Common Fears You’ll Face Through Recovery

We use drugs to numb ourselves and our emotions and to push off thinking for another day. But when we no longer have those devices at our disposal, we’re left with only our minds, our willpower and our inner strength to carry us through the hard times. We’re forced to think and analyze our problems, to come up with solutions, and in doing so we may fail or make mistakes.

  1. However, with professional help, this too can be overcome much easier than most people realise.
  2. You get to define yourself from here on out, and there won’t be any regrettable drunk shenanigans doing that on your behalf.
  3. In other words, success is the blissful absence of all of the devastating consequences of a previous drug or alcohol habit.
  4. Eventually you will not be afraid of the feelings but see them as a positive step towards growth, something to embrace and yes, get excited about.

If you’ve developed an identity tied closely to the drug scene, you might fear losing yourself outside that world. Losing your personal identity is a common fear in recovery. And it’s a reason you may be resisting the idea of going to rehab.

Fear of a New Life

This is because you’re afraid of not having drugs or alcohol to help you escape from reality. Plenty of sober activities can be just as fun as drinking or using drugs. If these concerns resonate with you, remember that sobriety doesn’t happen overnight—even if you try to rush it. Give yourself time to discover the new sober you. In this sense, recovery is a bit like falling in love with yourself and then learning how to love yourself—another feel-good aspect of being sober.

The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care. If you’re asking this question, you’re not alone. Many people drink and do drugs precisely because they don’t like who they are and want to dull the sensation of their shame, self-loathing—even self-hatred. The prospect of being without the one thing that relieves their sense of low self-esteem and lack of self-love can be very scary. In fact, this fear personally led to a dozen failures in my own sobriety journey.

And you will have days when every minute feels like a struggle. What you do NOT want to do is let your fear about what MIGHT happen with your friends in the future dictate what you do to take care of yourself in the present. Navigating your existing relationships in sobriety is a huge challenge.

Sobriety Fear #2: Everything will change.

Take a look at our state of the art treatment center. In other words, success is the blissful absence of all of the devastating consequences of a previous drug or alcohol habit. Worrying about it constantly will only strengthen your fears and lessen your resolve to do anything.

In fact, one of the many benefits of being clean and sober in recovery is that you are able to both feel and express your emotions. Withdrawal symptoms can be uncomfortable, but they are not always dangerous. man serving sentence for attacking parents fails With the help of a medical professional, you can safely detox from drugs and alcohol without worrying about withdrawal symptoms. So, based on these reasons, let’s formulate several sorts of fear of sobriety.

“I Am Afraid I will Actually Feel Something”

I am not the only one who feels the way I felt. Until we smash these common misconceptions about sobriety, people will continue to think sobriety is boring. And in the meantime, being sober will allow you to make more meaningful, lasting friendships based around ‘real’ things as opposed to intoxicated interactions.

The fear of sobriety here is simply the fear of not being as happy after rehabilitation. Being afraid to improve your own life because you don’t want people to think bad of you is a common, but silly, fear. You are living your life for yourself, not for other people. It doesn’t matter what other people think if getting sober will make your life better.

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Spending mental energy on things you cannot possibly know is useless. Every time you (or I) do that, we choose to suffer. The more you scratch it, the worse it’s going to get.

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You don’t have to produce some hidden, superhuman strength to be successful at sobriety. But you do need patience, empathy for yourself, first of its kind sober living home opening in johnson county and a firm commitment to meeting your goal. You make it up to everyone you ever hurt by never being that person again.

The hitch is you have to do it—as in get sober. It wasn’t until well into my sobriety that I thought, “this is for me.” During my first year of sobriety it was just something I was doing, not drinking. I wasn’t sure where I was going with it, if I would stay sober forever, or even if I was an actual alcoholic. Sobriety is often tied to the extreme stereotype of addiction, the old homeless man that lives under the bridge, the heroin addict who shoots up in the bathroom.

From the small to the big, the trivial to the ridiculous. It doesn’t matter how crazy or silly it sounds. In Denise Duffield Thomas’ book, ‘Get Rich’ she talked about how she was scared of buying her beachside mansion in case it got swept away by a tsunami. Now ridiculous as it sounds this fear kept her from moving forward with her dream and she had to get past it in order to move on.

“It genuinely feels like a fear – it’s so hard to shift. The Fear makes me feel nervous and agitated, even though I haven’t actually done anything wrong.” You can quit drinking and I’m here to support you. It is actually how drinking affects the teenage brain not normal to numb out all of our feelings, despite what we have learned or have been told. Whatever specific fear you have about sobriety or even if you are just scared of the prospect, the thought of it.

Sobriety can help you to improve your health, your relationships, and your overall quality of life. Finding an addiction treatment center with aftercare planning services can help you overcome your fears of long-term sobriety. Another common fear in recovery is rejection from friends and family.

That’s one of the primary reasons people decide not to become sober. Although they often feel it, but do not really realize it. Many individuals facing drug and alcohol addiction have developed a lifestyle around their addiction. Everything they do – day in and day out – focuses on that next hit, drink, or high. When you take that away, even when you know it is for the best, you are opening the door to all types of risks. And, to be frank, many times that reality is downright hard to swallow.

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