A person with a substance use disorder (SUD) will find various times in their life to be more challenging. That often includes the holidays. If you’ve done the hard work of building your addiction recovery to this point, the last thing you want to do is let the holidays get in the way. Consider these strategies for staying sober during the holidays.
Plan to Protect Your Sobriety
View your sobriety as something worth fighting for, a hard-won and well-deserved reward. With that in mind, consider how you can take several simple steps to protect your sobriety during the holidays.
- Give yourself permission to step away. If a situation, event, or person sparks anxiety or overwhelms you, you don’t owe anyone an explanation. If someone pressures you to drink or use, that’s your cue to remove yourself and protect the peace you’ve worked so hard to build.
- Say no more often this year. Say no to all of those extra things that you find yourself doing this year. That might include activities that create turmoil and stress for you, but also high-pressure tasks. You don’t have to buy everyone a gift. You don’t have to go to every party.
- Increase your attendance at local meetings. Even if you’re feeling okay, it could be helpful to attend an extra meeting every week to reinforce what you’ve worked so hard to earn.
Protecting your sobriety means giving yourself something meaningful to focus on. This is a great time to start using positive self-talk in your addiction recovery. It may also be time to be more reflective on all of those things that put your sobriety at risk.
Change the Game Plan
Another way to improve your overall well-being this holiday season is to move towards a different set of expectations. To stay sober, get out of those situations that cause you to fight for it. Here are some ways to change holiday expectations this year.
- Instead of dealing with stress, incorporate a way to focus on your mental health. For example, you may want to start journaling with the time you save from holiday events that involve substances.
- Spend time with less toxic people. This is a big one for the holidays. The common misconception is that the holidays are for family and that you “have to make an appearance.” You don’t, especially when you need to avoid toxic relationships during addiction recovery.
- Create a small set of new things you’ll do this year. For example, you may want to volunteer at a local school or hospital. Perhaps you want to give back by spending time with Veterans or in a nursing home. Instead of focusing on what’s typically expected, which puts your mental health at risk, engage in something that’s far more valuable.
In many cases, the way you were celebrating the holidays was worsening or increasing your risks for substance use. Now that you’re sober, do whatever you need to to avoid going down that path again.
Get the Right People in Your Life Now
Surround yourself with a network that’s got your back, especially in high-risk situations. To stay sober this year, incorporate more of the right people into your daily life:
- Your core steady team. These are people who understand your fight to remain sober and who stand by you through it all. Your close family and friends should be the people you spend more of your time with.
- Your addiction recovery team. This might include your mentor or that go-to person you call when your life is too stressful to manage. It could include your mental health therapist or addiction treatment counselor as well. Remember, we offer virtual healthcare support when you need extra help.
- Find someone to help. Look around to notice those who may need a bit of help themselves. It could be people who are alone in a drug or alcohol treatment center this holiday. Step back into those settings to allow yourself to help others. Surround yourself with people who appreciate what you do for them.
Create a network of support that gets you there. It could be in person or online. It may just be a sober friend who’s been through this before. Or, you may be that sober friend for someone else. Work together towards long-term recovery.
Know When to Get the Help You Really Need
To stay sober during the holidays, know the risks you’re facing. It’s important to remember that addiction has a high relapse rate, often between 40% and 60%. The holidays are a big time when this threat looms heavily. When you need help, contact us.
At Anabranch Recovery Center in Terre Haute, IN, we’re committed to providing you with the support you need as soon as you need it. Contact us now for guidance.
