Recovery is a complicated and multifaceted process. Ask anyone about their struggle with finding recovery and chances are you will get a vastly different story each time. The journey to recovery never sounds similar because people are complicated and need different resources to find their own version of it. Don’t get us wrong, there are consistencies like support systems, the support of professionals, and plenty more to speak of. But these are often tools that helped develop the mindset of positive and lasting recovery. That mindset is where the wisdom to find your own lasting change lies.
Recovery is always effective in the short term (one to two years). Almost anyone who is willing to put in real effort towards change can find short term solace. What’s tricky for many is holding on to that change and stopping relapses from derailing progress. Long term recovery is less scientific and involves a lot of constant work and maintaining a positive mindset. While there are less concrete methods to opening the door to lasting change, there are ways to find it yourself.
Maintain A Support System
During initial recovery you probably had a number of different support systems. Maybe you do a couple years into growth as well. It’s natural to let go of support systems as your dependencies lessen, as they aren’t necessary to you anymore. This is fine to give yourself some more room to live your life independently when you’re ready for it, but we believe holding on to at least one of your support systems will help with long term progress.
More often than not, those who find lasting change are ones that hold on to one or more of their support systems. Maybe as a system to check themselves, or maybe even just a reminder to stay clean. The method of use and what it means to you is your choice. Support systems require commitment to maintain, and ongoing commitment leads to sustained abstinence of the problem practice.
Some easier to find long term opportunities are organizations such as the AA. Meeting programs are designed to work in the long term and help remind visitors what they’re there for. Alternatively, friends and family is an easy system to maintain because they likely want to be involved. Work out a system to call someone close to you once or twice and week and tell them about your struggles the last few days. Your approach is up to you.
Establish New Routine
You likely switched this up some time ago already. But routine can get very old, very fast. If you feel like your current daily schedule is erring on the edge of boring or pushing you towards losing progress, consider finding a slightly new one. Even small changes could help tremendously as a reminder to why you’re made the changes that you did.
We’ve discussed plenty of times in the past about some examples of changes you can make in past blog writings. Our favorite options are focusing on a new creative hobby, trying new things, and most importantly staying or getting physically fit. If it’s possible to do any of these things on a daily basis, the more the better. In short, filling your time with activities that stimulate your brain or your body translates to dopamine release that will help you stay away from negative dependencies and turn your attention to the beneficial ones.
Routine will act as something your brain can default to instead of negative ideas. It’s not the most thrilling concept by nature, but it’s a grounding one nonetheless. That’s why when it starts to grow old or get boring your brain may wonder about other things. Mixing up routine within reason can help prevent losing your mindset.
Do Not Let Relapses Stop Progress
Relapses are natural and you’re going to be tested by temptation and what you do if a relapse occurs. Just remember that it’s natural and can happen. Forgiving yourself and moving on will be crucial when it happens. Stepping back towards progress will be all the easier when you have a lasting perspective of recovery in mind.
More than anything your response to relapse is going to be the most important part of your recovery. If you let it bring you back to square one with every failure, long term health will be even more challenging to find.
If you find that the biggest barrier towards your recovery is yourself and relapses are frequent, try taking a step back. Try to locate and isolate behaviors that halt progress. If there are multiple, approach one at a time. Attempting to change too much too quickly can be overwhelming.
In Conclusion
Lasting change never looks exactly the same for any individual person, so it’s important to find what it looks like for you. Though there aren’t concrete ways to make it happen, that doesn’t mean there are not patterns that can be found in those who do find success. Use what you understand about yourself and what is known to work to find balance and stability.
Holding on to support systems, establishing new routines, and allowing yourself room to fail sometimes are important factors to finding what works for you. When you’ve found your method of holding on to recovery, stick to it. There will be inevitable bumps in the road, but if you hold on to your mindset of improvement problems such as relapses will be easier to get past.
Created specifically for those who have loved ones that struggle with addiction.