Addiction is one of the most challenging fights to face in life, and nearly 23 million adults in the United States have faced that battle at some point in their lives. Finding yourself falling into substance abuse is much easier than most think, and it doesn’t take long for addiction to control your life. The sooner you start the addiction recovery process, the more likely you will resume your old life.
Choosing a rehab center is an excellent start if you’re committing to eliminating drugs and alcohol from your life. Still, there are errors in drug addiction recovery that you should know about and avoid to resume a sober and happy life.
The good news is that you’ve discovered the perfect guide to learn about the types of drug addictions and the ten mistakes to avoid when working toward sobriety. Continue reading to give yourself the best odds of overcoming your fight with addiction today!
1. Recovering Alone
It’s a mistake to attempt to recover from drug and alcohol addiction alone, especially when you have plenty of resources to assist your journey. When beginning the addiction recovery process, the natural reaction is to attempt to overcome addictions alone and remain resistant to outside help.
Letting go of control of your life is a terrifying thought, but it’s necessary to eliminate drugs and alcohol from your life. If you’re battling Substance Abuse Disorder, you don’t have control over your addiction.
The determination to get sober might be strong today and disappear tomorrow. A rehab center staff will provide a positive environment and resources to assist you with ending your drug use.
2. Spending Time With the Wrong People
Another common mistake many people attempting to overcome addiction make is hanging out with the wrong crowd. It’s easy to convince yourself that you can still hang out with friends from your past who drink and use drugs. The reality is that this crowd possibly had a role in the beginnings of your substance abuse.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that what your friends do doesn’t affect you. Humans are vulnerable to being influenced by the people around them. Peer pressure, whether overt or covert, could push you back into the clutches of drug addiction before you know it.
It’s natural to feel lonely when striving for sobriety. Overcome the urge to spend time around people where drugs and alcohol are prevalent. It’s the most effective way to maintain the path toward a sober life.
3. Getting Complacent
You should never allow yourself to get complacent during your addiction recovery process. You can feel proud and happy with your progress, but complacency opens the door to old habits and addictions. Many people who are battling an addiction relapse after nine or ten months since the process is going well.
Cutting corners and skipping meetings with your rehab center staff can quickly become neglecting self-care. It’s similar to a person battling a mental health disorder deciding they don’t need medication because they’re doing better. You risk losing all your progress to get sober when you grow complacent.
4. Ignoring Positive Triggers
Not all triggers are negative, though you’ll hear much about negative triggers when choosing a rehab center and getting the help you need. Most triggers involve people and places that create an impulse to return to your old life of using drugs and alcohol.
Your time working with rehab staff should help you learn to navigate the cravings and negative emotions familiar with drug addiction. It’s best to focus on the positive triggers when recovering from addiction. Positive triggers can include marriage, the birth of a child, or getting a promotion at work.
These life events are often celebrated with drinks, and drinking lowers your inhibitions. You’re more likely to be in a great mood, which is the perfect opportunity to let down your guard and relapse. Guard yourself against positive triggers to maintain sobriety and continue your progress.
5. Comparing Progress
Your battle with substance abuse is different than everyone else’s. One of the worst errors in drug addiction recovery is comparing your progress with the people in your program. You don’t know what they’ve been through and how addiction has affected their lives.
It’s natural to want to chart your progress when working through the addiction recovery process. Charting your progress provides a baseline to determine your success in working toward sobriety. Other people in your program are not the benchmark you should focus on to determine how much progress you’ve made.
The addiction and personal history are different for each person in your program. Your recovery process will look different from everyone else’s. Comparing yourself to them will result in unnecessary stress that could push you back into substance abuse.
6. Taking on Too Much
Feeling better after a few months at your chosen premier rehab facility is natural, but that doesn’t mean you should take on the world. The goal is to wake up feeling fresh and happy instead of hungover and looking for your next fix. The further you get into the recovery process, the more likely you are to feel better and enjoy the friendships you’ve made.
You’ll start to feel like you can take on everything the world can offer since you haven’t felt this good in months or years. Remember that you’re still early in your recovery process.
Be patient and cautious with taking on new challenges during the early stages of recovery. Give your new skills and recovery habits time to stabilize before tackling new challenges and rebuilding your life. It’s the best way to avoid burnout and relapse while recovering.
7. Entering a New Relationship
Connecting with someone on a deeper level is often helpful when you’ve been through challenging times, but it’s one of the worst errors in drug addiction recovery. Most people develop substance abuse disorder as young adults, especially between 18 and 25.
It’s also the age when most people are the most active in their dating lives. Jumping into the dating pool after you’ve started the addiction recovery process is tempting, but it’s best to stay patient. Your focus should remain on your recovery to escape the clutches of drugs and alcohol in daily life.
You’re more likely to fall into the old habits that led you to substance abuse initially if you jump into a new relationship. It’s a good rule of thumb to wait at least a year after starting your recovery before entering the dating pool again.
8. Expecting Too Much
Choosing a rehab center and starting treatment is an excellent way to improve your quality of life, but you shouldn’t expect it to fix every aspect of life. It’s common for people battling drug addictions to expect rehab to fix every negative thing in their lives. Expecting too much will lead to disappointment and negative triggers.
The goal of sobriety is to prevent yourself from creating new problems in your life. You’ll still need to face the issues you made within your life caused outside of your drug addictions and substance abuse. Your treatment will help you handle the problems caused by drugs and alcohol, but you must find a healthy way to solve the other problems in your life.
9. Thinking You’re Cured
Feeling confident in your progress is good and healthy, but you shouldn’t go overboard and believe you’re cured after a few months of treatment. It’s a similar challenge to complacency during the addiction recovery process, and you could jump into the world before you’re ready to work through your problems and learn to handle triggers.
Many people think they can use drugs and alcohol in moderation like other people. You may find early success, but you’re laying the groundwork to slip back into old and harmful habits. Most types of drug addictions are progressive.
You won’t think you have a problem at first, but you’ll be addicted again before you know it. Don’t undo all the hard work you’ve invested in yourself to live a sober life.
10. Thinking Treament Fixes All
If you think 30 to 90 days of treatment will solve all your substance abuse issues, you’re playing a dangerous game. A quality treatment program with an excellent rehab center staff is a wonderful way to find the path toward sobriety, but the road is long, and you’ll need to stick to it to find the success you crave.
It’s best to learn how to apply your recovery skills and develop a healthy lifestyle before you’re ready to re-enter society. Don’t get tripped up by the jump from structure and therapy to the chaos of the real world.
Avoid These Errors in Drug Addiction Recovery
Finding success with the addiction recovery process is the goal of every person choosing a rehab center and taking steps to live a sober life. Learning to avoid errors in drug addiction recovery is crucial to get your previous life back and living a long, healthy, and happy life.
Don’t attempt to recover from your addictions alone. Find a rehab center staff that is helpful and kind, and avoid spending time with the wrong crowd. During recovery, learn to identify positive triggers and avoid jumping into a new relationship.
Taking control of your health is the key to getting more from life with the people you love. Read more of our Health and Fitness blog for engaging and uplifting content to help you build a positive lifestyle today!
