Before talking about life after addiction, it’s important to understand some statistics. Addiction in the United States is still a growing problem, with reports showing nearly 50% of all Americans being affected and up to one in seven people directly struggling with substance abuse. Addiction is an insidious disease that affects the addict and his or her entire family and community. The consequences of being addicted can severely damage the life, relationships, health, and abilities of an addict. For approximately 11% of the addicted population that receives substance abuse help, the road to recovery is the journey of rebuilding a life, especially those parts that have been most severely damaged by addiction. Today, public awareness has expanded to how addiction affects people of all ages, backgrounds, economic statuses, and religions. No longer are the days that we may think of addiction as being an inner-city or an isolated rural problem. There is widespread public awareness that addiction has no borders and does not discriminate. With the growing awareness of addiction, comes a more comprehensive approach to recovery and greater knowledge of what it takes to rebuild a life after addiction. The idea of rebuilding one’s life in recovery is much more than simply abstaining from future drug use. Addiction is a life-threatening illness, but recovery should be a time of thriving and gratitude in a commitment to a full and healthy life ahead. If you have struggled with substance abuse and addiction, rebuilding your life in recovery involves your approach to: personal traumas and factors that contributed to your drug use relationships that either facilitated or were damaged by addiction routines and habits during your drug abuse and addiction coping and communication skills, especially during difficult times diet and exercise regimens In all cases of drug abuse and addiction, the first step is detox, wherein drug use is stopped and the toxins from substances of abuse are expelled from the body. Depending on the drug of abuse and any medical complications, detox may require medical monitoring or assistance. After detox, the hard work begins where an addict must face the underlying causes of addiction and how addiction has personally affected his or her life and relationships. Personal Traumas and Other Contributors Every person who struggles with addiction is a unique being with his or her own experiences, challenges, and goals. No one aims to become addicted, yet millions of Americans find themselves struggling with addiction and wondering how they ever got to such a dark place. Everyone has personal struggles and traumas that may present challenges in life, some more severe or at a younger age than others. It is common for people struggling with personal pain, mental health issues, PTSD, or any other life challenge to self-medicate in efforts to numb the effects of their undesirable feelings and experiences.The problem with using drugs to feel better about one challenge in life is that drug abuse creates a myriad of other challenges. Although it is a path less traveled in our society, counseling and psychotherapies are the safest and healthiest ways to address the traumas and challenges that often cause us pain.During addiction treatment, whether inpatient or outpatient, recovering addicts begin the process of identifying and addressing their traumas and other sources of pain and unrest. Addressing your traumas involves: learning skills to help you address your symptoms learning how to cope with arising symptoms improving self-esteem and outlook on others and the world around you concurrently addressing other issues like substance abuse These are all skills that you should practice during and after addiction treatment to rebuild your life while managing the symptoms of your past traumas, rather than trying to escape them. You and your therapist may determine that a medication like an antidepressant is necessary to help you deal with your trauma. Understanding your trauma, how it affects you, and practicing healthy coping skills are all effective ways to rebuild your life after addiction. Rebuilding Your Relationships Additionally, relationships are turned upside down and the resulting strain can cause permanent damage. As addiction does not discriminate, it can destroy relationships between spouses, parents and children, friends, partners, associates, and siblings. Contrarily, those caught in the vicious cycle of addiction can acquire some dubious new relationships that facilitate addictive and destructive behaviors. When trying to rebuild your life after addiction, one of the most important things to consider is the people in your life. Recovering from addiction requires the help and support of healthy people who will: join you in sobriety support your needs in recovery hold you accountable for your recovery hold firm boundaries with you to assist your recovery engage in healthy and sober activities with you While in the throes of addiction, relationships with the people who can support you in recovery are often the first to suffer, replaced by destructive relationships. As you rebuild your life, you should consider each of your relationships. Recovery is delicate, especially in the early stages when one person’s negative influence could derail your progress. It is important also to consider if and how your relationships have changed with some people. Everyone responds to an addicted loved one in their way, so your relationships may have morphed to include: animosity or resentment developing drug addiction that results from past drug abuse with you enabling co-dependency disassociation from you It may take you some time to re-establish trust in some of your relationships, while you may have the difficult task of separating yourself from others who cannot be supportive to your recovery. Relationships are complicated, and addiction treatment can be an invaluable resource to understand enabling and codependent relationships and how dangerous they can be to your recovery. Whether or not you have pre-existing relationships that can be healthy support for you in recovery, you can find new relationships with the assistance of a rehab program or other addiction counseling. The relationships that support your recovery will allow you to attract healthy people into, or back into your life. … Continue reading Rebuilding Your Life After Addiction