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Make Your Own Day: Making Yourself Happy After Prescription Drug Addiction

Published: 16th June, 2011 Categorized: Addiction and Recovery, Drug Addiction Treatment, Prescription Drug Addiction, Substance Abuse, Substance Abuse Treatment

Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya? When you’re fighting prescription drug addiction, you may feel that you’re anything but lucky. Happiness may seem to elude you, especially if you are dealing with chronic pain or chronic cravings after giving up Percocet addiction, Xanax addiction, and addiction to other prescription drugs. Many patients who end up back in painkiller rehab for a second or third time after their initial successful opiate detox report that they relapsed for one reason: they just weren’t happy and they thought a pill would be the answer.

Painkiller Abuse Does Not Make You Happy

Painkiller abuse just lead to painkiller addiction. Though you may no longer feel any worries or care after you take that first pill, the awakening of an addiction you fought so hard plus the increased tolerance, the bills, the broken promises to loved ones, the inability to do much of anything at all – that certainly is not going to make you happy. Soon you’ll find yourself right back where you started: miserable with a painkiller addiction.

Creating Your Own Happiness After Prescription Drug Addiction

You don’t have to be a psychologist to figure out that it’s your attitude that will make or break you in prescription drug addiction recovery. Your happiness is based solely upon how you choose to view the world – and yes, it absolutely is your choice. You cannot control what others do or say to you or what happens around you and while there will always be upsetting events in play, it is up to you how you react on a minute by minute basis and whether or not you choose to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make it better when you recognize that you are unhappy – or choose to wallow.

Here are a few anti-wallowing tips to get you started.

  • Get off the couch and get going. If you find that you spend most days laying around watching TV, sleeping, or feeling sorry for yourself, get up and get out of the house. Do anything. Take a walk. Take a drive. Bring a lunch. Get a cup of coffee. Go to the library. It doesn’t have to be an amazing odyssey, but you may just need a change of scenery.
  • Watch something funny. No depressing dramas or deep documentaries when you’re already feeling down. Rent a funny movie or a season’s worth of your favorite sitcom and just relax.
  • Schedule some “me” time. Plan a manicure or a pedicure or go get your hair done if you don’t already. If money is an issue, put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the bathroom door and have a candlelit bubble bath.
  • Organize your closet. Or your pantry or your hall closet – whatever happens to be perpetually overflowing with too much stuff. You may find that you feel better when your space is cleared out and in order.
  • Cook something amazing. A project like baking bread from scratch or creating a truly amazing meal or even just a truly amazing dessert can change the mood for everyone in the house, including yourself. Go through some recipes, create a grocery list, and make it happen.

How do you make yourself happy in prescription drug addiction recovery?

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