The road to recovery is life-long. Although seeking professional addiction treatment is helpful for individuals to safely overcome addiction and learn healthy coping strategies to maintain their sobriety, addiction treatment does not guarantee sobriety for life. This is why developing and prioritizing essential life skills for addiction recovery in treatment and beyond is critical. Keep reading to learn more about the essential life skills you should prioritize below.
At Pathways Recovery, we are a leading drug rehab that offers a range of gender-specific and comprehensive addiction treatment options. Whether you are struggling with alcohol addiction, cocaine, or another substance use disorder, our compassionate team is here to help guide you along your road to recovery. Contact us today to learn more about how we can best support your road to recovery.
5 Essential Life Skills for Addiction Recovery
Addiction recovery has its ups and downs. Inevitably, you’ll be tempted by old triggers, cravings, and urges that have the potential to jeopardize your sobriety. However, by prioritizing the below essential life skills for addiction recovery, you can lower your risk of relapse so you can maintain a healthier, happier life free from the chains of addiction.
Practicing Healthy Coping Strategies
In addiction recovery, you’ll learn healthy coping strategies like journaling, meditation, breathing exercises, and more that you can use to lower your risk of relapsing. Unfortunately, 40-60% of people treated for substance use disorders relapse. Therefore, knowing what to do when you are experiencing triggers and urges to abuse drugs is extremely beneficial so you can resort to practicing a healthy coping strategy over risking abusing drugs or alcohol.
Ability to Manage Emotions and Stress Levels
Stress is a normal part of life. However, chronic stress levels and/or an inability to manage your emotions can also be bad for your recovery journey. This is because chronic stress and abusing drugs to relieve stress are oftentimes related for many addicts. In order to limit your risk of relapsing because of your emotions or stress levels, it’s important to be aware of your emotions and stress, and not ignore them. And, when you are experiencing high amounts of stress or difficulty managing your emotions, it’s critical to seek support from trusted family, friends, or a mental health professional.
Ability to Ask for Help from Others
You should never be afraid or ashamed to ask for help when it comes to maintaining your sobriety. Your recovery journey does not end after you’ve received addiction treatment to achieve sobriety. Whether you are 1 month sober or 10 years sober, it’s important to understand that if you find yourself struggling with triggers or cravings to abuse drugs or alcohol you ask for help from others. Or, consider seeking professional treatment such as outpatient care to help lower your risk of relapse.
Prioritizing Healthy Habits
Next, prioritizing healthy habits from eating a well-balanced diet to getting consistent exercise and quality sleep are all healthy habits you need to be implementing into your life. These healthy habits will help you better manage your stress levels, enhance your mood and energy levels, and offer you the foundation to lead a healthier lifestyle free from addiction.
Understanding Addiction Recovery Is Life-Long
The final essential life skill for addiction recovery you need to understand is that addiction recovery is life-long and requires daily commitment. In other words, overcoming addiction once does not guarantee life-long sobriety. Addiction recovery is a marathon that requires daily saying no to cravings to relapse and yes to healthy habits and coping strategies that will help you maintain long-term sobriety.
Help Is Available
From practicing healthy coping strategies to asking for help from others, these are all essential life skills for addiction recovery you need to be comfortable doing to help maintain your sobriety. This is because overcoming addiction doesn’t guarantee life-long sobriety. This is why being aware of your triggers, coping against your triggers, and seeking help can all be beneficial ways to reduce your risk of relapsing.
At Pathways Recovery, our team is committed to helping you safely and effectively break free of addiction once and for all. Gone are the days of suffering in silence with your addiction. We provide a comprehensive range of addiction treatment options so you can recover and heal your mind, body, and spirit for the better. Ready to start your recovery journey? Contact us today!
