Like prison, addiction is easy to get into and hard to get out. So it is vitally important that you don’t misunderstand this post as suggesting that recovering from addiction is easy. It’s not. In fact, it will be one of the hardest things you will ever do.
That said, it is not impossible. And there are things you can do to ease the process. It is vitally important that you find and use as many tips as you can for aiding in your recovery. There are many forces aligned against your success, not the least of which is your own body chemistry.
Popular media and entertainment are also not on your side. Despite what we know about the destructive influence of drugs on society, we are still fed a steady diet of drug-positive messages from Hollywood. The use of drugs is portrayed as natural, or innocent, or comical. But seldom is it portrayed as tragic, debilitating, and deadly.
But despite all the things making recovery difficult, there are also things that can make it a bit easier. So rather than give up on the process, try adding these positive suggestions that can make a big difference for the good:
Get Professional Help
You are not in this alone. At least, you shouldn’t be. Addiction is a terrible place to be. And there are people with both the heart and training to help you find your way out of it.
Addiction recovery is not the kind of thing you want to take on as a private endeavor any more than you want to tackle a broken bone or high blood pressure by yourself. You need to be under the care of medical professionals who can treat the disease and the fallout of recovery.
The best rehab for women provides more than a bucolic setting that promotes reflection and inner peace; it also has specialists that understand the difference between male and female addiction.
They don’t necessarily respond to the same treatment when they became addicted for different reasons and react to substances in different ways. This is one journey you don’t want to take alone.
Diet and Exercise
Drugs and alcohol destroy both body and mind. Substance abusers are not known for being healthy eaters. So one of the things you will want to do to aid your recovery is take on eating habits that can boost your brain.
But diet alone is not enough. You also have to make yourself as physically fit as possible. Yoga can bee a good starting point as it has the dual advantage of toning the body as well as focusing the mind. Walking, running, swimming, and playing sports are also great choices. Drugs and alcohol are a lot less appealing when you have a healthy body to protect.
A Supportive Community
The hardest part of recovery is returning home and being surrounded by all of the old places and friends that proved to be bad influences in the first place. Picking up and moving is simply not an option for far too many people. So it comes down to developing new communities of support.
But new support communities mean little if you keep the old influences intact. Some things you might want to do at this point are:
- Unfriend and otherwise disconnect from bad influences on social media
- Change your contact information such as your phone number and email address
- Stop taking calls or responding to messages from bad influences
There are no innocent connections with people who seek to get you drinking and abusing substances again. They mean you harm every time. Contact with such people should not be limited, but completely severed if recovery is to have a chance.
Self-affirmation
Wallowing in blame and self-pitty will get you nowhere. It is not only unproductive. It is misplaced guilt. Addiction is a disease, not a moral failing. Putting undo pressure on yourself will simply slow your recovery efforts if it doesn’t stop them altogether. It makes all the difference when you realize you are not the problem. You have a problem. And that problem can be treated.
The road to recovery is difficult. But it can be made easier by getting help, focusing on diet and exercise, developing a community of support, and choosing self-affirmation as opposed to self-loathing.
