Understanding Addiction and Alcohol Abuse, Part 2
People are making a big shift in the past decade to reduce alcohol consumption and folks are openly talking about their curiosity for sobriety. Alcoholic beverage companies are even making it more accessible to elect for non-alcoholic (NA) drink options when shopping at the grocery store, in restaurants, sporting events, etc.
Progress is being made by increasing awareness for the harmful effects alcohol abuse has on our body, but also breaking down the stigma with those struggling with more severe addictions.
In Part 1 of this blog series on Understanding Addiction and Alcohol Abuse, I focused on breaking down the basics of addiction to help understand the core terminology that helps build a foundation with finding the right support needed in sobriety. There was also discussion on the common challenges of entering recovery, listing out various treatment options, and exploring why the cycle of addiction can be so hard to break.
Continuing with that same track of thought, in this blog we are going to dive into the factors that go into staying sober–the good, the bad, and the ugly. As well as how to feel more confident in a life of recovery and the effort it truly takes to overcome drug, alcohol, or behavioral addictions.
The Path for Staying Sober
The typical approach to intervening with substance or alcohol abuse includes a 7-10 day Detox, 30-day Inpatient/Residential stay, 90-day Intensive Outpatient Program, and AA meetings for the rest of your life. This is the model that is often marketed to folks struggling with severe alcoholism or drug addiction. “It works if you work it” is the common saying often heard in recovery rooms. And it does work, I’ve seen tremendous success for individuals who work a program similar to this for their sobriety.
However, I don’t think it’s the only way to staying sober. You don’t always need to isolate yourself in treatment or cut ties with everyone you know to maintain a healthier life for yourself. The biggest drawback to that model I just laid out is that it does not work for everyone. No two people struggle with substance use or addiction in the same way–although they may overlap with similarities. Therefore, how we build a life in sobriety will look different person to person.
Uncovering the Issues
The path for staying sober is built by going back to the roots to understand that how we are coping with life presently is unmanageable at this point in our lives. That we cannot healthily unwind from work stress, interact with family members, avoid difficult conversations in our marriage, or properly grieve changes in our lives without resorting to something outside of ourselves to “feel normal”. That’s where we start on this pathway. We have to go backwards to work through some shit (no polite way of framing it) before we can genuinely move forward into a life we are content with, or there will always be some level of dissatisfaction.
Generally speaking, diving into the underlying issues of addiction depends on a person’s emotional awareness at that point. When you hear the phrase, “You need to hit rock bottom before things will change,” it typically means that you need to face what you’re masking with addiction. Although I’m aware it usually references being in the worst of addiction before someone seeks help.
Identify Your Triggers
When we start increasing our emotional awareness, we are able to view ourselves with more context. We open up to seeing past experiences through a different lens, we are conscious of how our behaviors in active addiction have caused harm to others and ourselves, and we recognize how challenging it is to cope with triggers in a way that doesn’t lead to some form of avoidance.
Noticing our triggers is often the next phase in sustaining recovery, this includes our physical triggers (i.e. people, places, and things), but most importantly our emotional triggers (i.e. loneliness, grief, anxiety, etc.). In early recovery, it’s often encouraged to avoid the physical triggers, but you can’t really do that with emotions because that’s what led to addiction in the first place.
Build Your Network
It’s important to work with your support network on having a plan in place for moments of emotional distress, not just a relapse prevention plan. Your sobriety involves a holistic wellness reset–emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally. Learning to sit with difficult emotions, processing through past traumas, and rediscovering your authentic self is ongoing on the path to sobriety.
Be vigilant of complacency in all aspects of your life. Complacency is one of the biggest triggers for relapse–whether it’s addiction or mental health related. When we stop working on ourselves and take a step back from our support system, we lose track of the accountability that keeps us motivated. Maintaining that awareness of “why” you are focused on recovery helps you stay on track with a healthy lifestyle long-term.
Maintenance
The last piece to note on the pathway for staying sober transcends into maintenance mode. As we are always working on ourselves as human beings, we must also stay cognizant of how we need to adapt with our situations in life. Maintenance mode is being proactive with upcoming stressors, processing through emotional distress in a normal timeframe, changing how we respond within arguments with our partner, and expressing our feelings and needs in safe environments. It’s vital to continue growing mentally so that we are setting ourselves up for a life we don’t need to escape from.
Overcoming Addiction
There are many ways someone can work through addiction and overcome the hold it has on their life. Recovery is not a one-size-fits-all approach and it’s important that people build a routine that works best for their lifestyle. Managing triggers and mental health symptoms, all of which can lead to a relapse in addictive patterns, needs to have the foundation of these three components:
Support System: Having a network of people in your life who understand you, want to help you, and walk the path of sobriety with you are essential. We cannot navigate the chaos of the world alone, no matter how much we think we can. Healing happens with connection. We need others to help hold us accountable with these new changes in our life.
Emotional Regulation: A major key to recovery is having the awareness that when we engage in addictive/compulsive behaviors it’s because we often struggle with connecting with ourselves. We need to learn how to give ourselves support from within and feel safe when emotions or life feels overwhelming. Work with a therapist on building your emotional regulation skills and feeling more in control when the unexpected happens in your life.
Meaning Making: Find your meaning in life, even if it’s starting with something small. Start giving back to the community, showing up in your families lives again, taking care of your physical well-being. Explore new hobbies, join a book club, start learning something new that mentally stimulates you. You hold the power in rewriting your story. It doesn’t have to end with addiction.
Reach out today for a free consultation if you are interested in support for your alcohol abuse or addiction. I’d love to help you reconnect with your authentic self and live a life that you feel more in control of!
