3 Things to Give Up in Recovery Besides Drugs and Alcohol

Discover the 3 things to give up in recovery besides drugs and alcohol for a successful healing journey.

Published On

May 17, 2024

Dove Recovery's Team

3 Things to Give Up in Recovery Besides Drugs and Alcohol

Strategies for Successful Recovery

Recovery from substance abuse is a journey that requires a multipronged approach. Beyond abstaining from drugs and alcohol, there are other critical elements to consider. Here we'll explore two key strategies: adopting healthy habits and leveraging social support.

Healthy Habits for Recovery

One of the fundamental aspects of recovery is embracing healthy habits. Activities such as regular exercise, nutritious eating, and ensuring adequate sleep can significantly amplify recovery efforts. These habits help combat cravings, control withdrawal symptoms, and aid in healing and rejuvenation [1].

In addition to these physical habits, individuals in recovery can greatly benefit from engaging in hobbies, volunteering, or joining support groups. These activities allow individuals to connect with like-minded people, fostering positive relationships that offer understanding, encouragement, and companionship throughout the recovery journey. Such connections can act as a pillar for a fulfilling and sustainable life of sobriety and well-being [1].

Moreover, the concept of healthy addictions can play a crucial role in the recovery process. These refer to activities or behaviors that are positive, fulfilling, and promote overall well-being. They can include physical exercise, engaging in creative outlets and hobbies, practicing mindfulness and meditation, or any other positive pursuit that brings joy and fulfillment [2]. Healthy addictions provide individuals with positive outlets for their energy, emotions, and time, serving as healthy coping mechanisms that help fill the void left by harmful addictive behaviors and substances.

Social Support in Recovery

Social support is another key strategy in the recovery process. Group therapy, in particular, is a powerful therapeutic tool for treating substance abuse. It offers benefits such as reducing isolation and allowing members to witness the recovery of others. Group therapy is as helpful as individual therapy, and sometimes more successful, particularly when treating problems that commonly accompany substance abuse, such as depression, isolation, and shame.

Group sessions provide positive peer support and pressure to abstain from substances of abuse. They emphasize attendance and punctuality, which fosters commitment to recovery. Groups reduce the sense of isolation and help people identify with others who are facing similar challenges. Witnessing the recovery of others inspires hope and confidence in one's own ability to maintain abstinence.

Both healthy habits and social support can significantly enhance the recovery process. They help create a solid foundation for a healthier, more fulfilling life, free from the constraints of substance abuse.

Challenges in Addiction Recovery

Achieving sobriety is a significant step in the journey of recovery. However, the process is often marked by numerous challenges that may influence the success of the recovery journey.

Limited Access to Treatment

One of the primary obstacles in the path of recovery is limited access to treatment. This limitation may be due to financial constraints or lack of insurance coverage, preventing individuals from receiving necessary support and care. The lack of access to professional help often hinders the recovery process, as individuals are unable to receive the treatments necessary for overcoming their addictions.

For many, the cost of treatment services is a significant barrier. Without insurance coverage or financial means, accessing the necessary services becomes a challenge. This limited access underscores the need for more affordable and accessible treatment options for individuals battling addiction.

Lifestyle Changes and Social Circles

Recovery from addiction often involves significant lifestyle changes. These changes may include adopting healthier habits, such as regular exercise and a balanced diet, and breaking away from social circles that enable substance use.

While these changes are crucial for the recovery process, they can also be challenging and isolating for individuals in treatment. The transition from an environment of substance use to one of sobriety often involves leaving behind familiar social circles and habits. This can lead to feelings of loneliness, which can be a significant barrier in the recovery journey [4].

Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders

Substance use disorders often co-occur with mental health conditions, making recovery more challenging. Conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently accompany addiction, adding an extra layer of complexity to the recovery process.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), between a third to half of individuals suffering from mental health disorders also battle addiction and vice versa [5].

Integrated treatment approaches that address both issues are necessary for effective recovery. These approaches can include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and support groups, among others. However, finding and accessing these comprehensive treatment options can be another challenge for individuals in recovery.

Understanding these challenges is an essential part of the recovery journey. By acknowledging these obstacles, individuals, families, and treatment providers can work together to find effective solutions and pave the way for successful recovery.

Beyond Drugs and Alcohol

The journey of recovery involves more than just overcoming dependency on drugs or alcohol. There are other crucial aspects one needs to address in order to fully heal. In this section, we'll discuss three additional elements that individuals often need to relinquish during their recovery journey.

Giving Up Smoking

For many individuals in recovery, quitting smoking is a significant step. Smoking can act as an additional addiction, complicating and potentially hindering the recovery process. But the good news is that support resources for quitting smoking are readily available as part of substance use support services provided in many countries, including Canada. These services offer assistance, counseling, and tools to help individuals give up smoking and successfully navigate the journey to a healthier life.

Embracing Healthy Addictions

While the term 'addiction' generally carries negative connotations, 'healthy addictions' are positive, fulfilling activities that promote overall well-being. These can include physical exercise, engaging in creative outlets and hobbies, practicing mindfulness and meditation, or any positive pursuit that brings joy and fulfillment.

Healthy addictions play a crucial role in the recovery process. They serve as healthy coping mechanisms, providing individuals with positive outlets for their energy, emotions, and time, and helping to fill the void left by harmful addictive behaviors and substances. They can also bring structure and routine into one's life, helping to rebuild a sense of control and stability, and promote physical health, improve mental and emotional well-being, and enhance self-esteem and confidence.

