Fear is an extremely powerful emotion that everyone faces. Whether it’s an irrational fear or fear of the unknown, without a doubt, everyone has experienced fear at some point in their life. However, how you handle fear can make all the difference in how your life unfolds.
While overcoming addiction can be exciting, it’s normal to experience fear in recovery of what’s to come on your path to sobriety. In this article, we’ll explore a list of fears in recovery many people in recovery experience, and we’ll explore ways to face those fears so you can lead a healthier, happier life.
At Pathways Recovery, we are a top-rated drug rehab in Sacramento that provides comprehensive care to treat each patient’s mind, body, and spirit. Our Northern California addiction treatment center offers a wide range of treatment programs so you can receive treatment tailored to best support your recovery journey. Contact us today to learn more about how you can break free of addiction.
5 Common Fears in Recovery
- Reality of Facing Challenges While Sober
Oftentimes, people abuse drugs or alcohol to escape certain life stressors or challenges. Whether it be drinking to forget about financial troubles or abusing drugs or alcohol to cope with feelings of loneliness or mental illness, it can be scary to face the reality that you’ll no longer have drugs or alcohol to turn to to cope. Fortunately, there are countless healthy coping strategies you can learn when you seek professional addiction treatment that can help you cope with feelings of stress and loneliness rather than resorting to using drugs.
- Potential Rejection From Loved Ones
It can be scary opening up to friends and family in your life about your addiction. This is especially true if you’ve been keeping your drug addiction a secret from loved ones for years. Many people struggling with addiction fear that once they open up about their addiction, their loved ones will reject, judge, or abandon them. While it is unfortunately possible that this can happen as you cannot control how others react and perceive you, it’s important to understand that the friends and family who truly love you will be empathetic and supportive about helping you on your addiction recovery journey.
- Loss of Identity Without Drugs or Alcohol
Addiction can be such a debilitating disease that it can make you forget who you are without drugs or alcohol. Therefore, many addicts may be afraid of who they’ll be or what they’ll do when they actually become sober. While the path to sobriety can be uncertain at times, it’s important to realize that sobriety brings peace, healing, and newfound hope into your life so you can finally achieve a happier, healthier version of yourself.
- Fear of Failure or Relapsing
It can be overwhelming going from abusing drugs daily to maintaining sobriety for the rest of your life. Therefore, another fear in recovery is the fear of failure or relapsing. While it’s important to understand the reality that around 40-60% of people treated for substance use disorders relapse, a fear of relapse doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try at all to get sober. Plus, even if you relapse, that doesn’t mean you cannot overcome addiction again.
- Uncertainty Surrounding Success and Your Future Self
Finally, for some people, the thought of living a life of sobriety can seem overwhelming because of the uncertainty of who they’ll need to become to achieve long-lasting sobriety. Addiction recovery is filled with many ups and downs. While the path to sobriety can seem scary and difficult, your future sober self will finally be able to become a better version of yourself for you and those you love.
Ready to Start Your Road to Recovery?
Overcoming fear in recovery is a necessary part of the addiction recovery process. From forming a new identity apart from drugs to having to deal with your challenges head-on rather than turning to drugs to cope with stress in your life, recovery can be uncomfortable and scary at times. However, while fear in recovery is normal, seeking professional help and building a strong support system of trusted friends and family can help you face your fears and achieve lasting sobriety.
Pathways Recovery is here to help you every step of the way on your road to recovery. Addiction is a very isolating disease. You should never feel too ashamed or afraid to ask for help in taking back your life. Our team of compassionate addiction specialists is here to help you safely and effectively overcome addiction and lead a healthier, happier life.
Ready to start your recovery journey? Contact our outpatient rehab in Sacramento today!
