How to Stay Sober Long-Term
The more tools you have for identifying triggers, coping with stress, and managing your new sober life, the easier you’ll prevent relapse. Despite the difficulty, sober living offers many benefits, including better mental and physical health. You can do many things to improve your chances of staying sober. Professional addiction treatment helps you manage withdrawal symptoms when you first decide to stay sober. Additionally, it can help you manage the challenges of addiction.
Relapse Prevention Plan
The following tips are all ways you can help yourself reach your goals. Another confidence boost is by setting goals and achieving them. Start with small goals and work up to bigger goals.
Develop Sober Friendships
- People new to recovery can find themselves approaching their new diet, exercise program, job, and even participation in support groups with a compulsion that echoes addiction.
- When drug addiction takes over, it’s easy to lose sight of life’s meaning.
- Additionally, I examine the way mental and physical health as well as our relationships with others impact the reasons people drink and their role in maintaining sobriety long-term.
- Some people may find that wearable devices and smartphone apps can support their recovery from alcohol use disorder.
Additionally, tips to stay sober seeking support from a therapist, counselor, or support group can provide valuable guidance and encouragement in developing self-control skills. By incorporating these techniques into daily routines, individuals can develop healthier coping mechanisms for dealing with stress without turning to substances for relief. Schedule an exact time each day to internally check in. There will be days that are hard and on those days, you’re going to be thankful you scheduled time to check in and not feel overwhelmed. Regardless of a good or bad day, check in with your mind and body, how hard the day was, what some triggers you noticed were, and how you avoided them or lessened them. This is an integral part of the recovery process so that you constantly prepare yourself for more challenging days.
Stay connected to your sobriety support groups and systems.
Second, you need to apply the steps for getting out of debt to your financial circumstances. Third, you need to create a realistic budget and live within your means. Cut unnecessary expenses and prepare your food at home.
- Gaining the support of your family and keeping them aware of how they can help you is one of the most important tips for staying sober.
- If you do not get therapy or other professional services to deal with trauma, you have a higher chance of relapse.
- Furthermore, there isn’t a one-hour limit to recovery in your daily routine.
- Getting support doesn’t have to mean going to rehab, although that is an option.
- Setbacks are frustrating, but they serve as opportunities for growth.
This article presents 8 proven methods to help you stay sober in 2024 and beyond. From building a strong support network to giving back to the recovery community, we’ll explore practical steps you can take today. Now that you are sober, you may have discovered that some of your past relationships were not only unhealthy but downright toxic.
Establish Your Relapse Prevention Plan
The symptoms involved in PAWS can be a barrier to recovery if you’re not careful. In addition to being able to recognize them, it’s important to know when to seek help. Organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous are other ways to build a support network. You can try different meetings for the different groups to find one that’s right for you.
Step 5: Choose the Appropriate Therapy
Or you might rather spend time volunteering for a good cause, like an animal shelter or children’s hospital. Whatever it is, new activities can lead to new friends with interests like yours. Recovery from a substance use disorder or addiction is rarely an easy path. Some days will be a breeze, while others can be downright scary and overwhelming.
Maintaining sobriety means understanding the relationship between the various aspects of your life and how best to optimize each component. Because I used to have a highly active metabolism, it never mattered. I’m jiggly and programmed with years of terrible food habits. But as you progress in your sobriety, you must take your diet more seriously. Once you change your food, you’ll notice your energy level and mood significantly improve.