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Advice for a Lasting Recovery

Quitting drinking is the first step in becoming sober. However, recovery requires a long-term commitment. Most people who struggle with drug addiction know that relapse is always possible. You will probably have to make some lifestyle changes and develop your resources to leave your addiction behind for good.

Change Your Routine

Many people have trouble staying sober after rehab because they go back to the same environment in which they used substances. The triggers that caused the drug use in the first place may still be present. It might be hard for you to avoid hanging out with the people with whom you used to do drugs. They were your friends, and now you feel isolated.

Some ideas for changing your routine after you go to rehab include:

Joining a support group
Getting a new job
Trying new hobbies
Taking a class
Spending quality time with your family

Create Some Structure

Chaos can make you feel disordered, which can lead to substance abuse and addiction. During most drug addiction treatment programs, you learn how to organize your life. Try to maintain that structure in recovery.

Staying busy can distract you from cravings. If you add too much to your schedule, though, you may feel overwhelmed and have trouble coping without turning to substances. Keep yourself occupied, but use a planner or a calendar to ensure that you don’t overdo it.

Focus on Relationships

In sobriety, many people realize that their old pals weren’t true friends. After going through a drug addiction treatment program, you may need to ditch the toxic relationships.

Be honest with yourself and others. Focus on creating healthy relationships with the people that step up to support you. Continuing with therapy or counseling that you began in rehab can help you learn what it takes to set up healthy boundaries with others.

Get Moving

Substance abuse impairs your psychological, emotional, and physical health. Plus, it often reduces your body’s ability to produce its own feel-good chemicals.

Exercise is one way to boost your mood naturally. It’s an excellent stress reliever. Using exercise as a tool to combat boredom, tension or anxiety can prevent you from picking up a drug again. It can also reduce post-acute withdrawal symptoms.

Process Your Pain

One of the reasons that people turn to substances is that they don’t know how to handle intense emotions. When you ignore your feelings, you don’t work through them. You stuff them down into your subconscious, where they continue to drive your life.

Many people who have struggled with drug addiction need to find ways to process emotions safely. Working with a professional can give you some tools for looking at the pain and suffering that you’ve endured throughout your life.

When you have the proper resources, you can allow these feelings to come up so that you can do something about them. It’s essential to have support for this so that you can release the judgments and shame that accompany these behaviors, actions, traumas, and incidents.