better to cut down more slowly and steadily until you reach the low-risk drinking guidelines or stop completely,” Sim said. Recovering addicts usually make the mistake of trying to replace their addiction with another habit in a way that can seem compulsive. They may approach a new hobby, exercise, job, or even a diet with an addiction-like vigor. While new activities may be beneficial, you should not use them to fill the void left by the addiction.
These percentages can vary significantly depending on a person’s motivation for treatment, the degree of accompanying psychosocial stressors, and psychosocial support. You feel like your friends and family won’t understand or support your decision to stop drinking. The best relapse prevention is staying busy, staying away from old drinking environments, and making sober friends. If you do drink, do everything in your power to avoid a heavy binge. This is where it becomes essential to think of the progress you made.
Manage Physical Pain
It may also include some “detective” work, which involves the friend or family member watching the recovering person closely for clues as to their mood and potential to relapse. “It’s exhausting for the family member and it sends really negative messages to the person in recovery.” This doesn’t mean you should avoid the topic or ignore troubling behavior, she clarifies. “Just don’t try to police it and be in charge of it,” says Russell.
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Staying sober long-term is a challenge, but it’s not impossible. Research shows that with the right strategies, you can maintain your sobriety for years to come. If you suspect someone is relapsing, Russell recommends that you avoid accusing them.
Most of us – me included – know where we tend to go too far and need to establish a more wholesome balance. And obviously, any behavior that harms others should go to zero. The challenge of this stage is to essentially develop and maintain healthy life skills that will serve you for a lifetime. An exciting part of this period is that it can lead you to a happier life full of welcomed change and constant improvement.
Instead, focus on things, experiences, and activities that will support your new, healthy lifestyle. If you find it difficult to make new, sober friends, try joining a support group. For many people, staying sober means abstinence from alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicating substances. However, there is more to sobriety than not being under the influence at a point in time. Staying off intoxicants is crucial, but to truly stay sober, one must identify and overcome the factors that led to the addiction in the first place.
