Drug and alcohol addictions prove to be challenging psychological struggles for the addicts who fall victim to them. Simply identifying the addiction, accepting the need for treatment, and actually taking the steps towards recovery are all challenging feats in and of themselves.
The process of recovery and avoiding relapse proves to be one of the greatest challenges of the entire experience. When you’re no longer being monitored as closely as you were during the recovery process, and as you become more openly exposed to the outside world that led to the addiction in the first place, the temptation can be strong and overpowering.
But that doesn’t mean such an ordeal is completely unavoidable. By adopting healthy habits into your daily life, you will deal with fewer pressures and stressors that try to push you back into the hopelessness of addiction.
What Makes You Happy?
Finding a sense of happiness is extremely difficult when battling with addiction and navigating through recovery. In fact, addiction has a strong connection with clinical depression. Not only do many people who struggle with addictions also fight depression, but depressants are a common drug that people become addicted to.
So how can a person combat the depression that tends to come with an addiction? While the treatment of addiction and depression simultaneously can be complicated, there are simple steps to moving forward.
This is as simple as sitting down and considering, “What makes me happy?” Consider the people—family or friends—that make you happy. What activities do you enjoy? What are your hobbies? Making a list of certain interests and people you love will remind you of what you are grateful for, in spite of the difficult times you currently face. By recognizing those, you will find your mind beginning to focus on a more positive mindset.
Stay Physically Active
You have probably heard this advice before, and whether or not it may lead successful results varies from person to person. Nevertheless, this is a healthy habit you should highly consider adopting into your daily life.
Whether you choose to adopt a heavy cardio workout, weight-lifting, or a simple jog or walk outside, maintaining a sense of physical fitness can relieve more stress and negative feelings than you realize.
Furthermore, addictions can create all sorts of new health problems in their midst. This includes weight gain, nausea, and adopting unhealthy eating habits. By working on physical health, this not only works against fighting off these health issues but gives the mind a new focus other than the addiction.
Maintain Social Connections
If you have gone through the weeks and months of therapy, ultimately reaching the recovery stages, chances are that you have discovered how crucial family bonds and close friends are during the process. Having personal support outside of the therapist’s office is a way to give motivation and strength through recovery.
Once you make it to the recovery process, you may see how many damaged and broken relationships now lie after the wake of your addiction. This is a perfect time to reach out and make the attempt to repair these relationships, showing others how you have changed and improved and how you intend to continue doing so. This may help you strengthen your resolve more than you realize.
On top of this, you should also focus on continuing to attend your recovery group meetings. You will find that relating with and talking to those with similar problems to your own is comforting, and encourages you to recover with them. All of these social interactions also help with avoiding isolation in recovery and keeping a positive atmosphere about you on a regular basis.
If you or a loved one find to be struggling to maintain the recovery process post-addiction, contact a local Treatment & Rehab program in Tennessee. You might also consider looking into Discovery Place’s own programs, such as the 30-Day Residential Addiction Recovery Program or the Long Term Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Program in Burns, Tennessee. Call us today for a free consultation at 1-800-725-0922.
