Category: Articles

Learn To Trust Yourself

Learn To Trust Yourself

Articles, Australia, Education, International, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Learn To Trust Yourself – Addiction robs the person who is using of many things. The addict can often pay for addiction with his or her life at times. Most will lose their pride, time, conscious, emotions, and trust if the addiction does spare their lives. While life and time cannot be regained, time, pride, and control over emotions can be with practice. When most people finally make the decision to move out of addiction and into recovery the hardest battle is learning to trust. This applies to trusting self and others. Each person may experience this in different ways and at different times during recovery. However, lack of trust will always come into play at some point.

First you must learn to trust yourself. This is no small task as your judgment skills while using are flawed by whatever substance you chose to put in your body. When you enter recovery you must learn to once again use your core values and trust your own judgment to start making better decisions. Sometimes we get caught up in the drama of life and circumstances and forget we are capable of making positive decisions for ourselves. This is something that must be overcome as part of recovery. You can rise to the challenge of trusting yourself and earning the trust of others. This is where core values come into the mix. Core values are those things that you believe as true. These are your fundamental beliefs about what is right or wrong. Addiction allows people to forget their core values and beliefs because the focus is always on the next hit or drink. Once in recovery these core values can be reestablished and used to further recovery and rehabilitation. To reestablish these values a list is often helpful. Write out ten to twenty things that you believe are fundamentally true and acceptable. Is honesty best and necessary? Is breaking the law something that is unacceptable for everyone? Write out what is true for you as a way to remind yourself of what you believed and adhered to prior to addiction.

As these fundamental or core values are accessed you will continue moving forward in recovery. As you move forward there will be daily decisions that need to be made and your core values will likely nudge you in a certain direction. These gut feelings are the things you should listen to when making a decision. You must learn to trust yourself. If you do choose incorrectly, then deal with the consequences without giving up.

As you learn to trust yourself, your core values you will gain strength and insight. To begin the process answer these three questions: What is important? What do you enjoy? And What frustrates you? The answers to these questions will be very personal and different for everyone, but they hold the key to staying in recovery, especially in the beginning. Knowing what is important to you will guide you through the rest of your life. Knowing what frustrates you will help offer insights into your triggers and help you know what to avoid or when to relax and unwind. Finally, knowing what you enjoy can allow you to understand how to unwind. This is all part of learning to trust yourself. Once you gain self trust you can rebuild trust with others. You have the ability to better yourself or become your own worst enemy, which will you choose?

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Sobriety and Recovery

Sobriety and Recovery

Articles, Australia, Education, International, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

As we enter sobriety and recovery, as the haze of drugs and alcohol is lifted we are confronted with a world of fears which can be crippling. Many of these fears are based on issues which are quite real. Some of us have legal issues we are facing. Nearly all of us have fences to mend with family and friends. However, many of the fears we wrestle with are imaginary and dealing with all of this is a central feature of recovery.

The problems of legal issues will simply need to be addressed but the methods for dealing with fear in general will help us cope with these difficult circumstances. The outstanding problems which may exist with family members can generally be dealt with through groups like Al-anon. The steps themselves include an entire procedure for taking stock of and making amends. Your sponsor will walk you through this. 

One of the most important things we learn in sobriety and recovery is how to tell the difference between imagined fears and real fears. The truth is, for many of us, our fears are the product of imagined scenarios and possibilities. We imagine what can go wrong in any given situation and we cry defeat ahead of time. We feel, inadequacies in ourselves and project these onto others. These kinds of mental tricks are often a huge part of the reason we drank and used drugs in the first place. 

Recovery and treatment take the problem of fear as central to our getting well. We take full inventory of our fears and with the help of a sponsor or counselor (or both), we dispel these fears one by one. We learn to recognize thought patterns which lead to fearful thinking. For example, a common fear for people with substance abuse issues is the fear of failure. This plagues so many that it can lead to a perceived failure in recovery itself. However, one of the most important lessons we learn in recovery is that this fear is based on an entire set of beliefs and circumstances which are completely unfounded. This fear depends on a sense of inadequacy in ourselves which is completely false. It depends on circumstances which have not even happened yet and are a complete fabrication of our imagination. Obviously, working through this takes time and effort. It also requires the guidance of a sponsor or counselor. But we take this fear head in in recovery and quickly dispel it. 

