Staying sober requires a person to analyze the reasons why they were using the substance, identify their personal triggers for relapse, and avoid falling into a pattern of use again. This can include toxic relationships in which you feel unheard, misunderstood, unsupported, demeaned, unsafe, and/or attacked. Relapse (using substances fear of being sober again after stopping) can and does happen, with 85% of people experiencing relapse at least once and half of them doing so within the first two weeks of sobriety. Many people who misuse alcohol or drugs have trouble dealing with anger. If left unchecked, anger can have a negative impact on your health and your lasting sobriety.
Sobriety Fear #4: You’ll actually succeed.
Again, any fear you may have about sobriety rooted in self-loathing will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Some people manage to get there faster than others, but it’s not a competition. Depending on the severity of your drinking problem and resulting behavior, some bridges may be forever burned. Some people may want nothing to do with you, no matter how much you change.
- In addition to being able to recognize them, it’s important to know when to seek help.
- Fortunately, much of the physical damage caused by substance use can be improved or even reversed with abstinence.
- Just keep in mind that your improvements won’t happen overnight.
- Reaching out for support — whether to friends, family, or professionals like therapists or support groups — can provide the encouragement and guidance needed to take further steps toward sobriety.
Getting Ongoing Help From FHE Health Can Help
“Creating a safe emotional space often starts with creating a safe physical space,” says Elder. Plan to find a time and place that is comfortable, quiet, and free from distractions. According to Elders, it’s also important to consider with whom you’re speaking and whether the environment is conducive for your relationship. It’s a disease that needs ongoing treatment to keep it at bay.
Fear of change
The truth is, if sobriety really was that bad, nobody would stick around long-term. A quick glance into your local AA club can verify that there are many happy individuals with years of recovery out there who got through the first https://ecosoberhouse.com/ few months of staying sober. As with other physical and mental effects of quitting drugs and alcohol, these are largely a result of “bouncing back” from the chemical effects that our using had on our brains and lifestyles.
- There’s no easy pass for me anymore, no more getting drunk and slipping past the part where you get to know each other.
- In fact, 40 to 60 percent of individuals who have received treatment for substance abuse relapse sometime in their lives.
- However, your choice to get clean may one day be a part of their decision to do the same.
- You know, deep down, that you can and should have a better life.
- Additionally, pursue an addiction treatment center that prioritizes relapse prevention.
Physical Withdrawal Symptoms
On the other hand, recovery can be filled with anxiety and fear. No matter how committed you are to your recovery, the fear of relapse is real. Your mind may also be filled with doubt, wondering if your life will be exciting and fun-filled or if it will be boring and lonely. By Julia Childs Heyl, MSWJulia Childs Heyl, MSW, is a clinical social worker and writer. As a writer, she focuses on mental health disparities and uses critical race theory as her preferred theoretical framework.
The good news is that these emotions will calm down over time. If we’ve spent any amount of time playing with our brain chemistry, we can expect things to be a little out of whack when we stop. In other words, success is the blissful absence of all of the devastating consequences of a previous drug or alcohol habit.
- After all, you’ve probably spent months or years avoiding the first hint of withdrawal symptoms.
- Many of us drink because we need something to turn down the volume of the toxic shame parade running through our brains.
- Worrying about it constantly will only strengthen your fears and lessen your resolve to do anything.
- In the meantime, they do what they must to survive the day.
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