What Does Living A Sober Life Entail?

Sometimes being in recovery is just hard and there’s no getting around that. At times, you have to face difficult realities and truths about yourself that can be pretty painful.

living a sober life

Getting a mentor to walk you through the issues you face will improve your odds of reaching your goals sooner than you once thought possible. Combining each of these factors and always looking to the future will work wonders for leaving addiction in the past and getting the most from your life. Getting and staying sober is very challenging, but with the right support network and tools, it’s completely attainable. If you think your partner has an alcohol addiction, you might feel it’s important to speak with them about it but don’t know where to start. Exercise increases endorphins, which are the “feel-good” chemicals in the brain. It can be a good replacement for the release of endorphins caused by drinking alcohol. If you are invited to a bar or restaurant for a social gathering and want to take this approach to being sober curious, try to only attend events at places where alcohol isn’t the main focus.

Effective Ways To Stay Clean And Sober For Lifelong Recovery

Let Right Path Treatment Centers treat you with compassion. MAT can help reduce the potential for relapse and help prevent overdose deaths. Martial arts is another great way to get moving, while also learning the important skills of discipline and the power of the mind. We treat a variety of addictions, ranging from alcoholism to heroin, meth, and prescription pill addictions. And it’s very important to fill that time or it can become easy to slip back into old habits. And if you’ve tried getting sober in the past and failed, that may be weighing on you as proof that you aren’t good enough.

living a sober life

As a result, you may be able to rebuild relationships that broke due to addiction. Trust us, if you struggle with substance abuse or addiction, living a sober life will improve your life immensely. To help you maintain your sobriety and see the benefits of doing so, we are providing you with a detailed list of reasons why living a sober life is beneficial.

Youll Sleep Better

Here are a few simple suggestions to keep in mind as you journey outdoors. When someone is struggling with substance abuse, their friends most likely also use or drink with them or introduce them to the substance they are now abusing in the first place. Many of these old friends are often waiting to welcome you back into their lives, wanting to see you heal and progress into a happy, healthy, and sober life. At its core, substance abuse is often a result of self-hatred.

  • By losing these memories, you may have also lost sight of family and friends.
  • When you’re sober, you’re able to stick to a healthy sleep schedule and wake up feeling refreshed every day.
  • Without the influence of substances, you have the opportunity to enjoy sober relationships while ending toxic relationships.
  • More and more we’re seeing there are shades of grey when it comes to dependence on alcohol,” says Warrington.
  • It’s also necessary to understand that relapse isn’t a failure.
  • Staying sober requires you to do more than just refrain from using the substance you’re addicted to.

Additionally, your companion will be someone to call on when things become difficult. This is particularly true of sponsors, which are a staple of twelve-step programs and support groups for a reason. Of course, nutritious foods can soothe some of the cravings that we may have, but there are other benefits to maintaining a healthy diet. As you put more healthy foods into your body, you’ll that you have more energy, that your skin is brighter and more clear, and even your overall moods are better. SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Remember what you worked hard to achieve and take your power back. There is no shame in needing support as you navigate through a sober lifestyle. When I first went into treatment, the idea of living a life 100% sober terrified me. I thought it would be boring and I had no idea how I would deal with the stresses of everyday life. I had a lot of false information on what it meant to have a good time and I had no idea how great it would feel to lead a healthy lifestyle. I didn’t really think it was possible to live life 100% sober, but almost 7 years later, I’ve realized that it has been the best decision I have ever made. It is common knowledge that drug and alcohol abuse have a drastic impact on your appearance.

You can start to identify these stages by paying attention to when you begin to think less rationally, behave less responsibly, and re-engage with self-defeating or self-destructive behavior. Avoiding them can compound your stress, increasing your chances of relapsing. Instead, seek out the advice of legal counsel and get help negotiating debt with creditors. Pick up some new hobbies to fill that extra space in your life. For some people, this means working out, and for others, it’s volunteering. For one thing, you’ll have more resources to contribute to things like volunteering or donating to charities if you wish. But you can also act as a role model to others working to get sober.

How Is This Years Seasonal Affective Disorder Different Than The Rest?

If you believe you are addicted to alcohol or drugs, or believe there’s a need to get sober, you too have the potential to make this change. I’ve been sober for 2 years now and all I can say is life SUCKS! I’ve been going to therapy and getting various help with medication since my first week sober, but nothing has helped. I went to AA, got a sponsor, got a counselor, and now take a handful of pills every day for depression and anxiety, but it’s all crap.

It is always up to you who knows about your personal life. After years of frequent substance abuse, people’s expectations and opinions of you could be largely influenced by drug use. The person you are sober will be different than the intoxicated version of you, and this change needs to be addressed. Lean on close friends and family for support, even if your relationships aren’t what they used to be. Think about going to counseling or family therapy to help with that and to deal with other personal issues. Foundation House provides a one of a kind journey to living a sober life.

