Drug abuse and the holidays are frequent partners in a way that can be very devastating to many people. For example, you may have lost loved ones during this time and feel compelled to use substances to ease the pain of their memories. Thankfully, sober holidays don’t have to be a distant memory. If you follow these tips, you should be able to keep yourself free of drugs this year. Doing so may help to fuel your lifelong sobriety.
1. Identify Your Abuse Triggers
Abuse triggers are behaviors or situations that cause you to abuse substances. The holiday season is often full of them, such as:
- Financial stress due to buying gifts
- Personal depression and anxiety caused by memories of those who have passed away
- Poor driving conditions in bad winter weather
- Meeting family members who stress you out
All of these influences make sober holidays much harder to handle. But when you identify your relapse and abuse triggers, you make it easier to manage them. In this way, you can prevent yourself from abusing drugs during the holidays. And for many, dual-diagnosis rehab centers may be needed here.
2. Find a Sober Buddy for the Season
After you have figured out why you abuse during the holiday, you should find a sober buddy. These individuals help to track your potential abuse and keep you focused on sobriety. They can include a broad array of possible people, including:
- A friend or family member going through sobriety care
- Someone who usually doesn’t drink or abuse drugs
- Those of strong character who knows how to make you behave
- Anyone who you trust to do right for your needs
Once you have found a sober buddy – often, a spouse or lover can make a good sobriety partner – make sure they are around you as much as possible. This step helps to ensure that you don’t run into any complications that make your sober holidays harder to manage. You may also find a sober buddy while in inpatient care for addiction.
3. Focus On Your Overall Health
Now that you have some extra support for your sober holidays make sure that you also focus on your overall health. Addiction has a nasty way of making you sick or sapping you of your strength. So during the busy holiday season, learn how to relax. And eat correctly to avoid causing excessive endorphin release that mimics addiction reactions.
Critically, this means that you should avoid overeating too much during the holiday season. Often, this excessive eating can trigger drug or alcohol abuse by recreating conditions for past abuse. And you may also impact your overall recovery as well. Sometimes, entering into an individual therapy program or even a few weeks in an outpatient drug rehab center may help you boost your physical health a bit more during the holidays.
4. Talk to Family Members About Your Recovery
Lastly, you need to talk to your loved ones about your sober holidays to make sure that they understand what you are experiencing. This step can be a very hard one if they don’t know you’re having a substance abuse problem. However, it is critical to be as honest with them as possible. Let them know that you are trying to stay away from substances this year and that you need their support.
For example, you may need to stay away from alcohol if you have an alcohol addiction. Talk to them about not offering your alcoholic drinks or pressuring you to use them. However, you may also want to stay away from alcohol even if you’re addicted to other substances. Alcohol could trigger a relapse of these drugs and maybe a behavioral problem that you need to avoid on your path towards lifelong sobriety.
Don’t Neglect Professional Help
If you need help for your sober holidays this year, contact us at Promises Behavioral Health to learn more. Call 844.875.5609 to talk to one of our high-quality specialists. They can tell you more about our programs, including drug detox, rehab for professionals, non-12-step care, and much more. So please verify your insurance and get started on your path to ultimate high-quality addiction recovery.