One of the tragedies of addiction is losing yourself and who you are within that addiction. The addict can become so defined by their substance abuse and the toll it takes on them, they no longer can conceive of an identity that is not tied to their addiction.
Overcoming that loss of identity and building a version of yourself independent of addiction can be one of the hardest but most important parts of the recovery process during addiction treatment. Reconnecting with yourself by rediscovering your identity in recovery is a major part of moving beyond substance abuse and becoming the “you” you can be.
Addiction is a killer of identity because substance abuse doesn’t leave the time or energy to be interested in anything outside of feeding the addiction. An addiction can start in support of another interest — any number of alcoholics may have started their drinking problem while watching a sports team they loved, for instance — but the addiction will soon grow larger and larger in the addict’s priorities, pushing anything else to the periphery and eventually out entirely.
This can leave the addict with little identity outside of their addiction. This can make transitioning into life after addiction a struggle, as they can be uncertain of who they are anymore. What do they like? What are they interested in? It can be especially devastating for addicts who started young, as their addiction took over when they were still discovering who they were in the first place. Older addicts can remember who they were before addiction. Those who started young have far less to fall back on.
But even older addicts may have to start from scratch to some degree, for addiction can change you from who you were before substance abuse took over your life. The life you had before addiction may no longer fit you as it did then, leading you to try and build a new you from the ashes of the old.
This can be a long, difficult process. You are working to establish who you are within parameters others don’t have to deal with. You may have to avoid certain situations or stimuli for fear of addiction triggers, or structure your daily schedule around support meetings or coping mechanisms others don’t worry about. Doing all that AND trying to create a new you can be a struggle.
But it is not impossible. And it is important. At Good Landing Recovery, the doctors and staff there will help the patient begin that process, learning what makes you tick in a post-addiction mindset and discovering yourself in the recovery journey.
Identity is important, after all. It informs us of who we are and how we will react to the challenges of life. We can build our identities around various things — who we know, what we like, what we believe. Faith and religion can form the core of identity for some. Others identify most strongly with who they are in the workplace. And some identify most strongly with their interests, such as sports or entertainment.
Whatever you build your identity around, it will be a better foundation than the addiction that once formed the bedrock of your identity as an addict. Reconnecting with yourself by rediscovering your identity in recovery is a vital part of building such a foundation. Good Landing can help you start that process. Give them a call today.
