When addiction is active, we tend to lose track of responsibilities, time, eating and sleeping patterns and so many other essential parts of daily life, because the brain has become hardwired to only focus on one thing: substance use. Sure, we may be able to get by with several months of work or carrying out family responsibilities for the most part, but let's face it: addiction really does clutter what could otherwise be a healthily structured life.
It is for this reason that it's much more than simply "quitting" drug use; rather, it often takes a significant intervention for a person to be able to move forward from something that essentially took over them. Harvard Health emphasized that recovery is based on an entirely new learning process – and it's often done with various strategies, such as with medication assistance, 12-Step programs, individual and group therapy, self-care, structure in residential treatment programs and more.
If you've been struggling with addiction, seek the help you need today in order to get your life back on track. Don't miss another minute.
Surrender is defined as giving oneself over to something. When we think about this term in the context of active addiction, it's clear that addiction forces us to surrender; when addiction is severe, we surrender our thoughts, our actions, our relationships, our personal fulfillment, our dreams and our successes. A common thought is that addiction "hijacks" the brain – forcing us to surrender. When substances become so entrenched in our daily lives and in our mind, body and spirit that we no longer have control over our use, we're essentially surrendering ourselves. We don't recognize it at the time, but we are.
12-Step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), mention surrendering as a key step to recovery. Several of the steps, in fact – Steps 3 through 7, to be exact – are all based on the premise of surrender. A few years ago, one writer shared her point of view on surrendering in recovery. She explained to The Fix that surrendering is about letting go of the "ego" – the part of us that wants to be consumed in ourselves, our wants, our needs, our desires, our everything. When we surrender in recovery, we let that need for control go.
For those struggling with active addiction, the choice to surrender to God, or another Higher Power, may come from "rock bottom" as many call it – from losing a job, from losing an important relationship, from getting involved in legal trouble – to something else. The point is that in order to overcome the incredible power of this disease, we must surrender ourselves to something greater in order to recover from it.
Intensive outpatient treatment programs (IOPs) have proven time and time again to be incredibly successful in helping provide resources and support for those in addiction recovery, but it takes someone who is very self-motivated, who doesn't need detoxification and who has a stable home environment to qualify. Stability at home is a major part of recovery, especially for those in IOPs because they are not going to be heavily monitored, such as those partaking in an inpatient or residential treatment program. If you're considering joining an IOP, it's important to consider whether you currently have a stable home environment – and, if you don't, assessing what changes you can make to ensure that you do.
The University of Minnesota suggests that safety and security, lighting, physical comfort and more can have significant influences on how a person feels. The way the home environment is set up can promote or discourage interactions with others, it can influence motivations and can ultimately influence a person's mood (which can also influence relapse vulnerability). Ultimately, a person attending an IOP will want to ensure they have a stress-free environment when they return home each day so they can focus solely on their responsibilities and their recovery.
What changes can you make to your home environment, to your work desk and to your daily life to make it easier to carry out your recovery?
Hope – when we strengthen our spirituality, we're likely to have a better outlook on the future. We walk a little taller because we know that everything will be okay – even if we aren't sure how yet.
Compassion and understanding – Mother Theresa once said, "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." As human beings, we're all fragile; we all make mistakes, we all have regrets and we've all experienced pain. Spirituality helps us recognize others' pain as well as our own, with the ability to be compassionate to others in acknowledgement of what it means to be human.
Sense of purpose – a 2017 study published in the journal Addiction emphasized that addiction takes away meaningful life activities and connections that give us a sense of purpose in life; conversely, spirituality brings us closer to ourselves and to a Higher Power, which means we can then become closer to others as well.
Inspiration – through sponsorship, individual therapy, group activities and more, those in recovery can find inspiration. Spirituality is about connecting to others and coming together as a community – both of which only serve to strengthen love and hope.
Peace of mind – when we place less emphasis on ourselves, we can have a peace of mind in knowing that we are on the right path for a reason. Spirituality gives us this sense of peace by allowing us to overflow with stability, love and balance.
The most common depiction of a person with alcoholism (shown in movies, television shows, etc.) is someone who cannot pay their bills, who has lost all friends and family, who has recently lost their job and someone who is otherwise at "rock bottom". These images come to mind so quickly because they've been ingrained in our minds ever since we saw them in the media. The problem with this depiction, however, is that it's not entirely true. Of course, there are some people who do hit "rock bottom" – but there are many others who live a seemingly "put-together" life. In fact, according to Bustle magazine, an older study published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) noted that only 10% of those with alcoholism are actually homeless/low functioning.
