1. Tips to Help You Overcome Addiction
September 21, 2012
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 June, 2013 14:09
Addiction is one of the hardest things to overcome and therefore it is important to try your best when it
comes to developing a strategy to help you overcome your addiction. There are a number of things that
you can do in order to help you beat the odds. The most important thing is to remember that you are not
alone and that there are literally millions of people who have successfully beat addiction by following a
few simple steps that you can utilize to your advantage.
Find a Sober Support Network
In order to have the best chance possible at beating your addiction, it is crucial to set up a network of
sober supports. These can be people that you met through treatment, at your intensive outpatient
program, or in meetings. It’s crucial that you surround yourself with other people who are trying to
overcome their addiction because they will be the people that you can turn to when you are struggling.
The will personally be able to relate to your struggle, and will also be able to offer you advice when it
comes to everyday life and how to live sober.
Chances are, you aren’t the first person who is experiencing certain emotions and therefore should have
no problem finding sober supports to relate to. Having a sober support system will also help you to feel
less lonely which will prevent you from reaching out to harmful influences from you past. One of the
hardest things to do when it comes to overcoming your addiction is to cut ties with the people you
knew from you past who are not trying to change their lives for the better. You may be tempted to reach
out to them from time to time but if you have a network of sober supports you will feel less inclined to
do so.
Know Yourself
In order to become emotionally strong it’s important that you get to know yourself very well. If you’re
not mentally tuned in to your emotions and reactions it may prove difficult to prepare yourself for your
triggers. Triggers are what stir you up emotionally, causing you to feel so uncomfortable that you may
get the desire to use drugs or alcohol again just to avoid feeling as uncomfortable as you do.
If you are aware of what your triggers are it will become easier and easier to identify your unhealthy
emotions and change them around before it is too late. For instance, if you know that talking to a
certain family member will make you feel unhappy, you can learn to distance yourself from the family
member and you can also have a plan for the times that you may be forced to interact with he or she so
that you don’t go down a bad path after doing so.
Healthy Distractions
It’s important to have healthy distractions especially when you are in early recover. These can include
art classes, exercise, support groups, a job, school and more. In order to stay focused on your recovery,
you sometimes need to distract yourself by becoming busy in other ways. Think of all the time that you
spent drinking and using that you now have free to use in whatever way you’d like. Maybe it’s time to
learn how to play the guitar or start volunteering at the local homeless shelter. Whatever you decide to
do, make sure it’s something that you enjoy and something that involved positive people who know
that you are trying to change your life for the better.
Educate Yourself
2. The best way to become good at something is to learn as much as you can about it. In order to become
to expert on a certain authority you should go out of your way to learn everything that you can about it.
When it comes to addiction, there is a wealth of information available both in libraries and on the
internet. Become an expert about the way in which your particular addiction affects the brain and you
will be better equipped to overcome it.
The more you know about addiction, the better you will be able to recognize negative patterns as well
as danger signs. You can prevent relapse by educating yourself to become aware of your triggers and by
having a plan of action for when you start to feel uncomfortable in sobriety. The more you know, the
better armored you will be to overcome your addiction and start living a healthier and happier life.
Therapy
Many addicts and alcoholics in early recovery need to go to therapy in order to overcome their
addictions. While it’s true that many addicts and alcoholics can overcome their issues just by abstaining
from substances, it’s also important that a lot of individuals seek therapy for the things that have
happened to them in their past. Oftentimes, addiction issues are the result of a deeper problem that was
never addressed. In order to ensure that an individual is successful in their recovery it is necessary to
address the underlying issues that affected the person in the first place. By getting to the root of the
problem, a person is able to heal and get over the negative emotions that may have lead them to
addiction in the first place.
Be Accountable
Holding yourself accountable to someone will help you stay accountable to yourself. There are many
different people who can act as your emotional sponsor in order to ensure that you have someone to
report to. Having another person to keep you accountable work the same as if you were a business
going over annual review. Sometimes being accountable to someone else can help keep you sober
better than you can help yourself. These are the people that you can confide in to help you along your
road of recovery. Throughout the recovery process there will be a lot of people you can use as supports.
These include but are not limited to people in the program, your counselors, therapists, family, new
sober supports and individuals from your substance abuse treatment center.
