However, therapy is still that safe space that functions as a mirror of the self in the presence of a supportive individual who cares about you. If you find it difficult to make new, sober friends, try joining a support group. While it’s one of the most essential tips for staying sober in 2021, creating a schedule is important regardless of the year. A disorganized lifestyle can lead a person back to bad habits.

This is one of the reasons, the I Am Sober app focuses on celebrate your milestones, so you see the immediate https://ecosoberhouse.com/ reward as you build to longer and longer milestones. It is a big deal and you should celebrate as such.

Host your own sober party.

Yet now I am teaching, coaching, and helping others, because I couldn’t ignore the call to grow. Alcohol can interfere with our call to growth by distracting and numbing us. When we default to alcohol to manage our emotions, we don’t develop the skills we need to navigate life successfully. We also miss the opportunity to learn vital lessons that will help us become deeper, braver versions of ourselves.

So whether you’re a skeptic, a believer, a data-driven engineer or artistic painter, a few of these tips should apply. Family involvement is extremely important to substance abuse treatment. In some cases, family dynamics could contribute to your alcohol or drug problem. In other cases, family has the potential to help keep you from falling off the wagon, as long as they’re involved in your recovery journey. If you don’t care for your mental health before, during, or after you get sober, you can expect your addiction to rear its ugly head again and again throughout your lifetime. Celebrating a sober holiday is reason enough to be proud of yourself. And don’t forget that no matter how challenging sobriety may seem, you aren’t alone.

Build Healthy Relationships

For the addicted person and their family, more stress means more vulnerability. After all, the holidays can kick off a perfect storm of family and money stress. If you feel scared or unsafe in your own home, reach out for help. Take an honest look at upcoming holiday events and whether it’s healthy to attend.

It begins a process of “thinking of thinking” and as strange as it may seem, it helps pull you out so you can calmly observe from afar. Instead, be present, look at the things around you and identify only facts. Say them out loud, what you’re wearing, where you’re sitting, what year it is, what city you live in, that the light is on, that the walls are blue, etc. Doing this can help stop rapid thought tips to stay sober and bring you back to the present. Not only is it important to develop a routine that works for you, it’s also important to find ways to cope if you get thrown off your schedule. This may mean that you don’t spend time with someone you used to use drugs with or go somewhere you used to drink. You might take a new way home from work, for example, to keep from going past your favorite old hangout.

How to Identify a Drug Overdose

Ask someone you respect if they can be your “go-to” friend in times of need. It’s great if this can be someone successful in their own recovery program or a substance abuse coach, as they will be the most qualified to support you on your journey. That said, it is also key to cultivate supportive relationships with close friends or family members who can step in to support you at a moment’s notice. Either way, it’s quite common for mental illness and drug or alcohol addiction to go together. In 2014, over 20 million adults in the United States had a substance use disorder. Nearly eight million of those had both a substance abuse disorder and co-occurring mental illness. Getting sober is a challenge, but staying sober is equally, if not more, challenging.

Sometimes those triggers are people in your life, certain times of day or even familiar places. The holidays tend to bombard us with images of what should be – the perfect family, immaculate gifts, happy people celebrating life together, etc. Just because your life isn’t always like that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong. These powerful images can give us a false sense of failure, making use feel like we aren’t meeting the standard of what the holidays should be.