Addressing Compulsive Behaviors

Addiction can take many forms beyond drugs and alcohol, including compulsive behaviors such as shopping, gambling, sex, internet use, eating, and other activities. Addiction is a brain disease characterized by cravings, an inability to abstain from the behavior or substance, dysfunctional emotional responses, and a loss of behavioral control.

These behavioral addictions can also increase some of the pleasure-inducing brain chemicals that drugs and alcohol do and can lead to addiction with prolonged repetition. Such behaviors can become tools for managing unhappiness and stress, and may be used as coping mechanisms. However, using addiction as a coping mechanism is harmful to the brain, body, spirit, and can also damage family, friends, and society as a whole.

In the journey of recovery, it's crucial to recognize and address these types of behaviors. By understanding the broader aspects of addiction and recovery, one can take comprehensive steps towards healing and embark on a path to a healthier, more fulfilling life.

Factors Impacting Recovery

An individual's recovery journey is influenced by a variety of elements. Two pivotal factors that can significantly impact the process are past trauma and the use of group therapy.

Trauma and Recovery

Trauma, as defined by NCBI Bookshelf, is a normal reaction to abnormal circumstances. The effects of trauma can be subtle, insidious, or outright destructive and vary greatly based on several factors, including the characteristics of the individual, the type of event, and sociocultural factors.

Survivors of trauma may exhibit a range of responses, both in the short and long term. Immediate symptoms can include exhaustion, anxiety, and dissociation, while delayed responses can encompass persistent fatigue, sleep disorders, and avoidance of emotions associated with the trauma. Emotional dysregulation and emotional numbing are also common in those who have experienced trauma, particularly if the trauma occurred at a young age.

Physical symptoms can also be present, including somatization or focusing on bodily symptoms to express emotional distress, and hyperarousal characterized by sleep disturbances and muscle tension.

Cognitively, trauma can alter self-beliefs, beliefs about others and the world, and beliefs about the future. It can lead to cognitive errors, excessive guilt, and intrusive thoughts and memories, creating a sense of feeling different from others.

For those in recovery, understanding and addressing trauma can be a crucial part of the healing process. Trauma can exacerbate substance use disorders and complicate recovery, making it an essential aspect to consider and address during treatment.

Group Therapy in Recovery

Group therapy is a powerful therapeutic tool for treating substance abuse. According to Source, it offers benefits such as reducing isolation and enabling members to witness the recovery of others. It's as helpful as individual therapy, and sometimes even more successful.

Group therapy is particularly effective when there are trained leaders and a focus on promoting recovery from substance abuse. Interpersonal process groups can help clients resolve problems in relating to others, problems from which they have tried to escape through addictive substances.

Group therapy and addiction treatment are natural allies. Individuals who abuse substances are more likely to remain abstinent and committed to recovery when treatment is provided in groups. This is due to rewarding and therapeutic forces such as affiliation, confrontation, support, gratification, and identification.

Group therapy is effective in addressing addiction and associated problems such as depression, anxiety, isolation, denial, shame, temporary cognitive impairment, and character pathology. It provides positive peer support and pressure to abstain from substances of abuse. Attendance and punctuality are emphasized in group therapy, which fosters commitment to recovery. Groups also reduce the sense of isolation and help individuals identify with others who are facing similar challenges. Witnessing the recovery of others inspires hope and confidence in one's own ability to maintain abstinence.

In summary, both trauma and group therapy play significant roles in recovery from substance abuse. Understanding and addressing these factors can greatly enhance the recovery process and increase the likelihood of long-term success.

Group Therapy Models

Group therapy serves as a powerful therapeutic tool for treating substance abuse. It offers benefits such as reducing isolation and enabling participants to witness the recovery of others. Group therapy is as effective as individual therapy, often proving to be more successful. It's especially useful for treating problems that commonly accompany substance abuse, such as depression, isolation, and shame. Let's explore various group therapy models.

Psychoeducational Groups

In psychoeducational groups, the main goal is to educate individuals about substance abuse and related behaviors. The focus is on developing a thorough understanding of the addiction process, including the impacts on physical, mental, and emotional health. These groups often utilize lectures, discussions, and learning activities to provide members with knowledge and resources to support recovery.

Skills Development Groups

Skills development groups focus on equipping individuals with the necessary skills to resist substance abuse and maintain recovery. This may involve teaching coping strategies, stress management techniques, problem-solving skills, and ways to identify and avoid triggers. These groups are designed to empower individuals, giving them the tools they need to take control of their recovery journey.

Cognitive-Behavioral Groups

Cognitive-behavioral groups operate on the understanding that thoughts and beliefs significantly influence behavior. Therefore, these groups focus on helping individuals identify and change negative thought patterns that may contribute to substance abuse. By replacing these destructive thoughts with healthier, more positive ones, individuals can effectively change their behavior and reduce their likelihood of relapse.

Support Groups

Support groups are a fundamental part of substance abuse treatment, offering positive peer support and pressure to abstain from substances of abuse. Attendance and punctuality are emphasized, fostering commitment to recovery. Groups reduce the sense of isolation and help people identify with others who are facing similar challenges. Witnessing the recovery of others inspires hope and confidence in one's own ability to maintain abstinence.

Interpersonal Process Groups

Interpersonal process groups focus on resolving problems in relating to other people, problems from which individuals have tried to escape through addictive substances. These groups help clients enhance their interpersonal skills, improve their ability to form healthy relationships, and address any social issues that may contribute to their substance abuse.

In conclusion, group therapy models provide an effective platform for individuals to learn, grow, and support one another throughout the recovery process. By utilizing these models, individuals can gain valuable insights and skills, contributing to a more successful and sustainable recovery.