Find a few minutes each day to sit or lay down in silence and practice deep breathing. I learned that I could use my own experience with addiction to help others. Substance abuse significantly impacts users, their families, their community, and society as a whole. In the United States, 60.1% of individuals ages 12 and older use at least one substance , according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Chris Howard is the Founder and Director of Ethos Recovery. In Psychology from UCLA and has served as a community advocate/mentor for men and women in recovery since 2010. If you are seeking advice on how to better your sobriety, we can help. When you think of sobriety, your mind is likely to go straight to the word abstinence. Prioritizing your physical and mental well-being is essential. If you or someone you know needs help navigating the road to recovery in Los Angeles, New York, or Houston, get in touch with one of our confidential Admission Specialists.
When living a sober life after addiction, your overall health improves immensely. This is because you’re no longer attacking your body by putting dangerous amounts of toxic substances in it. Well, we are here to tell you that the benefits of sobriety far outweigh the downfalls. In fact, living a sober life is the best decision that you can ever make.
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Is It Really Possible to Live Life Completely Sober?
However, making time for yourself can be challenging to remember as you transition back into society. Our days are jam-packed, and we live in a society that glorifies being busy. Remember what you worked hard to achieve and take your power back. There is no shame in needing support as you navigate through a sober lifestyle. In the ’40s and ’50s, California began to dismantle its custodial care systems (e.g., local jails and state psychiatric hospitals), creating an even greater need for sober living houses.
First and foremost, I wanted to say congratulations on your sobriety and thank you for sharing as this can bring hope and light to those reading this post. I am happy to hear that you are starting to feel like your old self. Recovery can be a long and hard fight but always remember it is worth it all. Like you said you will begin to appreciate your sobriety but most importantly you will begin to appreciate your journey. I don’t know why there are so many articles like this with a clear agenda that aren’t giving people an accurate view of the entire process, or even speaking of early withdrawal symptoms properly. If you or someone you know experiences mental health issues, it is important to seek help from a qualified professional. Our Resource Specialist can help you find expert mental health resources to recover in your community. Contact us now for more information on this free service to our users. When you don’t put anything unhealthy into your body, you won’t be so vulnerable to colds and stomach bugs. You have to spend time acquiring your substance of choice, using it, and then recovering from its effects.
Hidden Benefits of Living a Sober Life
Many addicts have heard that living a sober lifestyle means abstinence from alcohol and drugs. While this is true, living a sober lifestyle isn’t simply about abstaining from substance abuse. It’s about living a healthier, happier, and more productive life. Drug and alcohol abuse is harmful to nearly every organ in the body and chronic and long-term substance abuse can even cause life-threatening diseases or medical conditions. Fortunately, just as your appearance will improve as you spend more time sober, your overall health will also get better. I definitely got many benefits from quitting alcohol and s fit body, Better sleep and no blacking out and getting hurt or hurting those I love around me. But I can’t say my life got better, Health yes but mentally I wasn’t worse off but now i see myself as really boring.
- This is one of the most beautiful things a sober life can offer you.
- If your alcohol abuse has resulted in loss of income, insurance, or housing, you will want to research your public funding options for treatment.
- The best way for managing this fear is to arm ourselves with information.
- So how do you go about pursuing all these benefits of the sober life?
With a brand new year ahead of you, there are plenty of opportunities to make the most of your new life. But as with every other area of your life, once you’re sober, you’ll be able to see yourself more clearly. You’ll start to see all the wonderful things you’ve done in your life and the beauty you live in each day. You may be spending a lot of your money every week on alcohol or drugs, and that means you have a lot less money to spend in the important areas of life. One of the big barriers to sobriety for many people is a concern that they’ll lose their friends. After all, if you’re sober, it’s hard to hang out with friends who only hang out in bars or get high. In our society, when things go wrong, people tend to turn to substance abuse as a coping mechanism.
This is because when you suffer from addiction, you become consumed with getting more alcohol or drugs and that alone. But, when you become sober, you get to have all the time that you would have normally used to obtain substances while suffering from addiction. With all this newfound time, you can change your life for the better. Trust us, if you struggle with substance abuse or addiction, living a sober life will improve your life immensely.
Although you’ll probably still need to make apologies here and there, they won’t be a result of drunken escapades and you can genuinely apologize and make amends with a clear and sober mind. If your life revolves around your next high or your next drink, then your friends most likely do too. Now that you’re sober, you can start working to develop real friendships with people who actually care about you and value you. But none of these coping mechanisms is healthy, and none of them get to the root of the issue. When you’re sober, you turn to healthier coping mechanisms like exercise, meditation, journaling, spending time with friends, and attending therapy. At Turnbridge, the young men and women in our sober living program are all considered unsung heroes. With great strength and bravery, they have all made a considerable, yet often unacknowledged, change to better their lives and the lives of the ones they love. If you believe you are addicted to alcohol or drugs, or believe there’s a need to get sober, you too have the potential to make this change. Setting goals plays a major role in the recovery journey.
Learn to Love Yourself
Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Having a chaotic or disorganized lifestyle can also hinder your recovery. It's important to develop a structured daily and weekly schedule and stick to it. If PAWS is severe or if you're experiencing prolonged symptoms, a medical professional living a sober life can help you work through them and remain in recovery without relapse. The symptoms involved in PAWS can be a barrier to recovery if you're not careful. In addition to being able to recognize them, it's important to know when to seek help. Post-acute withdrawal syndrome involves experiencing withdrawal symptoms that persist past the detox period.
Hosted by Editor-in-Chief and therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to avoid repeating mistakes and build better habits. It is estimated that up to 80% of those who find long-term sobriety had at least one relapse along the way.
A New Lease on Life
Many people attempt to sober up on their own and find themselves failing over and over, so it is advised that treatment is sought to give you a better chance at achieving sobriety. Sober living houses are alcohol and drug-free environments where residents can establish or maintain their sobriety. Through peer support, proven recovery principles, peer empowerment, and individual responsibility, residents can solidify their sobriety and prepare to return home or live independently. In our comprehensive guide, we share the truth about sober living homes, including what it is like living in a sober house and how it factors into the long-term recovery process. That being said, you might not be at a place where you want people to know you’re not drinking, and that’s OK. You can provide an excuse, like that you’re on antibiotics, or you aren’t feeling great or want to feel fresh for something you have going on the next day. It’s important to remember that you never have to give yourself up to make other people comfortable—ever. Whether you’re stating a one-sentence response (“I don’t drink”) or using a small excuse, the only thing to consider is whether you are comfortable, and whether your boundaries are being upheld.
He had some issues with substance abuse due to a neck injury from SNL. I miss him too, but my hope is he's living a quiet sober life somewhere.
— Sconnie Native (@JessicaHess10) August 20, 2022
It felt like I was constantly apologizing for someone else’s rude behavior. Since then I have learned how to have fun and deal with stress in healthy ways and I have found productive outlets for negative feelings. A vital component of a successful sobriety Sober House lifestyle is developing healthy relationships with people in your life. Many people struggle with maintaining healthy relationships, and this can be a key reason for relapse. When I was drinking, it never occurred to me that I was an introvert.