#6: The Road To Recovery Builds Good Character

The state of your physical body deteriorates regarding your weight, skin, hair, eyes, and other parts of the body. This can improve your overall self-esteem and keep you motivated in your recovery. Sobriety can have different meanings to different people.

  • You may find someone right away with whom you “click,” or you may have several sponsors throughout your life as your sobriety evolves.
  • In addition, you may find that those reinstated relationships, without any influence of drugs or alcohol, are better than ever before.
  • Substances like drugs and alcohol can rob you of your life.
  • With this extra money, you’ll gain more opportunities to go on new adventures.
  • There are significant offerings for events and places to experience that will continue to show you how to enjoy your new sober lifestyle and nourish your soul.
  • This causes you to build good habits and character, like discipline and perseverance.

It takes time, patience, and a willingness to try new things and meet new people to build a successful foundation in your new routine. Substances like drugs and alcohol can rob you of your life. You spend every day trying to get high instead of living. Finding a new job, or regaining your old job, is much easier because of the ADA.

one Of A Kind Journey To Living A Sober Life

You all can learn how to relearn old destructive behaviors. You can learn how to communicate better and how to get better in all aspects of life. Withdrawal from alcohol or drugs can cause a myriad of symptoms that range from mildly annoying to fatal. You may feel nauseous and experience muscle spasms, chills, shaking, and retching.

In a drug rehab program, there is structure, there is routine, and there are people who are like you and behind you, motivating you and supporting your choice to live sober each and every day. This structure and support – in combination with thoughtful, personal goals – are the driving force behind the recovery process. Sober relationships will be a key factor in your recovery journey. living a sober life They will show you that you do not need to drink to socialize and you do not need to be intoxicated to have fun. A healthy, sober lifestyle encourages positivity in our minds. With newborn energy and confidence, long-term recovery becomes even more obtainable. Healthy living habits become routine, providing constant alternatives to drugs and ultimately preventing relapse.

Immediate Placement In Rehab

There may be times where intoxication causes you to do embarrassing things, or to make poor choices. Creating such a list is another step toward bringing your fears out into the light, and examining them for what they are. After listing your reasons for drinking, and your reasons for not drinking, it will be up to you to assign a weighted value to each factor. If you find that the cons about continuing to drink outweigh the benefits, you know you are ready to take your next steps toward sobriety.

Therapy

This addictive behavior can be devastating to the patient and their loved ones. Whether or not the person takes a medication to help achieve this shouldn’t matter to anyone. If a medication helps stop the damaging addictive behavior, then that is successful treatment and not switching one addiction for another. Buprenorphine will maintain some of the preexisting physical dependence, but that is easily managed medically and eventually resolved with a slow taper off of the buprenorphine when the patient is ready. Physical dependence, unlike addiction, is not a dangerous medical condition that requires treatment. Addiction is damaging and life-threatening, while physical dependence is an inconvenience, and is normal physiology for anyone taking large doses of opioids for an extended period of time.

Nobody likes to think that they might end up with liver disease or other substance-related health problems. But people are diagnosed with these diseases every day, and if you abuse alcohol or drugs regularly, chances are high that you’ll eventually be one of them. When you’re sober, you don’t have to worry about developing life-threatening complications from your habits. For many people who don’t have healthy relationships with themselves, substance misuse can be a way to mask that discomfort. Then, they don’t have to learn how to love themselves because they’re covering their feelings rather than dealing with them.

Understand Why Having Purpose Can Matter So Much In Sobriety

It’s common for some people to experience at least one relapse on their way to long-term recovery. Achieving sobriety is a major accomplishment, but maintaining it can be challenging. Addiction relapse can be viewed negatively by your friends, family, and even yourself, even though it’s a common symptom of addiction. Many people https://ecosoberhouse.com/ spend every cent they have on substances like alcohol and heroin. This means that there is not a lot of money left for food, clothing, or any other life necessities. There will be even less left for fun things like being able to go out to eat without thinking about how much you are spending that could be spent on substances.

It’s much easier to stay financially fit when you’re sober. Besides saving all that money in the first place, you’ll be in a better state of mind to make good financial decisions. And having that extra cash opens up a whole world of new opportunities – you could decide to save for a house, take a vacation, or go back to school, for example. It’s natural to wonder what ”fun” is like without drinking, partying or using drugs. That’s why I made it my mission not to let my drinking status determine my social life or the amount of fun I am able to have. A life in recovery gives you the unique opportunity to develop healthy coping mechanisms.

This can help to boost your resolve and remind you that a life of sobriety is both achievable, and desirable. Substance abuse causes damage to every organ in the human body, causing progressive harm the longer the addiction continues.

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