Getting Much Needed Support During Recovery
Recovering is crucial during your rehabilitation and the best way to recover is when you have the much-needed support during this stage of your life. Of course, depending on the people you have, the support may or may not be there and unfortunately, there are those who don’t have any support system at all thus they relapse back into their addiction. Now, why should you have a support system? How important is it to have them during your recovery?
We all recover at some point in our lives; may it be from a broken relationship or in this case, addiction. Recovery is an individual experience and each person has their own way of coping and recovering. As you move along the phases of recovery, you become well-acquainted with your own thoughts and tendencies. You become more aware of the reason why you have abused drugs and alcohol and with each step, you find time to become the person you want to be and not the one who is addicted to drugs.
Understand that the road to recovery is your own individual experience, but the value of a support system is as important as your individual journey. In fact, there are plenty of good reasons why a support system is needed during your recovery period and here’s why.
How a Support System Helps Avoid Relapse
Relapse can be avoided if you surround yourself with people who have good intentions and can help you get through your recovery. When you have them, you will see that:
- Challenges are not so difficult at all – when you are facing a challenge during recovery (PTSD or anxieties) it is easy to give in to the triggers and let yourself react with drugs and alcohol without thinking. But if you have a support system, their insight and assistance make this seemingly emotional situation manageable. You can avoid relapse and have people to talk sense into you.
- You have people to check up in you – sometimes we feel like we don’t need people to check on us during our recovery. While this promotes independence, it can also lead you to the wrong path. Your confidence can sometimes put you into jeopardy that you don’t need. Having a support group to check up on you can provide the much-needed insight about your behavior and how it affects yourself. This can help you address the issue and at the same time you can do something to correct it.
- It can help your anxieties during social interactions – sometimes, an addiction develops when you have anxiety disorders. These addictions may have been caused by fear of social situations or anxieties of interacting with people. Having friends or family members who can help you get through social settings can help reduce the stress that you have or the anxiety of being alone or feeling awkward in certain situations. It’s like having a “wingman” when you are not fully able to socialize with other people and this can help you in a good way.
- There are people who will cheer on you – a support system are composed of people who are there to cheer on you no matter what situation you are in. Loved ones who are there to boost your ego during your recovery is something special to have. It also reinforces something positive in you. You feel good when you know that someone is cheering on you when you are running a marathon and having a support system works like that. They are the people who cheers on you and the achievements you can do in your new life. Their moral support helps empower you so you can work on the issues that are weighing you down.
- They help boost your confidence and self-esteem – people who are genuine with their intentions to help you will not pull you down. In fact, they will help you through and through. They want to be there from ground zero until you find success in the end. It feels good to have people who actually care about your well-being. Their presence in your life and positive cheers can help you recover in no time. They can help boost your confidence as well as self-esteem that your addiction once took away from you.
- They help surround you with positive and healthy individuals – cutting ties with people who have drawn you into addiction is the first step to a healthy new life. Having people who have nothing but good intentions of helping you, is the best thing to have. A family who loves and supports you, good friends and even the people you have encountered at the 12-step program as well as other support groups are the best examples of people to have in your recovery. They can help you work towards a healthy lifestyle and at the same time teach you the tools that you can use to stay clean. Being involved with sober, healthy people is great, they can help you avoid triggers and at the same time help you stay focused on keeping your sobriety.
- You have a lifeline in times of need – it is very difficult to start a new life for a recovering addict. There are plenty of temptations and triggers the moment you step out of the rehab center and all of these can be overwhelming for someone who had just gotten clean. But if you have good people who support you, you don’t have to go through this recovery alone and scared. Having access to a group or sponsor that you can turn to when you are tempted to use drugs again is important. This provides you a healthy alternative to take rather than just giving into the triggers.
Having a support system can also lessen your anger, sadness, stress, and even fears of what’s going to happen. As you become familiar with your new environment, new life and these feelings, you have people who can help you in a constructive way. Through their support, you can strengthen yourself and your abilities to keep your sobriety, regardless of whatever life throws you or comes your way.
Keeps You On the Right Path
Yes, only you can walk the path of recovery and experience these things on your journey but the family who loves you, the friends who are always there for you and the people you meet during recovery are all wonderful to have by your side. Keep in mind that they are also the tools you need in helping you help yourself, so don’t lose them. Keep them close so you can stay on the right path. You can overcome addiction but in order to do that, you must also choose the right people to be on your corner. Drugs and alcohol can run out but the good people who are there to support and love you will not leave you, no matter what happens. So choose life over these substances, it’s not too late to start all over again.
