As soon as I got some sobriety time under my belt and actively worked a 12-step program, I’ve found that I have freedom. I’ve attended weddings, I’ve gone to bars, I’ve seen my favorite bands in concerts and I’ve even hung out with my old friends from my drug-using days. What I thought was the cost of rehab was really the price I paid to earn my freedom. A barrage of emotion comes flooding to the surface after being suppressed over years of chemical dependence and numbing.
Accept your anxiety
Getting sober means replacing your primary coping mechanism – drugs and alcohol – with new, unfamiliar ones. The process can be uncomfortable, particularly for someone who is afraid of feeling in general. Staying stuck in this fear generally means staying stuck in addiction. At Riviera Recovery, a sober living facility with multiple locations, clients continue their transition from the supportive environment https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/can-you-gain-weight-because-of-alcohol/ of a treatment center to living well and happily in the “real” world. The program he designed at Riviera Recovery personalizes treatment plans that enable clients, including those with a single or dual-diagnosed mental health disorder, to embrace a satisfying life. By engaging in yoga, you can calm anxiety through chants, deep breathing, gentle stretching, and other comforting techniques.
Practice Healthy Living
Thinking there is no consciousness after death brings me anguish. The notion that my loved ones will cease to exist in my mind is too hard to bear. Your inevitable demise is a powerful motive to live an intentional life. Realizing you have a limited amount of time on this earth creates an urgency to make the most of it. Notice it when your thoughts wander to the past and to the betrayal you experienced or to what you fear will repeat in the future. See and hear everything you can in your surroundings to re-ground yourself in the now.
A great debate it wasn’t
Remaining sober over time is about much more than willpower. If you’re eager to open up about your sobriety but aren’t sure where to start, read on to find some helpful tips from mental health professionals. Plus, learn why it can be so beneficial for your own recovery journey to share your story. If these emotions become excessive, they can hold you back from recovery. If you are trying to maintain a sober lifestyle, those feelings can become toxic and contribute to relapse if you don’t deal with them properly.
- To better understand emotional sobriety and its process, we spoke to psychiatrist Akhil Anand, MD, and addiction and substance abuse counselor Amy Fry, LISW.
- Medical support can also wean you from certain substances slowly, helping the brain and body adjust to the loss of the substance more gradually and minimizing some withdrawal symptoms.
- Read books, listen to podcasts, and follow blogs that focus on recovery and sober living.
- I had a message from a lovely lady the other day who was on day 10 of her journey to sobriety and she said that she was suffering from the most terrible anxiety.
- I think you’ll find that actually, it will never be as bad as you think.
Express your anxious feelings
Sober movements are redefining what it means to have fun and challenging alcohol’s role in our social lives. The truth is, you have no idea what success will look or feel like. Spending mental energy on things you cannot possibly know is useless. Every cell in your body might not know this, but a strong piece of you that is battling for airtime in your brain knows it. You will have good days, hopeless days, and every other sort of in-between day on this journey.
In fact, your journey to sobriety will likely involve strengthening some relationships and purging others. You may find yourself leaning on your trusted support system a lot and breaking fear of being sober ties with those who do not aid you in your recovery. When we first really come into sobriety and we’re in a somewhat delicate state, we’re often overcome with anxiety and fear.
Identify Your Personal Triggers
- It is generally the first step in a more comprehensive treatment plan.
- I’ve attended weddings, I’ve gone to bars, I’ve seen my favorite bands in concerts and I’ve even hung out with my old friends from my drug-using days.
- They went from smoking weed on the weekends to smoking weed every day, to binge drinking and to snorting whatever pill I could get my hands on.
