How to Stay Sober: 12 Tips for Your Recovery

These visual collages serve to display your wants and needs so that you can focus your attention and energy on manifesting your goals into a reality. During the initial stages https://ecosoberhouse.com/ of recovery, I recommend staying off of social media. I stayed off of mine for several months in rehab. If so, then you’re aware of the capability you already possess.

• I want to say here that staying sober doesn’t have to mean staying sober all the time.
• Calls to any general helpline will be recieved by Legacy Healing Center, a paid advertiser.
• There are also resources such as 12-step groups and recovery groups.
• We have compiled 15 tips on how to stay sober and live an addiction-free life.
• You’ve replaced drinking buddies with new sober friends.

This process includes the various triggers and stimuli that drive a person to find comfort in an old addiction, as well as the dozens of warning signs that indicate a relapse is coming. Like the triggers, making an inventory of warning signs that you experience may allow you to avoid an oncoming relapse. Recovery from a substance use disorder or addiction is rarely an easy path. Some days will be a breeze, while others can be downright scary and overwhelming. Ultimately, it’s important to remember that relapses happen to almost everyone. In fact, some research estimates that up to 80 percent of people seeking long-term sobriety have at least one relapse.

Identify Your Triggers

One way to maximize your time is by volunteering to teach others about the dangers of addiction and the benefits of living substance-free. Partaking in some form of community service not only helps you contribute positively to society, it also strengthens your self-confidence and increases your sense of self-worth. Your acts of service can be the motivation you need to keep going when you encounter hard times on your recovery journey.

You may experience setbacks as you try to achieve sobriety, but you must see them for what they are and not allow them to derail your progress. The cravings will come inevitably, but you should allow memories of the pain of addiction to keep you going. https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/13-actionable-tips-to-stay-sober-at-different-times/ Seek professional help today, so you can start your journey to high-quality life, not influenced by alcohol or drug addiction. Staying sober requires a commitment to your recovery process, even after a stay in a detox centre or rehab facility.

Recognize Relapse Warning Signs

For alcohol use disorder, medications like naltrexone and acamprosate are evidence-based treatment options that may help patients reduce harmful drinking or achieve abstinence. The answer was more negative consequences of drinking and more positive associations with God and/or spirituality. Interestingly, as of 2019, 73 percent of addiction treatment programs in the United States used a spiritual component,6 the majority referencing God or a Higher Power.

Plus, some people must also manage mental health issues like depression, anxiety, or even another underlying medical condition. Developing and sticking to an organized daily or weekly routine makes it easy to achieve your goals, including maintaining your sobriety. Sticking to a schedule – like having a 30-minute workout each morning or writing every evening – means you know the task for every moment, and you ensure you accomplish those set tasks. While staying sober may be your highest priority, a structured routine helps you to achieve goals that help maintain your sobriety. Going through detox and stopping all substance use is only the first step; the real work at staying sober happens in the weeks and months following detox.

Digital Health and Wearable Devices

When it comes to support, the sponsor and the person in recovery are able to mutually benefit each other. Going to work helps keep your mind away from drugs, but you need to find other ways to fill up your idle time. You can learn a new hobby or language, play sports, read, visit a museum, or take long walks. The less downtime you have, the less likely you are to suffer a relapse.

Sometimes running into people you know can prompt you to think, “Just one drink won’t hurt.” Don’t get too comfortable. Stay the course and avoid your old partying haunts. Be wary of anything or anyone who causes negative thoughts, wears on your emotional state or triggers you.

Furthermore, social media is addictive, and you’re an addict. So it’s a safe bet that you will use it too much. Addiction doesn’t always mean alcohol abuse or using drugs. There is a correlation between poverty and substance abuse disorders and subsequent relapses. In addition, poverty increases stress, hopelessness, and low self-esteem. People in poverty also have decreased access to healthcare and social support systems.

• Develop coping skills to help you avoid drinking or using drugs in response.
• It also gives you a sense of purpose that can help you stay focused.
• When you have a substance use disorder, your brain has created countless links between your addiction and seemingly unrelated actions that you usually perform.
• Recovery may feel isolating, but you don’t have to do it alone.

Addiction can be a chronic disease, so treating it often isn’t as simple as not consuming that substance for a few days. And one of those treatments is to simply (or not so simply) avoid consuming alcohol or whatever substance is the object of the addiction. A large body of research exists examining—and proving—the efficacy of AA for sobriety. A 2011 study by Krentzman, Robinson, et al. sought to answer the question of why some people chose to continue going to meetings even after they achieved short-term sobriety. We believe everyone deserves access to accurate, unbiased information about mental health and addiction. That’s why we have a comprehensive set of treatment providers and don’t charge for inclusion.