Maintaining sobriety is always challenging. Even after completing rehab, every individual runs the risk of relapse. Fortunately, these five sobriety tips will help you maintain lifelong recovery.
1. Practice Self Care
Above all, only your efforts and actions guarantee lasting sobriety. If your loved one was struggling with addiction, you’d encourage them to relax, unwind, and take care of themselves. However, a lack of self esteem prevents many from taking their own advice.
Therefore, finding ways to practice regular self care is extremely important. For example, this might mean 30 minutes of scenic walking, an hour of meditation, or taking the time to process troubling thoughts. Overall, strategic forms of self care decrease the likelihood of relapse.
2. Commit to Aftercare
Even if you work through a quality rehab program, you should never avoid aftercare. Maintaining sobriety is ongoing, and you need to be able to commit to it.
For example, this may mean weekly meetings with private therapists. For others, this means local support group meetings. Many people thrive in sober living facilities after rehab. Regardless, these options reinforce sobriety and ensure patients are keeping lifelong recovery a central goal.
3. Steer Clear of the Moderation Myth
One of the biggest recovery traps is the moderation myth. Once you battle with addiction, there’s no method of responsible substance abuse.
If you have an alcohol addiction, one drink is never okay. It leads you to relapse entirely, setting you back months or years. Above all, always remember that moderation is a myth. Recovering from addiction requires remaining sober.
4. Learn and Avoid Your Triggers
Learning triggers is crucial to maintaining sobriety. Everyone has their own, personal relapse triggers, so this is a very personal exercise.
Your trigger for relapse might be hanging out with old friends you previously used with. If you recognize this, you’ll know to avoid these situations. If your trigger is location specific, taking every step to remove yourself from this environment is crucial. Above all, good methods for relapse prevention help you maintain lasting sobriety.
5. Find a Healthy Means of Stress Relief
Stress is a huge motivator for addiction development. Fortunately, at 1st Step Behavioral Health, patients learn how to relieve their stress in healthy ways. Again, this is personal. What works for one person might not be effective for another.
SobrietyTips and Lasting Recovery
Learning stress relief techniques at 1st Step gives patients the necessary resources for lifelong sobriety. For example, our stress relief methods include:
- Art therapy
- Music therapy
- Individual talk therapy
- Physical fitness
- Yoga, massage or acupuncture therapy
Following these sobriety tips after rehab is extremely necessary. At 1st Step Behavioral Health in Pompano Beach, Florida, you’ll learn the best methods for avoiding relapse. Call (855) 425-4846 to start your journey to recovery today.