Sobriety and Recovery – In any 12 step program there is the process of the fear inventory. This is part of step four and you will do this with a sponsor. Many people describe a feeling of having a physical weight lifted off them after working this step. Step four is also designed to be comprehensive and address all of our fears so that we either dispel them altogether or learn to manage them. The point is, fears may vex us in recovery, but recovery itself is designed to help us deal with fears. 

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Managing Your Triggers

Managing Your Triggers in Recovery

Articles, Australia, Education, International, Malaysia, Testimonials, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Managing Your Triggers in Recovery – Recovery can be a challenge. Whether in the beginning stages or years into your long term recovery you are likely to have certain triggers. Triggers are the people, places, and tings that can tempt you into using again. As recovery is a life long process that takes commitment these triggers can pop up at any time and must be dealt with as they come. If you are aware that this will occur then you can also be prepared to handle a trigger when it does arise.  Listed and explained are a few tips to help you when those triggers do crop up in life.

Though everyone is different in what becomes a trigger, these triggers still need to be identified in order to know what people, places, and things could be potential problems. This is not meant to be a source of fear for the individual, but a way to put a plan in place before a triggering event occurs.  Once the triggers are identified and documented if needed than a real plan can be created. When the plan to avoid or handle a given situation is in place than it should be practiced. Do not wait until faced with a trigger before practicing the plan. Practice with a friend, therapist, or even in a mirror to be fully prepared.

Now that you know what you are working with do not get over confident. You are not an exception to the rule. Triggers will occur and recovery is tough. Everyone has triggers and cravings that must be addressed in some manner. This is where planning and practice come into play. Do not test your strength or try to be a ‘hero’ by trying to prove you can handle a trigger. This simply means that you should not purposely come into contact with a trigger just to test your plan.

Finally, take care of yourself. Physical and mental health go hand in hand. Both aspects are highly important to recovery. If your mind and body are not healthy then recovery has a higher chance of failure or relapse. If a relapse does occur do not give up, simply start over and try again. However, while you are in recovery make sure to eat well and get plenty of rest so you are prepared for the challenges of daily life. Taking care of yourself has to become a priority for success.

In time you will be more confident in your own judgment in both dealing with triggers and in other areas of your life, but it will take time. Until you are further into recovery, with years under your belt, you can only be prepared and well practiced in your responses to the challenge that is recovery from addiction.

Managing Your Triggers in Recovery – If you have chosen recovery or are considering it you must be prepared. Do not let the hard work that is part of recovery be a deterrent to making the choice to battle your addiction. The road may be tough and filled with bumps, but the outcome will be well worth it in the long run. You have already made the first step by learning more, do not give up now.

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Recovery Journal

Recovery Journal

Alternative Treatment, Articles, Australia, Education, International, Testimonials, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Your Recovery Journal.

During treatment and recovery we are asked to process a tremendous amount of information. The science of addiction, the 12 steps, emotional management therapies of a various kinds—all of this can be difficult to sort through and manage. In addiction, the flood of feelings and ideas that come with our first steps in recovery are often overwhelming.

Just consider that we have been numbing ourselves with drugs and/or alcohol for however long we had been using. For some people this may have been decades of shutting off their ability to properly feel their feelings and to properly understand the world around them. One of the best methods for dealing with all of this is a recovery journal.

For many, the idea of sitting with an open and blank notebook and writing down their own thoughts and feelings is an utterly foreign practice. People will often balk at the idea by claiming they have nothing to say. The fact is, it is impossible to have nothing to say. What hangs up the newcomer to journaling is the belief that they do not have the “correct” things to say. Keeping a recovery journal means writing down your own thoughts for yourself and no one else. There are no rules. No one will grade your grammar or spelling. And no one will ever see it, therefore no one will ever judge you by what you write.

