Boo! How to Overcome the Fears of Sobriety
Lasting recovery requires lasting effort, but relapse is not failure or weakness; it takes more than willpower to maintain sobriety. This article discusses the meaning of sobriety and arms you with information and strategies to smooth—and stay on—your path to wellness. We provide you with the resources and support you need for a successful recovery that helps you now and throughout your entire life. When we asked our alumna to describe what being sober feels like, she gave a detailed and inviting description that captured these key points.
Besides, once you get to the point where you can attend boozy social functions sober, you’ll see that many people think they’re being charming when in reality, they’re kind of a mess. With proper Im Sober and My Spouse Is Not Marriage and Sobriety counseling and/or a good recovery program, you’ll learn important tools for navigating these relationships. If your friends don’t want to hang out with you unless you’re drinking, then you know where you stand with each other. I don’t think it’s change that you’re so afraid of. If you didn’t want to change, you wouldn’t bother to get sober. Here are some common fears in sobriety and what you can do to manage them.
Or maybe, on some level, you don’t believe you’re worthy of success. If you’ve done some major damage in your past, you might feel like you don’t deserve to be happy and healthy. First, it is normal to be afraid when you first get sober. However, if you don’t learn to manage those fears and put them into perspective, they will drive you right back to the bottle.
What Does It Mean to Celebrate Sobriety?
Another common fear in sobriety is that you’ll wind up alone because no one will want to hang out with you. We are biologically wired for companionship, so this is a very real and instinctual fear to have. In my mind, sobriety meant Friday nights alone on my couch, watching Netflix and hiding from the rest of the world who was definitely out drinking. If you’ve spent the last umpteen years being THAT girl or guy, partying hard, struggling through the days hungover, and doing it all again – sobriety means an entirely new identity. If all of your friends abuse alcohol and/or your spouse abuses alcohol, it makes a lot of sense to fear what will happen next. Every day, week, and month that you let slip by without tackling your drinking problem is time you can’t get back and more damage you must undo.
- These groups provide a platform to share experiences, gain insights, and receive unconditional support.
- In terms of “spookiness,” Hollywood-esque images of creepy dolls and terrifying clowns may come to mind.
- Even those overcoming drug use should avoid alcohol to prevent replacement addiction or to further relapse prevention skills and instead focus on the development of their sober lifestyle.
A future free of addiction is in your hands
Your therapist will discuss your specific concerns, life history, family history, and factors that might trigger your anxiety. Sobriety cannot be traditionally measured or given a numerical value. However, working with treatment professionals to personalize treatment programs can help you to find a longer lasting and more well-adjusted sober lifestyle. We have been accredited by The Joint Commission since 1974 as a specialty hospital and are a member of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers. We are committed to providing exceptional, compassionate care to every individual we serve.
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If you try to stop using and fail, you’re disappointing them all over again. Look what I’ve done to my life.” This is a very common thought process. After detox, your brain begins to piece together the problems you now have with relationships, work, school or other important aspects of your life. With all of this chaos surrounding you at that moment, you’re just starting to acknowledge what’s happening to you.
It’s not uncommon, then, to be afraid of what life will be like without these substances to help you to manage stress, family members and other challenges. When you’re addicted to drugs or alcohol, the notion of getting clean and then staying sober over the long haul can be frightening. One reason for this is the understandable and very common fear of what being sober feels like. Life in the absence of the self-medicating highs and euphoric escapes that drugs or alcohol once provided can suddenly appear very boring, uneventful, and empty. While this point of view is understandable, it’s also thankfully often misleading and entirely possible to overcome, as a member of FHE Health’s Alumni Program recently shared….
If you find it difficult to make new, sober friends, try joining a support group. Nifaliophobia is an anxiety disorder focused on sobriety and the fears related to facing a life without alcohol or drugs. This may include worries about losing social connections or coping with life’s stresses unaided. This fear may manifest as an intense and persistent anxiety. The first thing is that sobriety can be a really hard thing to face for a lot of addicts.