Drug Abuse Recovery

Drug Abuse Recovery

What does Drug Abuse Recovery look like? You may imagine yourself on a recovery path that is smooth, wide and straight. Or your path may be winding and narrow, with rocks and overgrowth blocking your progress.

Maybe your recovery isn’t a path at all, but a seemingly endless cycle of using and not using, a cyclical pattern of good periods of time followed by bad.

We ask this question because addiction recovery looks like the individual person, and no two people are alike. One person, through sheer will power and determination may be able to break the bonds of drug addiction, while another needs a multitude of services and nothing seems to work. Medical people might explain that contrast in terms of an alteration of brain chemistry by the drug, possibly connected directly to some clinical diagnosis of depression.

Others may deny completely that recovery has any medical component at all, that the recovering addict is one who has overcome the demons inside with no help from any therapist, counselor or physician.

If you accept, even for a moment, that Drug Abuse Recovery can be explained in terms of a cycle, most of this section will make sense to you. While there are those who bristle over the idea of people being “helpless” over addiction, experience seems to show that most people ARE helpless!

How
to Have Fun in Early Sobriety

by Luke Pool

Being in the throes of active addiction is an extremely lonely life. People often lose touch with their passions and interests, damage important relationships, and stop doing many of the things that had previously made them happy. Recovery is as much about finding joy in life once again as it is about regaining one’s physical health. Whether you’ve joined a recovery fellowship like Alcoholics Anonymous or are exploring inpatient treatment options, the path of recovery involves finding one’s lost self; however, due to the inherent difficulties and the fact that recovery often means severing ties with substance-abusing friends, recovery can sometimes feel as lonely as addiction. For this reason, it’s important for individuals to know how to find fun and enjoyment in recovery, especially when they’re in the earlier stages of sobriety. Therefore, consider the following tips to help you continue to have fun in early recovery.

Find
a new hobby.

In addition to
numerous other things, active addiction often costs people their
passions and interests. Largely because individuals suffering from
addiction must constantly be thinking about and searching for the
next fix, things like hobbies and interests are quickly cast aside,
leaving only substance abuse as the driving force of their lives.

As you stabilize
in recovery, there are many things you can do to have fun and enjoy
yourself without putting your newfound sobriety at risk. A prime
example is to find a new hobby. If you’re someone who’s creative
or artistically inclined, you may consider taking up drawing,
painting, photography, or knitting. Even something like collaging is
a great point of entry to some of the more creative endeavors. Of
course, there are plenty of other hobbies if you’re not the
creative type. You might consider trying a sport like baseball,
basketball, or hockey. Plus, sports are inherently social activities,
so this is a great option if you want to develop a hobby in which you
can involve other people and possibly make some new friends.

Make
friends with other sober individuals.

Speaking of
making friends, this is another key way to have fun in early
recovery. As mentioned above, sustaining a substance abuse problem is
an extremely lonely way of life. For many individuals with substance
abuse problems, the only friends they have are other substance
abusers, often leading these friendships to be very superficial and
unfulfilling. For this reason, it would be a good idea to become
involved in your local recovery community, allowing you the
opportunity to make friends with individuals who are also sober and
for whom recovery is an important part of everyday life. A great
place to start would be to join a local support group, which often
consists of prominent members of the local recovery community.

Do
some volunteer work.

Due to how
alcohol and drugs alter the brain, many individuals in the throes of
active addiction make extremely poor choices that bring harm to
others. In some cases, they lie to their loved ones and steal from
them to sustain their substance abuse problems. As such, an extended
period in active addiction often leads to prominent feelings of guilt
and shame. Finding ways to volunteer and taking the time to give back
to others can be enjoyable for a number of reasons, not the least of
which is the fact that it can feel like you’re making up for
mistakes made in the past. Beyond that, volunteering on behalf of
others instills a feeling of making a positive difference in others’
lives, and that’s always an enjoyable feeling. Depending on the
type of volunteering, it can actually be quite fun, too, particularly
when you make it a social activity by involving friends.

Go
on a trip.

Traveling can be
extremely expensive, but if you have stable employment and the
ability to save up your money, planning and going on trips is
undoubtedly one of the most fun things a person can do at any
point in time, whether in early recovery, late recovery, or not in
recovery at all. Even if you’re just taking a weekend or day trip
to your nearest beach, it can be enough rest and relaxation to
“recharge your batteries”, so to speak. Plus, traveling means
having the opportunity to explore new places and try new things, and
this can be quite exhilarating. As with other recommendations on this
list, travel can also be a social experience if you involve your
friends; perhaps you could bring everyone together and hold a vote in
which everyone gets to voice an opinion on the place to which the
group will be traveling.

Reconnect
with old friends.

Last but
certainly not least, reconnecting with friends is another way to
enjoy oneself in early recovery. Many people lose touch with their
friends while in active addiction, choosing instead to surround
themselves with other substance abusers. As such, being in early
recovery means having the opportunity to reconnect and rekindle
relationships that used to be important parts of your life. You might
even choose to have these returning friends become involved in some
of the other activities recommended above.

Luke
Pool is a grateful member of the Recovery community. He has found his
purpose in life by helping those who suffer from the diseases of
addiction. He uses blogging and social media to raise awareness about
this epidemic, affecting every part of this country. Now working for
Stodzy internet marketing, he is able to pursue his passion by
informing as many people as possible about addiction. Originally from
Austin, Texas he now lives in South Florida.

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