Just the act of stopping using does not mean that you are no longer an addict. If you’re going through the process of addiction recovery, you know that part of the process is achieved by creating a new life. That new life is all about making it harder for you to use, and keeping you and your habits at a safe distance from each other. Obviously, not every element of your life has to change, but the strategies that you adopt will be the key to managing your addiction in practical and productive ways. It’s never easy, rebuilding your life after addiction, and you are going to need to address your coping strategies in order to create what’s been dubbed the ‘new normal’ for you. Here are the three main areas that you need to consider when living a post-addiction life.
The high-risk situation
There are four main situations that are considered to be high risk for recovering addicts. These are known as the HALT situations, and are when you are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. These situations are the times when you are most at risk of using again. Avoiding these situations is often the key to beating your addictive habits, and being aware of them is the first step. By being aware of them they are less likely to catch you off-guard and leave you open to more destructive patterns of behavior. Address your coping strategies, and ensure that you are eating well in order to avoid the first and fourth of the HALT triggers. Also, address your sleeping patterns, as well as the company that you keep. Lonely is not the same as alone, and being surrounded by the wrong people will make it much more likely that you start using again.
Dealing with daily life
People fall into excessive drug use because they use substances to escape boredom, to relax, and as a reward. This essentially means that the vast majority of addicts use drugs as a way of relieving tension, which is why it is often necessary to make some sweeping changes to your lifestyle. Living in the same area as the friends and acquaintances that still use makes it very difficult to change your behavior, which is why so many recovering addicts move location. After all, it’s a lot easier to avoid negative behavior patterns if you’re trying to commit to sober living in Los Angeles if your drug-using friends are in another state. Removing yourself from the sphere of triggers and tension is a good coping strategy for coping with high-risk situations permanently.
Learning to relax
This is one of the hardest parts of any recovery process. Many people believe that relaxation is an option, but for recovering addicts, it’s an absolute priority. The strategy that you choose for your relaxation will depend on your environment, but there are a number of positive options that you can choose from. Whether it’s meditation, yoga, or simply committing time each day to taking a walk through green spaces, relaxation is a proven strategy for reducing the need for intoxicating substances.
While addiction is the fastest way to put a halt on your life, recovery is the best opportunity to change your life for the better. This makes it one of the most challenging yet rewarding processes that a person can go through. Life change is always difficult, but with the right help and the right mental attitude to your high-risk situations, you’ll find that coping with recovery becomes much more positive and manageable.