Ward Richmond, a father and husband, once explained on Medium of his own experiencing with functioning alcoholism. He stated in 2018 that he too once viewed someone with alcoholism as hitting "rock bottom" – but when he started hearing concern from his loved ones about his alcohol use, he quickly released that he was just as capable of developing alcoholism. In fact, before he recognized that he needed help, he took pride in his drinking habits, almost as if he should be awarded "life of the party".
Many people with functioning alcoholism can feel this way, as it's often the after-hour work meetings and social hours with friends on the weekends that place the symptoms of alcoholism in their "best light". If you have been struggling with alcoholism, make the decision to seek help today. Recovery is right around the corner – and it's time for you to embrace it.
As a 2015 study published in the journal Russian Psychological Society noted, many people fail in recovery because they do not have the correct structure set in place. Sobriety is truly a lifestyle, which means that it incorporates your mind, body and spirit. Those who are most successful in recovery go on to develop nearly every aspect of their lives and, in turn, reap so many benefits from it.
Start building your life of recovery today. It's never too late.
As previous research has shown us, one of the biggest influencers of recovery is support. Having someone by our side to lean on, to tell when things aren't going the way we'd like for them to, to share our victories with – it all matters, and it can either pull us up (or push us down) in recovery.
Involvement in treatment is one of the biggest predictors of recovery success, but if we spend our time building our recovery with the wrong type of connections, we may wind up taking a few steps back in recovery – which is certainly not what we want.
Keeping friends from the past. A 2015 study published in the journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy found that those who associated themselves more with non-using friends and less with friends who used to use actually experienced a better quality of life.
Making friends with someone who attends 12-Step meetings but isn't sober. We all know of that person who attends but isn't 100% committed. Be wary of these types of connections because they could ultimately bring your recovery progress down – even if that wasn't the original intention.
Trying desperately to maintain connections with friends or family who do not support your recovery. As the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) notes, there are many reasons why family members may be unsupportive right now. The best you can do is let them know that you care and that you're trying, and then give them space to work through their concerns while you continue to focus on your recovery.
The people we let into our lives can significantly alter the paths we take, so it's wise to consider who you let in.
The people whom we spend our time with are the ones who often have the biggest impact on our recovery. This is often because the conversations, activities and thoughts that are shared become taken into consideration by ourselves, which can cause us to take different paths along the way. Recovery communities are strong yet vulnerable communities because they've experienced trauma, substance abuse and more. Thus, social connections are a huge area of concern for those in recovery due to the significant influence they can have on us.
In fact, previous research has shown that the more we engage ourselves with supportive others in recovery (such as with a sponsor in a 12-Step program), the more likely we are to not only participate in treatment to a greater extent, but also to remain abstinent for a longer period of time.
Recovery communities essentially undergo a change in perspective when it comes to self-identity. Towards the beginning of recovery, individuals may view themselves as "addicts" but, over time and with the right social support system, they will come to view themselves as people in recovery. With this change in self-perception comes a change in lifestyle – one that is more conducive to sobriety. Recovery communities restore their mind, body and spirit through a number of therapies, activities and treatment modalities, but social support is one of the strongest influencers because those whom we spend our time with can carry such a great influence on our mind and spirit.
Surround yourself with people who uplift you, inspire you and cheer you on. The more genuine support we can achieve, the greater our strength in recovery.
Sometimes recovery can feel like a maze; you take these twists and turns, and winding roads, with no clear idea as to where you're going. It's normal for those in recovery to feel a bit "lost" along the way – in fact, it's normal for anyone to feel that way. As humans, we don't have the answer to everything – and there's no way of knowing what lies ahead until we get there. While we can't control the future, what we can control is how we think about it. The mind is a powerful tool that shapes our reality through perception, and the thoughts we place meaning to are the ones that guide that perception.
When it comes to addiction recovery, thoughts are what can make or break us if we let them. It's so easy to become tempted by the negativity – by the thoughts that tell us we're not going to succeed, or that we don't know what we're doing or that we're only going to make it so far. A huge portion of what therapy teaches us, however, is that thoughts in and of themselves are not that important. In fact, we have very little control over our thoughts, but what we do have control over is whether or not we'd like to place meaning to them.
If you've been finding that you're more cynical lately, it could be that you're placing more emphasis on negative thoughts over positive ones. Without even realizing it, you could be sabotaging your own recovery – and all by assuming that the thoughts you're experiencing actually deserve to hold weight in your life. From now on, whenever you have a negative thought, try combatting it with something positive. Even if it's uncomfortable (because it may be, especially if your brain has become used to this pattern), purposefully choose to place emphasis on thoughts that boost your perception of recovery rather than thoughts that make you feel bad about your progress.