Addiction Recovery and Self Care
When you have been in the throes of addiction and decide to finally get help, chances are you have suffered from a lot of negative consequences in order to finally reach that decision. You may have fractured relationships with important people in your life, you may have gotten into some legal trouble or you may have created an embarrassing or volatile situation due to your addiction and are fighting with feeling like a disappointment to others. You may have also gained or lost a lot of weight and had some major changes in your mood that have affected your personality, leaving your confidence feeling low. All of these things can leave you with a feeling of low self-worth, and this is why self-care is so important in the recovery process. Addiction and self-care go together, so it is essential to know how to work it into your life on a daily basis.
What is Self Care?
Self-care is simply taking time for yourself to do what makes you happy. According to PsychCentral, self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although it’s a simple concept, in theory, it’s something we very often overlook. Good self-care is key to improved mood and reduced anxiety. It’s also key to a good relationship with oneself and others. Stress and anxiety can be a major trigger for relapse, and one of the ways to manage your stress and anxiety is to make time for your self-care.
Ways to Incorporate Self-Care in the Recovery Process
It is hard for us to make time for ourselves. Between work responsibilities, family obligations and everything else that life throws our way, the days can easily turn into weeks and months. However, it is extremely important to work self-care into your daily life and make time to keep your mental health a priority. Poor mental health is a fast-track to relapse, which is why self-care in the recovery process is a major priority.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep
This might sound like a simple task, but getting a good night’s sleep is one of the most overlooked forms of self-care. The amount of sleep we get directly affects the mood we have for the entire day. If you are well-rested, you are able to be more productive and have a generally better mood than if you only had 4-5 hours of sleep. Make sure you are getting a good amount of sleep, and if you have trouble with insomnia, find ways to help that issue. The less sleep you get, the higher your anxiety rises, the more stressed you feel and the more overworked you become – and this can easily trigger a relapse.
Look for Laughter
Laughter is the best medicine, so find some ways every day to have a good laugh. This can mean watching a funny movie or TV show at the end of a stressful day, looking up funny photos or videos on the internet or having a pet to keep you company and make you smile.
Exercise
If you are feeling extra stress and anxiety, the best way to shake that off and keep it at bay is to keep up with a regular exercise regimen. Exercise naturally releases serotonin and endorphins, making you feel great. Releasing extra energy will give your mind and body more room to deal with outside issues that come your way. This doesn’t mean that you have to start a rigorous gym program either, even just a 30-minute walk every day will do the trick.
Tips for Self-Care in the Recovery Process
It is difficult to find time to work self-care into your daily routine, so here are some tips for getting started with your self-care routine:
- Literally, schedule it. If you’re busy and on-the-go, work it into your schedule. Start waking up earlier to fit in a workout, or change your schedule to start going to bed earlier to get a good night’s sleep.
- Stick to basics. If you’re not sure where to start, just start simple. Begin with a daily walk or funny movie to unwind, then work your way up to exercise and meditation.
- Know what you don’t want to do. Make sure you’re aware of what you don’t enjoy doing, such as not attending certain social events, checking your work emails late at night or accepting calls from certain people. Taking control of what you don’t want to do will greatly help your mental health.
About Pinelands Recovery Center
Self-care in the recovery process is one of the most important things to manage once you’ve completed treatment. Stress and anxiety are tough to deal with, but luckily, they can be managed with a regular self-care routine.
Pinelands Recovery Center of Medford is widely known as one of New Jersey’s finest, most respected addiction treatment facilities. With comfortable 30-bed accommodations and 24-hour professional staff, we can offer clients a serene, relaxing environment amid the lush piney woods. This stress-free setting with its sense of warmth and welcoming enables you to feel comfortable and confident about your clean and sober life ahead.
We will establish clear goals, both general in nature and specific to your needs. We continue to monitor those goals, to make sure that our clients are progressing and buying into their recovery plan. We thrive on assisting clients in feeling connected to the recovery community, share and demonstrate effective coping techniques, help clients to modify attitudes and patterns of behavior and everything else you will need to be happy and productive living a sober, healthy life.
We ensure that clients complete their planned concrete tasks, encourage hope, optimism and healthy living. Our recovery program is not a revolving door treatment program; it is a recovery model designed to help clients go on to lead productive, happy lives. For more information, visit pinelandsrecovery.com