Enter Your Thoughts.

Getting your thoughts on paper allows you to see for yourself what is going through your mind. Recovery nearly always consists of a flood of conflicting emotions and thoughts. It is a natural tendency to try to work these thoughts and feelings out into a coherent whole before saying them or writing them. This is exactly what a journal does for you. With a journal, we can write down the thoughts as they occur to us without trying to make sense of them. We can confess to the journal those feelings which we find difficult to admit even to ourselves. Once these thoughts and ideas are in front of us we can begin to sort through them.

We can look at our own ideas in front of us and begin to see that some of them are a function of fears which are irrational, for example. We can begin to see on the page evidence of the things that matter most to us. For example, one may believe that their career goals were always first on their list of priorities. But up entry into recovery and experiencing a clearer sober version of themselves, the writings in a personal journal may show that family attachments are much more important. They can then begin the process of working with a sponsor and with a treatment counselor with this revelation in mind.   

Conclusion.

Without getting into a digression on research, it has been shown that journaling is a tremendously effective tool for recovery and for other forms of personal growth. The main thing to keep in mind is that the personal journal is for you. It is private, just like every other aspect of treatment and recovery, and the only person who ever has to see it is you. I cannot emphasize enough how valuable a personal journal can be in the recovery process.

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Relapse Prevention

Relapse Prevention

Articles, Australia, Education, International, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Congratulations on choosing to start the pathway to recovery or knowing someone who has made that choice. The hardest decision is over and now the work can truly begin. Though many issues must be faced and dealt with as soon as the choice for recovery is made, the most prominent concern is typically avoiding relapse. Relapse prevention is the measures taken to prevent a former user from becoming an active addict once again. For many, relapse will occur at least once. This does not mean that recovery is no longer an option, just that a setback has occurred and the process will being again. The ultimate goal is to avoid a relapse at all costs, hopefully some of the tips included in this article will make staying in recovery a bit easier for all involved.

As you stay in recovery you will learn to live a happier life without your drug of choice. For some this may come faster than for others. Everyone will likely have cravings, have weak moments, and want to go back to an unhealthy lifestyle of addiction. In order to stay strong you must learn to take care of yourself, something ignored by most addicts. One way in which you can care for yourself is to ask for help. Gaining entrance into rehab is a positive first step. If rehab is not an immediate option then find a competent therapist that you trust. You should feel comfortable discussing your drug use and future plans in detail with your therapist. This includes holding yourself accountable. Since outpatient therapy means you will not have a constant therapist available, you should also create a support system of friends and family members that will help you when tough times happen. This support system will grow stronger as you continue in recovery. These people need to be strong enough to set and keep boundaries with you at all times. Remember, thinking that you have all the answers can leave you struggling, be willing to ask for help before it is needed.

In addition you should focus on yourself for relapse prevention. This may seem counterproductive, but being in recovery is first about you and then about others. The only way you can become a better person and remain addiction free is to focus on taking care of yourself until you have time in recovery. This means eating healthy, getting plenty of rest, and taking time to relax and unwind when needed. As part of caring for yourself you should focus on the positives. Rehashing the negatives will bring you down. Accept what has happened and what you have done while in addiction and move forward.

Though you are to focus on the positives you must also hold yourself accountable. You have probably done things while in active addiction that require an action to correct. Perhaps you lost your license due to drunk driving or stole from others to feed your habit. Now is the time to hold yourself accountable and pay the price for these actions. This may begin with serving jail time or starting to repay money or time that was stolen. While compensation may not make the actions disappear, they show a willingness to be humble and demonstrate your accountability for previous actions. This is part of the recovery process. Forgiveness from others may not come from holding yourself accountable, but it will help you to move forward in recovery. Being accountable is for you, as is making right those things that you can while in recovery.

Relapse Prevention – Be proud of yourself. The decision to go into recovery, through rehab or otherwise, is a huge accomplishment. Stay strong and keep moving forward.

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