Dealing with substance abuse issues all by yourself can be overwhelming and leave you feeling helpless. However, you don’t have to fight this battle on your own, or without help. Forget the stigma of seeing a therapist or getting help with your substance abuse issues, because you are doing the right thing, and here’s why.
Counseling Can Help You Stay in Recovery.
Seeing a therapist while you are dealing with addiction problems can be a great start at learning how to live your new life drug or alcohol free. Your counselor or therapist can recommend great ways to help you stay clean and avoid harmful psychological triggers that might cause you to think about using again. Our TGC therapists are skilled at offering concrete tools that help you deal with cravings, anxiety and the system you live in, that may have led you to seek outside source of validation – be that drugs, alcohol, sex or something else.
What Can You Do in The Meantime to Stay Addiction Free?
- Stay away from old friends or acquaintances you used to use with, or that enable you.
- Try not to dwell on using, or “getting high or drunk”.
- Stay active and exercise. This helps promote endorphins and dopamine which will help your overall mental well being over time.
- You might experience depression while in recovery and if you are, contact a mental health therapist immediately.
What Else Can I Do To Help Fight The Urge to Use?
We know that recovering from drugs and alcohol can be a very rough struggle, but once you get past it, and you start to get back on the right track, you will start getting your old life back. Do your best to try and not think about using, or putting yourself in situations where drugs and alcohol might be readily available. Doing those two things alone can help with your recovery immensely. Also try and think about former activities you used to enjoy before you used, and try filling your time that way. Also, you may want to discuss harm reduction with a therapist. AA only has a 2% effective rate. 98% of people attending AA will “relapse” Relapsing can make feelings of failure, guilt and shame even more intense. At TGC, where possible and appropriate, we encourage harm reduction (reducing the harm using does) – our default is not total absence.
You Might Also Want to
- Visit your close friends and family (those who don’t drink or use).
- Talk to your doctor about other medical treatment that might help if you have are not in recovery.
- Avoid bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.
- Join support groups such as NA (Narcotics Anonymous) or SMART Recovery.
- Talk to someone you trust about any issues you are struggling to resolve.
