HOW ADDICTS CAN OVERCOME THEIR FEAR OF RECOVERY

Even though you may realise that you need to get clean, the thought of sobriety can be scary. Here are the most common fears, and tips for overcoming them.

Major life changes of any kind add stress to life. Compounding such stress is the fear of the changes themselves. This is certainly true of recovery, where fear of sobriety can be a major obstacle to becoming sober. In this blog, we will explore common fears of sobriety and how to handle them.

#1: Fear of Sobriety : It may seem counter-intuitive, but sobriety itself can induce fear. As the saying goes, better the devil you know, meaning that what we are familiar with is more comfortable than the unknown. Facing sobriety is a major unknown, so even when we recognise the benefits, a lot of fear can come up.
How to handle it: To overcome fear of sobriety, two strategies are helpful. First, acknowledging the fear can go a long way towards dispelling it. Second, focus on the benefits of being sober.

#2: Fear of Failure : This fear focuses on whether or not your attempt at sobriety will fail. You may have tried to clean up your act in the past, and it didn't work. Or it may be the first time you are attempting to get clean. In either case, choosing sobriety has within it the potential for failure, and with it the fear of failure.

How to handle it: Facing this fear involves acknowledging it, and then building confidence in your ability to succeed based on strategies and resources gained in recovery treatment. It is possible that you may fail. And yet, resolving to be successful is a key to success. Knowing how to be successful will go great lengths in resolving this fear.

#3: Fear of Success: The fear of success is the flipside to the fear of failure. While fearing failure revolves around not believing you can succeed, fearing success focuses on your lack of value as a person who deserves success. You may believe that because of who you are, or because of your past, you cannot be successful.
How to Handle It: Understand that everyone is capable and deserving of sobriety. You are not alone in feeling this fear, and others can support you through this challenge. So, seek out support from people in your life, and this will help you believe in your ability to succeed.

#4: Fear of Rejection: When we make changes to our life, our old friends may not value these changes. This is particularly true in the case of addiction, where a large part of social bonding occurs around substance use. You may therefore fear the rejection of your old friends.
How to Handle It: Make new friends through recovery. Choosing a sober lifestyle means making many changes to your activities, and your social relationships will also change. Embrace these changes and the benefits they bring to your life, and value the new friends you make.

#5: Fear of Losing Identity: Alcoholics and others with addiction have their identity meshed with their addiction. So, when becoming sober, it means changing a part of how they think about themselves. This can invoke fear, as who you are changes and old parts of your identity are absolved.

How to Handle It: Redefine yourself in recovery with the support of your community. It is also beneficial to think about who you really want to be, and your ability to become that person.

#6: Fear of Suffering: Addiction brings its own brand of suffering to your life. However, getting clean does not mean that your life will suddenly become a fairy tale happy ending. On the contrary, remaining sober involves maturely facing life's challenges without escaping through substance use. As a result, there can be a lot of fear of the suffering that naturally occurs in life.
How to Handle It: See how, as you face life sober, you grow as a person. The process of recovery is about growth, and there are challenges in this process. Believe in your ability to face them. Becoming sober will give you the confidence to face most challenges in life, so long as you remain sober.

(These articles are the sole property of “The Cabin Chiang Mai”, they are its original authors.)

IS MY FAMILY SAFE FROM ADDICTION ?

If you are an addict, will your children and loved ones suffer from addiction as well? Both genetics and environmental factors play a part in addiction. How is your family affected?

Addiction researchers now have strong evidence for the genetic basis of addiction. Genes predispose some individuals to addiction, while others are less likely to become addicts. Even so, the exact contribution of genetics is not yet determined, and most researchers agree that there is an environmental influence to addiction. For this reason, it is important to consider how addiction affects the people we care about most –those in our families. In this blog, we will examine the ways in which having an addiction affects family members.

Small Children
Children learn about the world from their early experiences in their family. When children grow up in a family with an addicted parent, they observe and learn that using substances is an effective coping strategy. Research has now found that there are observable differences in children of alcoholics when compared with children of non-alcoholic parents.

Partners
Consequences for partners of alcoholics include economic and psycho-social risks. Insofar as an addict spends money on their addiction, which puts financial strain on the relationship. Often, in an attempt to hide the addiction, the money that is spent is not openly discussed, leading to greater economic risk and a betrayal of trust when it is discovered.
While economic risks are the most quantifiable, the psychological and social risks of being in a relationship with an addict are also significant. Partners of addicts may experience a range of negative emotions, including anger, shame, frustration, sadness, and despondency. They may respond to their partner negatively, or focus those negative feelings inward. This has a profound effect on the social life of the addict's partner, too. Other relationships suffer, as friends and family respond to the strain and stress in the relationship.

Adult Children of Addicts

When parents grow older, and their children become adults, addiction can create strains and unhealthy ways of relating. Parents may be in need of help, whether it be emotional, financial, or practical. Their children, rather than moving on in their own direction, may remain overly close and even take on a parental role with their own parents.

Extended Family
The effects of addiction extend not only to the nuclear family, but also to the extended family. Distant relatives who are addicts may not have as profound an influence as a parent, but they nevertheless set an example. A favorite aunt or uncle may, indeed, be a role model for a child or teenager. Seeing that one's role model has an addiction has the potential to set a negative example.
Understanding of addiction is developing, and there are great gaps in knowledge of how social influences may increase risk for addiction. Even so, it is important to be aware of how addiction may influence those we care about.

Shafa Home provides world-class treatment for addiction. If you are concerned about addiction, contact one of our specialists today.

(These articles are the sole property of “The Cabin Chiang Mai”, they are its original authors.)