Staying Sober During the Holiday Season

Find quiet time each day for relaxation and to give your mind a break during the busy holiday season. Rarely do holiday events look like the scene from a movie. Families grow and change, so don’t let your expectations be your downfall.

Other small steps that can help an individual on the road to sobriety include making contact with old friends, buying new clothes, and eating one healthy new food every day. Some try to prove that they have control over their addiction and don’t need any help.

Work Through Physical Pain

However, if you do relapse, it needn’t become a pattern. These six practices can help you resist the urge of relapse and bounce back from any relapses that do occur with a firm resolve to do better in the future. We believe in providing our clients with an environment which addresses each individual’s unique physical, emotional, and social needs, while adapting to their changes as they happen. Each person at BRBH has their own limits and goals, which are carefully prepared for and tailored around during their care. Whether it’s a hike or a nice park, heading into nature is a good way to watch the natural world moving and slow down your thinking.

• You could be looking for a way to gain more support from family and friends, or want to limit possible triggers for relapse that can be present in everyday life.
• Some individuals start to exhibit compulsive behaviors, performing the same actions over and over, seemingly without reason.
• There’s no shortage of ways to get out and meet some new people with similar interests.
• This can include something like walking for twenty minutes a day or going to the gym with a friend three times a week.

For over 130 years, our hospital has played a vital role in the health of the people in Chippewa County and surrounding area. Remember, you can get sober and you can stay clean, even if you happen to fall off the path. Staying clean is hard and you’ll probably need some help. Some individuals start to exhibit compulsive behaviors, performing the same actions over and over, seemingly without reason. Impulsive behaviors may also develop, especially in moments of high stress. Remember, this is far from a complete list of triggers, so you may have to dive a bit deeper to recognize yours. Pyramid Healthcare is here to help you every step of the way.

Learn to recognize signs of relapse

Having one or multiple positive influences on your life can make all the difference when it comes to alcohol abuse. You may find yourself in a situation like a family gathering or hanging out with friends and alcohol is present. https://en.forexrobotron.info/overview-of-sober-living-environments-boston-massachusetts/ Others may be encouraging you to drink and don’t realize that you are aiming to stay sober. If you are afraid of not fitting in because you are not drinking along with others, non-alcoholic beer or cocktails are a great option.

Just as importantly, meditation could ease their mind and relax their body, making overcoming their need to abuse substances much easier. However, individuals who spend time unwinding outdoors can calm their mind and pull themselves away from the negative influence of the modern world on their drug addiction. People struggling with drug abuse like heroin addiction likely haven’t spent a lot of time in nature since developing this disease. Many have probably spent most of their time in their home or the homes of others abusing substances. Unfortunately, people who avoid nature or who claim that they don’t enjoy it are doing themselves a great disservice by not spending time surrounded by natural beauty. Staying sober at New Years while recovering from drug abuse is a real challenge but is something that anybody can handle with a little focus and a lot of help. The Holidays can be tough for many people, and it’s not uncommon for individuals going through recovery to face challenges during this time of the year.

Welcome to a life with more energy, confidence, and vitality.

If these emotions become excessive, they can hold you back from recovery. If you are trying to maintain a sober lifestyle, those feelings can become toxic and contribute to relapse if you don’t deal with them properly. People in recovery from a substance use disorder frequently have problems meeting work-related responsibilities, maintaining employment, and managing money. If you were active in your addiction for a period of time, you may have developed financial problems. Some of the immediate changes you will need to make will be obvious—like not hanging around the people that you used with or obtained drugs from. After all, you can’t hang around your drug dealer or old drinking buddies and expect to remain sober for very long. Post-acute withdrawal syndrome involves experiencing withdrawal symptoms that persist past the detox period.

Having a conversation triggers parts of your brain you don’t access when you’re thinking about something on your own. While having a conversation with other people is ideal as they offer new insights and lines of thinking, talking your obstacles out loud to yourself doesn’t hurt either. A large network of support is necessary to stay sober, but your biggest supporter needs to be you. When you feel yourself needing a drink, start reminding yourself what you’re thankful for.

Learning Center

Remember how much pain you may have caused your loved ones, if ever you’re about to relapse. Remember how badly you wanted to get sober that time you broke down before this journey began. You deserve a lot of credit for quitting, but now is not the time to start getting cocky.

• Here are 10 quick tips for maintaining your sobriety, and sanity, during the winter holidays and into the new year.
• These people, places and things are often also the triggers that lead to relapse and so they must be addressed in treatment and aftercare.
• Hosted by Editor-in-Chief and therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to avoid repeating mistakes and build better habits.
• Guilt is having negative feelings about your past behavior.
• During this early phase, it pays to have some techniques for staying sober up your sleeve.
• For those in early recovery, staying sober can be hard.

Everyone’s feelings are important, which means your emotions and health are equal to people who may be celebrating or mourning. If a funeral is too difficult for you to attend right now, feel confident to say you can’t attend. If a wedding is happening, but you’re worried about being surrounded by alcohol, then politely decline to attend. Obviously, an individual going through treatment for addiction can’t jump on a treadmill and expect instant sobriety. Instead, they should use various forms of exercise as a coping mechanism for their cravings and relapse triggers including what is a sober living house for New Years. Pairing exercise with the other methods mentioned above – and high-quality professional rehab – provides the best chance of staying sober for the rest of your life. This means getting restorative sleep every night, eating healthy foods, getting enough exercise, and spending time with positive people.