3 Fears About Sobriety I Had As A High-Functioning Drinker: And How I Overcame Them

While you are in treatment, you will learn about accepting responsibility, and you will learn ways to ensure that you follow through on your commitments. Call Briarwood Detox Center today to learn more about our detox center and programs or for intervention assistance. Now that you can recognize this fear, the question is, how do you get through it? When you are feeling those emotional and ups and downs, how do you pull together the pieces and stick to the path towards recovery? If you are feeling overwhelmed, please reach out to these support networks and sponsors. These are great tools to help you combat your urges and to help you to maintain your sobriety.

• If you have specific concerns or a situation arises in which you require medical advice, you should consult with an appropriately trained and qualified medical services provider.
• If you do not think you can handle responsibility, you may have used drinking as an excuse.
• At a professional treatment facility like JourneyPure, you will be closely monitored by our trained doctors and medical staff throughout your entire detoxification process.

This fear doesn’t just apply to those who are entering or leaving a treatment center, as this is something that almost everyone will experience at some point in their lives. It’s important to involve your family in your recovery process, so both you and your family can begin to heal together. From there, you’ll learn the tools to continue to foster these relationships outside of treatment and beyond. You may have thoughts about losing all that is good in your life, losing all friends, being boring, and feeling lost without the use of the substance. This fear is common, but by looking at the sober community, you can see that those thoughts are not true.

Fear of Handling Stress

For many addicts, the ongoing cycle of drug and alcohol abuse is a way to avoid withdrawal symptoms and deal with other unpleasant emotions and things happening in life. The thought of going through withdrawal is agonizing and it’s not worth giving up drugs. During the course of a developing alcohol addiction, https://ecosoberhouse.com/ a person’s priorities change and so does his or her overall lifestyle. Drinking buddies and favorite “haunts” or bars all become part of a lifestyle that’s designed to support continued drinking. This lifestyle takes shape over time as alcohol’s effects cause continued damage to the brain’s reward pathway.

Staying in Recovery with this mindset is difficult. It’s important that we understand that life is still going to happen, and we’ll feel pain, anger, and sadness, but that we won’t have to use in the midst of these emotions. Obviously, if the individual believes they can drink/use moderately, being clean, sober, and in active Recovery isn’t in the cards for them at this moment. I’ve heard of many substance users who believe they can return to normal life, even after having some sobriety, and learn how to use in moderation.

Withdrawal

The individual may have the clarity to see how much the substance abuse is destroying their life, but the idea of leaving their misery behind frightens them. This is because there is comfort in the familiar even when the familiar is far from ideal. People who are trapped in alcoholism can develop the idea that their life is as good as it can get. They can imagine that a life in sobriety is dull and unsatisfying.

If you have a loved one struggling with a substance use disorder, you may feel incredibly frustrated that they won’t get help. Can they not see what drugs and alcohol are doing to them? What’s important to understand is that your loved one may be miserable but they’re also afraid. The professional staff at your rehab center will minimize whatever pain you may feel during detox or the cravings you will experience during treatment. Some pain in the process will be necessary in order to overcome and understand the reason for your addiction. You cannot get better if you do not recognize and learn to overcome the reasons that have kept you from being the self-actualized person you are meant to be.

Ways Writing Can Help You Stay Sober

I was thoroughly convinced that there would be gossip and moments that would happen that I would never be able to experience if I wasn’t there using/drinking. Internalizing that fear of missing out can keep an individual paralyzed for years. I have heard countless stories of people who return to using because they just can’t get over their fear of missing out. Gateway Foundation can be your partner in addiction recovery.

Feelings of fear can be a powerful motivator, directing a person’s actions on both conscious and unconscious levels. Both drinkers and non-drinkers alike encounter fear at some point in their lives. While each person can choose how to react to this emotion, people struggling with drinking problems have the damaging effects of alcohol to contend with as well. Of course, these terms all mean something different.

Addiction Info

If a loved one is trapped in addiction, they have to be ready to commit to the process of Recovery. I failed to realize that getting sober was a process and not a single event. The human experience is to fear of being sober feel a wide range of emotions. Most of my biggest fears came true, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There may be 101 reasons to avoid rehab, but the reasons to go matter more than anything else.