You know, deep down, that you can and should have a better life. The more you scratch it, the worse it’s going to get. Leave it alone, give it time, and it will go away on its own. Besides, allowing the fear of failure to completely influence big decisions like this is a cop-out. It’s a dysfunctional version of “playing it safe.” You deserve better than that. Don’t let difficult decisions and conversations with loved ones be the excuse you use to keep drinking alcohol.
Fears About Sobriety That Will Sabotage Your Recovery
Sobriety may help to prevent significant mood fluctuations. Early sobriety may come with feelings of fatigue and the stress of dealing with challenges (people, places, and things that stimulate the urge to use). why does alcohol cause bruising It’s impossible to know how you’ll react and how your life will change when getting and staying sober. There are common setbacks to getting and staying sober like withdrawal, craving, and pressure to use.
Is it possible to be afraid of recovering from addiction?
“During that time I avoided looking in the mirror, because I didn’t like the person who was looking back at me,” she recalled. Lana Del Ray began drinking as a teenager and even got sent to a boarding school when she was 14 in an attempt to get sober, according to her 2012 profile with GQ. “Sex and the City” star Kristin Davis thanks her acting career for keeping her afloat amid her years-long addiction to alcohol. “But I’ve learned it truly is just one day at a time and I just want to tell you guys the truth because I never, ever want to lie to you,” she added.
Avoid Old Routines and Habits
- You will have strong days when you feel like you can take on the world.
- When you do start to deal with your problems in healthier ways (and you will), you are going to feel completely transformed and unstoppable.
- Financial troubles and problems finding and keeping employment are major triggers for relapse, but it is possible to take baby steps and get your finances in order.
You can choose how much to tell them about where you’re going and why. But if you do choose to talk about your addiction, it’s from a place of taking responsibility for it. If you’ve developed an identity tied closely to the drug scene, you might fear losing yourself outside that world.
How to Cope with a Fear of Sobriety
In these situations, recognize what it means to you, personally, to recover. While it’s easy to focus on what other people think, it’s more important to recognize the opportunities that are presented to you when you improve your dependency. After detox, it’s easy to come to the realization that there are people who are still standing by your side that probably should not be. You recognize what you’ve put them through, you’re ashamed of it and you wish you could take it back. Yet, at the same time, it may feel better just to give in and use because that’s what they expect from you.
Finding Happiness in Sobriety
You’re ready to take that step towards recovery. When we asked our alumna to describe what being sober feels like, she gave a detailed and inviting description that captured these key points. If you’re involved in a 12-step program, you likely already know the importance of milestones. In these programs, it’s customary to receive plastic chips as you progress to the one-year mark, at which time you receive a bronze coin.
Evoke Wellness – Begin Your Sobriety Journey
If you haven’t felt what sobriety feels like, you can. The promise of sobriety is that “the way I feel stone-cold sober, even on my worst days ever … I would never trade to feel the effects of a drug and drink again,” our alumna said. She said anyone can have the same experience being sober.
Once known as one of the most iconic socialites of the 1990s, Kate Moss reportedly got sober sometime after launching her wellness brand, Cosmoss, in 2019. Jennifer Hudson told Chelsea Handler she has “never” had a single drink in her life while appearing on “Chelsea Lately” in 2013, per HuffPost. Two years prior, he celebrated his sobriety journey by sharing an encouraging message to others who may be struggling. She spent more than a year in rehab as a tween and became emancipated from her mother at the age of 14, after which she began rebuilding her life and her tarnished career.
This can include physical withdrawal symptoms (e.g. aches and pains) and psychological withdrawals (e.g. strong cravings). Many addicts worry that withdrawals will be too painful to cope with. You may also doubt your ability to resist the urge to use again. If drug addiction blog and resources that’s you, no matter your level of addiction, you should consider doing an inpatient medical detox. For certain substances and levels of addiction, this is a medical necessity. For example, severe alcohol withdrawal can be deadly without medical treatment.
Bradley Cooper got sober at the age of 29 after spending years dealing with a drug and alcohol addiction behind closed doors. Many stars have bravely spoken out about their struggles with substance abuse and their journeys to sobriety. At The Ranch at Dove Tree, a key component of our process is to give you the tools you need to move forward. That includes talking about these fears, learning to understand what sobriety will mean to you, and facing what’s underneath it all.
If you try to stop using and fail, you’re disappointing them all over again. With friends, if they aren’t on board with your sobriety, you’ll have some tough choices ahead. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about it until you’ve got some solid, sober days under your belt. Overcoming fears in any situation is difficult, but when it involves a life change, it can be especially challenging. Face your fears of recovery, and talk about them with your loved ones. Then be prepared to work hard and to have setbacks.
“My decision to become sober wasn’t out of a need necessarily, it was more just that I did ‘sober January’ and I just decided to keep going,” she told People in October 2017. Robert Downey Jr. struggled with drug abuse stimulant overdose drug overdose cdc injury center from a young age and even ended up in the slammer in 1999 after he failed to take court-ordered drug tests for a cocaine possession charge from 1996. “I used to b happy when I was high,” she wrote at the time.
Additionally, pursue an addiction treatment center that prioritizes relapse prevention. You’ll know you will be taught the tools to prevent a relapse and to deal with one if you do relapse. Another common fear in recovery is rejection from friends and family. You may think that your loved ones will think less of you or not want to be around you. The truth is they probably already know you have a problem. And if they care about you, they will support your choice to get help.
Find reasons to laugh and smile through gratitude each hour of your day. Though your journey through recovery is absolutely serious, try not to always take yourself so seriously. On your hardest days, you might try writing down two or three reasons you had to smile. When you imagine your reservations and fears, remember that they are feelings. You cannot always control how you feel, or when you feel fear, but you don’t have to let the feelings or fear control you.
“I didn’t put [a drink] down because my drinking was a problem,” she told Modern Luxury’s Boston Common magazine. These are thoughts that run through every addict’s mind. In others, it is the natural human instinct to worry about the unknown. In other words, success is the blissful absence of all of the devastating consequences of a previous drug or alcohol habit. A structured routine will help you achieve other goals in your life, whether they are short-term (like being on time for work) or long-term (like going back to school and changing careers). The symptoms involved in PAWS can be a barrier to recovery if you’re not careful.
The key here is not just to know that fear is common, but to know what to look for so you can take steps to avoid a relapse spurred by fear. Every person faces fear at various times in their lives. The type of response we have to situations differs from one person to the next. It is quite common for some to worry significantly about a therapy session while others worry about not opening up. If these concerns resonate with you, remember that sobriety doesn’t happen overnight—even if you try to rush it. Give yourself time to discover the new sober you.
Some people experience many setbacks before they find lasting recovery. Your intentions may be good, but it takes more than willpower to avoid having a relapse. If you’re in recovery from a substance use disorder, you already know how much work it took to achieve sobriety, and you’ll want to do everything possible to avoid having a relapse. It may seem that relapse is the last thing that could happen to you, but the truth is they are very common for people new to recovery. Sobriety can be a fixed-term goal like staying sober for a set period (such as Dry January), or a lifelong goal of staying sober from all substances. The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing.