Are You In Addiction Recovery Or Only Sobriety?
Sobriety and addiction recovery may seem like the same thing on paper. But in practice, they can be quite different. Sobriety means someone isn’t using drugs or alcohol. Addiction recovery is about an entire lifestyle change. As a woman with an addiction, you need to know where you stand. Are you in addiction recovery, or are you just sober?
Who Are You As A Woman
What kind of woman are you now? What kind of woman do you want to be? If you have been addicted to drugs or alcohol, you may have been dodging these questions for a long time.
When you don’t quite know who you are, you have two choices – keep running away or face the situation and dig deeper for more answers. A woman who is not ready to embrace recovery will constantly avoid these questions. She could be stone sober and still not really be in recovery.
You don’t need to have perfect answers to these questions. They are part of every woman’s lifelong identity process. You just need to be willing to face the questions throughout your life. That takes an act of courage, and that’s what moves you in recovery mode.
Listen To Your Mental Chatter
What’s your mental chatter saying to you? Does it take notice of your strengths and gifts, or does it scold and belittle you? Does it lift you up or make negative comparisons between you and others?
You’re a bad mother. You’ll never amount to anything like your sister. You’re a lousy daughter (or wife, or friend).
If you are just sober, you may not know what to do with these thoughts. They may trigger all kinds of emotions, sending you on a roller coaster every day. You might find other things to obsess about so your mind can’t focus on those awful words.
Face The Discomfort Of Your Emotions
When you are in recovery, you’ll still hear those things. But instead of ignoring them, you pay attention like you were a detective. How do those words affect me? Where do those phrases come from? Do I have to believe them every time I hear them? What else could I be saying to myself instead?
What’s the difference here? With sobriety, you just react in the moment. It hurts, so you turn away. In addiction recovery, you stay with the hurt for a while so you can change the process. You acknowledge the presence of these thoughts, but you refuse to accept the negativity. Then you do something positive to change your mood. Those thoughts may be there, but they don’t control you.
Stay well-supported when you deal with negative self-talk. Facing these feelings can be tough for a while. With practice, this gradually becomes easier and less stressful.
Sobriety and Addiction Recovery
When you go to drug rehab, the first task is to get you sober. You need the chemicals out of your body so you can start fresh. Sobriety can come fairly quickly, but true recovery can take a lifetime. Take a look at yourself today and make sure you are in recovery mode.