Staying sober during difficult events

Staying sober isn’t easy, particularly when you’re in the midst of a global pandemic. As a result of the current COVID-19 crisis, many people are battling mental health conditions, such as depression or anxiety. To control these symptoms, some may consider attempting to self-medicate using substances. In addition, stay at home orders make turning back to drugs or alcohol quite appealing. However, it’s critical to stay away from drugs and alcohol during these stressful times. If you need help staying sober during this pandemic, our team wants to help. For more information about maintaining sobriety in CO, contact Women’s Recovery today at 833.754.0554.

From time to time, abnormal events change your life for the worst. These events can impact anyone. However, if you’re recovering from addiction or mental health conditions, you’re incredibly vulnerable to the stress of challenging circumstances. In ideal cases, you would be able to plan for each stumbling block using a relapse prevention plan. However, there are some circumstances that you cannot plan for, such as a worldwide pandemic. To ensure that you don’t turn back to substance use and abuse, there are several steps that you need to follow.

When disaster strikes and unexpected challenges occur, you should prepare for intense stress and emotions. You may experience urges to soothe those feelings and anxiety with drugs and alcohol. However, doing so can set you back significantly. As such, you need to practice the skills that you learned during your substance abuse treatment program. If you think that you’re in danger of relapsing, perhaps checking in with a sponsor or a friend can be a good idea.

During this emergency situation, there may have been times when you don’t want to practice your self-care routine anymore. You go back to eating junk food, you don’t want to exercise anymore, and you want to draw into yourself, not letting anyone else into your circle. Unfortunately, this can prove to be a detriment to staying sober. One of the most common reasons for urges to return to former bad habits include:

• Hunger or thirst
• Anger
• Loneliness
• Fatigue

To maintain your sobriety, you should do what you can to counteract these feelings. Try to maintain a healthy diet and drink plenty of water. Come up with some fun and creative ways to talk to friends in a safe and socially-distant manner. It would be best if you also tried to sleep at least eight hours a day and maintain a regular sleep schedule. If you’re struggling to manage your mental health, reach out to a mental health treatment program to get professional assistance.

One of the best ways to avoid returning to substance use is to stay busy. If you’ve always wanted to learn how to play an instrument, take this time at home to get it and learn. If you want to become a better cook, start looking up some recipes that you’d like to learn. Staying busy is one of the best ways to overcome urges to use substances.

It would help if you didn’t approach staying sober while you’re in the midst of a challenging time as a monumental task. Take each day one step at a time, moment by moment. Concentrate on staying sober for the next half hour. Once that half hour is over, if you’re still battling urges, focus on staying sober for half an hour more. You may find that taking this approach is helpful.

Addiction recovery isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. Sometimes you may stumble, and need a helping hand to get back on the road to recovery. If this is the case for you, Women’s Recovery is here to help. We offer a range of addiction treatment programs, including:

• Alcohol addiction treatment
• Heroin addiction treatment
• Cocaine addiction treatment
• Meth addiction treatment
• Marijuana addiction treatment

To learn more about finding sobriety in CO or if you were not able to stay sober and need assistance getting back into recovery, contact Women’s Recovery at 833.754.0554 today.