The goal of rehab and addiction treatment is to reach a sustained state of sobriety and it is possible with great effort to achieve that goal. But that is not the end of the journey. After achieving sobriety, after all, the recovering addict must remain sober, and that can be a struggle in and of itself. Cravings and memories of the fleeting positive of substance abuse can loom up and attempt to draw the newly sober addict back to their addiction.
It is vital, therefore, for the recovering addict to learn the trick of overcoming temptations in the path to sobriety.
Addiction is a disease that never really goes away. Even after years of sobriety, a former addict is still a recovering addict, not a recovered addict. Recovery is a road, not a destination, for even after severing the chemical and physiological connection to substance abuse, the psychological bonds can remain in the mind for decades to come.
This means that it can be hard to know when addiction may attempt to rear its ugly head within your life again. Any little thing, no matter how seemingly innocuous, can set off a craving, tempting the recovering addict to return to substance abuse and fall back into the clutches of addiction once more.
While it is impossible to avoid this danger entirely, it is possible for the recovering addict to take steps to better protect themselves from temptation. There are coping mechanisms and protective actions that can be utilized to make the path to sobriety a smoother one, no matter the dangers along the way.
The recovering addict must be ever vigilant against addiction, after all. They must be aware of what can most tempt them from their former addiction: the places, people and things that remind them of what they once did and seek to draw them back to it.
This may mean cutting things out of your life you’d rather not. Favorite places you can’t return to because they’re too associated with your former addiction. People you spent time with but continue to engage in substance abuse and must now be avoided. You must identify and isolate the habits and actions that are forever linked with your addiction in your mind and leave them behind.
Of course, even if you successfully do so, that won’t entirely cut you off from addiction. Even the littlest thing, no matter how innocent, could serve as a trigger for your addiction. In such a case, you also need to have ways to cope with it ready to deploy. You may have to retreat from an uncomfortable situation and find solace in some calming technique, like meditation or prayer. You may need to indulge in a hobby that lets you banish the temptation by focusing on something else. You may need to call a friend or visit a support meeting and find resistance to temptation in fellowship and moral support.
Each recovering addict will have their own preferred methods of dealing with temptation. It’s up to you to find which one is best for you.
Good Landing Recovery can help you do that, teaching methods and mechanisms to cope with cravings and resist temptations. They can continue to offer support in recovery, even after rehab, to deal with such problems as you continue on the path to sobriety.
Resisting temptation is never easy for anyone, let alone a recovering addict who has dealt with substance abuse and all its hazards. But there are ways to overcome those temptations on the path to sobriety and Good Landing can help you discover what they are. Give them a call today and let them help you get started.
