Sobriety Strategies: 13 Tips for Staying Sober

It’s not buried that deep inside that I can’t find it again. And I’m going to do it – not for him, but for me. If you find it difficult to make new, sober friends, try joining a support group.

People new to recovery can find themselves approaching their new diet, exercise program, job, and even participation in support groups with a compulsion that echoes addiction. 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. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ People in recovery from a substance use disorder frequently have problems meeting work-related responsibilities, maintaining employment, and managing money. If you were active in your addiction for a period of time, you may have developed financial problems. Now that you are sober, you may have discovered that some of your past relationships were not only unhealthy but downright toxic.

The Destruction of Relationships

However, when you are sober, and you’ve gone through detox, you’ll feel even less pain. More so, once you work through detox, the pain doesn’t come back. That’s a big reason to get and stay sober for many men and women. Drugs and alcohol alter your mental state, leading to lowered self-esteem and depression. The negative effects it has on your life, such as broken relationships or job loss, can also take a toll on your self-esteem. Through recovery, you see how strong you are and learn to love yourself again.

While I don’t consider myself a heavy drinker, I quickly learned how much of my social life revolves around alcohol. Whether or not I was getting messed up at house parties, dinners, dates, even a concert or a movie, usually involved at least one drink. I gave in at a friend’s birthday party after a stranger told me I was being a downer. I took a hit of a joint and later drank a cider. For many people with a substance use disorder, it’s simply a matter of never having learned the appropriate way to manage anger. Talk to your therapist, other healthcare provider, or sponsor about how to deal with your anger in ways that won’t cause you to harm yourself or others or turn to alcohol or drugs.

Coming to Terms with a Substance Use Disorder

I spent five weeks in that place (minus a very strange day out to go and play my then band’s first ever slot at Glastonbury) learning how to exist without booze. The most difficult part of the whole thing was when I left the safety of the clinic. In my head I was looking for an excuse to relapse. Three months or so after I left the clinic, I was doing a gig and arrived early at the Water Rats in Kings Cross. The place had that pub smell, that glorious aroma of old beer that seeps into the brain, and just like that I ended up drinking as much as before. Eventually my Dad found me stumbling about at home.

You’ll be putting yourself and others in safer situations and also be in contact with less questionable people. It might sound counter-intuitive, but drinking or using drugs really isn’t that much fun. Think about it – being intoxicated might feel good for a while, but are you really enjoying yourself? Being sober lets you push your boundaries and have fun in ways that aren’t possible when you’re drunk or high. You can travel to different places, try new things, and just be present in your life – and that’s always more fulfilling than checking out with a drink. It’s not hard to see why people get more done when they’re sober.

I Want to Change

At times the stories felt both much bigger and much smaller than I had expected them to. A therapist can help you learn new coping skills, develop new thinking patterns, and address any co-occurring mental health conditions that may make recovery more difficult. But for most people, staying sober isn’t that straightforward. The more strategies you learn to identify triggers, cope with stress, and manage your new sober life, the easier it is to prevent relapse.

The problem with the legal system is that it is easy to slide into but not so easy to get out of. Once a person sobers up and gets their life in order, they are much less likely to land in legal trouble. Maintaining an addiction takes up a lot of time and money. When done regularly, drugs and alcohol aren’t cheap; many people will quickly burn through their life savings and pawn off anything of value in order to maintain their addiction. The longer this continues, the harder it will be for a person to regain financial stability in their life. For this reason, the sooner a person is able to get sober, the better off they will be financially.

It’s not an easy process, and it won’t always be fun, but it’s a heck of a lot better than living a life of active addiction. Every aspect of a person’s life can benefit from their sobriety because it truly is the best gift that a person can give themselves and the people they love. When a person is caught up in addiction, the idea of getting sober will seem like no small task, and that is because it takes a lot of work to get there. While it may not be an easy road to take, sobriety is undoubtedly worth the effort.

Those who stood by you and remain loyal to you, even when you were at your worst, are perhaps the most important people to keep in your life. If you need another reason to get sober, think about what you owe to them and about all of the hard work they did to help you to get to this point. Getting and staying sober can be a catalyst to help you to change other areas of your life, including your overall physical health. Just getting sober does not automatically lead to health, but it can give you the ability to eat better, sleep better, and get more exercise. That, ultimately, leads to a healthier version of yourself. And even if you claim to have your substance abuse under control, you know deep down that you are playing Russian roulette with your life.

When you get sober, it can be a difficult road.

If this sounds like you, you might be surprised to find out how much more effectively you can deal with things sober. It might feel like drinking or using drugs makes your problems go away, but as anyone who’s struggled with addiction knows, this is just an illusion. When you commit to sobriety, you can actually solve your problems instead of ignoring them. You can’t turn back time, but you can start appreciating the time you have. When you are using, your life is consumed by drugs and alcohol and nothing else matters. Drug & alcohol withdrawal can be agonizing — even life threatening.

It also covers tips on how to deal with the challenges you’ll face on your journey to sobriety. Relapse can and does happen, but it’s also preventable. Knowing relapse signs can help you recognize your risk of relapse. Active addiction can take up your entire day—thinking about using, acquiring the substance, using, and recovering from use becomes more than a full-time job. The satisfaction of an addiction comes at the expense of other ones-enjoyed activities and obligations.

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During recovery from addiction, you reclaim your everyday life. Imagine what you could do with all of that “free” time. During recovery, you learn how to be the best YOU possible, so you can be there for the people who reasons to be sober depend upon you. Instead of spending all your time on drug/alcohol-driven actions, your time and attention can be spent on your children. Sobriety is a conscious decision made daily to not pick up a drink or a drug.

Sometimes a person will be on the fence about getting sober for quite some time before they are ready to make the commitment to change. This is very common and doesn’t mean that recovery is out of reach. If you or someone you know is on the fence about pursuing a life of addiction recovery, here are ten great reasons why it is a great idea to get sober now. When living sober, you will find that your life is worth living every day. Though it will be hard at times, you will find something to live for. That may be yourself, your family, your greater purpose to change the world in some way.

It takes commitment and discipline and a willingness to go through the tough times to come out on the other side. You have to want to, really want to, in order for it to work. Write down your reasons for getting clean and sober. Get help today so that you can have all your tomorrows free of drugs and alcohol. If you or somebody you know needs to get clean and sober, call to speak confidentially with a Promises Recovery Advisor. I noticed that my body’s reaction to booze had changed dramatically—I seemed to get drunk much more quickly.