Is It Really Possible to Live Life Completely Sober?

If you find that you’re struggling to stay sober, there is plenty of help available for you! Sometimes being in recovery is just hard and there’s no getting around that. At times, you have to face difficult realities and truths about yourself that can be pretty painful. However, facing these things head-on also greatly increases your self-awareness. As a result, you develop a better understanding of the world around you, how it impacts you personally, and what actions you can take to stay sober for the long-haul. It’s natural to wonder what ”fun” is like without drinking, partying or using drugs.

• Being sober lets you push your boundaries and have fun in ways that aren’t possible when you’re drunk or high.
• Once I got sober, these doors slowly began to open back up.
• Adults aged 55 and older are the least sober-curious, but also the most likely to say they already abstain from alcohol altogether.
• Keep trying different things until you decide what you like to do best.

If PAWS is severe or if you’re experiencing prolonged symptoms, a medical professional can help you work through them and remain in recovery without relapse. The symptoms involved in PAWS can be a barrier to recovery if you’re not careful. In addition to being able to recognize them, it’s important to know when to seek help.

I learned what is important in life and what isn’t.

But deeper than that, we so often have shared experiences of those adverse childhoods experiences – from divorce, to abuse and neglect, to maybe a parent who suffered from substance use or other mental health problems. Childhood adversity leads to depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar and personality disorders. Drinking and using drugs are just ways that people have found to make themselves feel “normal,” to soothe themselves, and to bring themselves relief. Elizabeth’s clinical style is direct, sober house down to Earth, and free flowing, specializing in the treatment of trauma and co-occurring disorders. Elizabeth understands the importance of treating the whole person with individually tailored approaches and uses her strong intuition and exceptional rapport building skills to prioritize that theology. She passionately believes her clients are the subject matter expert of their brain, body, and life and seeks to partner with them to find a solution to issues and access to goal achievement.

• If you or someone you know is a recovering addict struggling to cope with sober living, give us a call today.
• This suggests that frequent drinking habits are in part fueling an interest to change course toward an alcohol-free lifestyle.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, also says that even minimal amounts of alcohol of any kind increase a person’s risk for several types of cancer.
• While at times it can seem like we don’t have many options or a choice in what we do, we can always look for a better job that we love and create the future we want while we working at our current jobs.
• One of our caring intake coordinators will be happy to discuss your specific situation and a comprehensive treatment plan to address both the addiction and any co-occurring mental health disorders.

I think that it is the process of having to work for everything again that makes us appreciate it even more. People in long term recovery know how fragile this can be and therefore learn to value these things more than they did before. There are some people that I had to let go of when I first got sober, and some people that eventually fell out of my life because our lifestyles became incompatible. It can hurt to realize that the only thing holding a friendship together is substance abuse, but it is liberating to know that I no longer have fake people in my life that are not good for my well being. At a certain point, I got sick of cleaning up the messes I made while I was drunk, especially when I couldn’t even remember what I did.

Final Thoughts on Maintaining Sobriety and Living the Sober Life

Trying to stay clean and sober and live the sober life is a lifelong commitment. All of these support groups share a common goal to stay clean and sober. Only by disentangling the source of emotional pain in our memories with our habitual coping mechanisms can we ever reverse the process of deep learning that leads one to addiction. This is one of the goals of addiction treatment using tools like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Having ups and down is a part of life and we all go though it.

They may be sitting next to you in your 12-step program or living in your sober dorm. Find friends who understand your struggle, and unlike your past drug-using buddies, will encourage you to succeed. In a drug rehab program, there is structure, there is routine, and there are people who are like you and behind you, motivating you and supporting your choice to live sober each and every day. This structure and support – in combination with thoughtful, personal goals – are the driving force behind the recovery process. Living a sober life will give you way more time than living with addiction. This is because when you suffer from addiction, you become consumed with getting more alcohol or drugs and that alone.

What To Do When Your Partner Still Drinks

If your main goal is stay sober, make sure that attending regular 12-step meetings or support groups is on the top of your to-do list. If you’ve added some other goals to your list, such as getting healthy, you may also add in items like grocery shopping, cooking a nutritious dinner, and going to the gym. Make your to-do list a part of your routine, and stick to it. When living a sober life after addiction, your overall health improves immensely.