According to the 2019 NSDUH, 14.5 million people ages 12 and older had alcohol use disorder (AUD). And only about 7.2 percent of people ages 12 and older who had AUD in the past year got treatment for it.
Taking care of yourself while you’re in alcohol addiction rehab is essential if you want to be successful on your road to recovery.
Alcohol addiction rehab and recovery are difficult enough to deal with on your own. You need a strong support system and some helpful tools and resources to help keep you on the right path.
Here are a few ways you can take care of yourself during alcohol recovery.
How To Take Care of Yourself During Alcohol Recovery
There are several things you can do to take care of yourself while in alcohol addiction rehab to help keep you going strong and avoid a possible relapse.
Hygiene
Practicing self-care while in alcohol addiction rehab is vital to your successful recovery journey. There are several ways to practice self-care, which include the following:
- Eating right: Eat plenty of healthy foods, such as fruits and veggies.
- Drinking water: It’s recommended that you drink at least eight glasses of water per day for maximum health.
- Exercising: Exercising has great health benefits for those in recovery.
- Limiting your caffeine intake: Caffeine is a stimulant and it’s highly addictive, which isn’t great for a recovering addict.
Taking care of your personal hygiene is one of the first things you should focus on during recovery. When you look better, you feel better. So get up in the morning, brush your teeth, wash your face, and get ready for the day.
Exercise
Exercising while in alcohol addiction rehab has been shown to have not only great health benefits but also can aid in the long-term maintenance of recovery.
Physical exercise can have tremendous benefits for your recovery, research has shown in the last three decades.
Committing to a weekly exercise routine can help do the following:
- Reduce stress
- Helps you sleep
- Put you in a good mood
- Improves Your Self-Image
- Prevent relapse
Exercising doesn’t have to mean doing strenuous activity. You can start off with something easy like walking around the block or jogging.
You could also try:
- Yoga
- Hiking
- Dancing
- Swimming
- Weight-lifting
Choose an exercise that makes you feel good. Take it easy and don’t push yourself too hard, especially if you weren’t exercising regularly before going into recovery.
Creating New Relationships
Establishing new and healthy relationships that foster a healthy you is one of the best things you can do on your road to alcohol addiction recovery.
The value of healthy relationships for a recovering addict can’t be emphasized enough. Healthy relationships can bring joy, comfort, and support.
Healthy relationships are based on the following:
- Mutual trust
- Respect
- Mutual honesty
- Mutual thoughtfulness
- Support and encouragement
- Safety and security
- Humor/playfulness
- Reciprocity
- Mutual tenderness
A healthy relationship is also one that maintains healthy boundaries. If the relationships you currently have in your life don’t reflect these things, it’s probably not a healthy relationship.
Starting aiming to connect with new people who don’t exhibit unhealthy behaviors.
The signs of an unhealthy relationship might be:
- Blame-shifting
- Guilt-tripping
- Financial abuse
- Manipulation
- Invasion of privacy/boundaries
- Lack of respect
- Self-absorption
- Obligation
- Controlling partners
- Lack of time for a partner
- Verbal abuse
- Physical abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Mental abuse
- Disrespectful of emotions
- Dominant/dictator partners
- Isolation/exclusion
- A lack of fairness/equality
- Bullying/intimidation
If you notice any of these things in any of your relationships, you may need to cut off that person. If your relationship constantly has you feeling anxious, depressed, or frustrated, you probably shouldn’t continue with that relationship because it won’t be conducive to your recovery.
Doing Fun Activities Alone
When you’re in recovery, you might be alone at times. And if you’re alone, it’s best to keep your mind occupied.
Some fun activities you could try while alone include:
- Learn a new language or skill
- Meditate
- Listen to music
- Dance
- Try out a new restaurant
- Watch a funny movie
- Read a book
- Take a long bath
- Play a video game
- Try out a new recipe
- Journal
- Get a massage
- Learn to play an instrument
- Go people-watching
- Paint your nails or go get them done
- Play with your pet
Finding ways to occupy your time is key if you want to maintain your sobriety for the long haul while in alcohol addiction rehab.
Going to Group Therapy
Going to group therapy can help you feel less alone. It helps you feel more connected to other people, which is important when it comes to alcohol recovery.
That’s because, oftentimes, substance abuse and the conditions that underlie it (such as anxiety and depression) make you feel worse when you’re alone like you’re unsupported or unloved.
Group therapy has also been shown to help improve communication skills, but more specifically, your listening and empathy skills.
While group therapy can have incredibly positive benefits for some, it just doesn’t work for others. If you find that it’s not working for you, consider alternatives to group therapy.
Finding Accountability
Part of alcohol recovery is taking accountability, which means finding ways to stay on course with treatment. Breaking physical and cognitive patterns related to alcohol addiction can be a struggle.
Many times, recovering addicts will blame other people for their choices and behaviors. Some recovering addicts also use their problems as an excuse to avoid dealing with certain emotions. But while you’re in alcohol addiction rehab, it’s best to face any difficult emotions you might be feeling so you can start the healing process.
When you’re able to take accountability for your actions and behaviors, it helps you become the person you need to be to live a sober life. Avoiding your emotions and inner demons can set you back on your road to recovery, which is why it’s best to take accountability for the things you do to harm yourself and others.
Accountability helps recovering addicts stay on course.
Taking accountability means:
- Accepting responsibility for your actions when you were drinking
- Accepting the severity of the alcohol abuse problem
- Acknowledging important steps you need to take during alcohol recovery treatment
- Avoiding placing blame on others if relapse occurs
- Avoiding denying alcohol abuse
- Avoiding getting angry when recovery doesn’t happen as quickly as you’d like
- Avoiding showing passive-aggressive behaviors
Make sure you’re doing everything you can to take accountability for your actions. Blaming others for your problem isn’t going to help you through the recovery process.
Finding the Treatment You Need
Now that you know how to take care of yourself during alcohol recovery, you can start taking steps to ensure you’re successful throughout treatment. That means taking care of your personal hygiene, exercising regularly and eating right, creating new and healthy relationships, treating yourself to fun activities alone, going to group therapy, and taking accountability for your actions.
Consider a detox program or alcohol addiction rehab to help you get through recovery with the support and guidance you need to be successful on your recovery journey.
Sources:
https://www.verywellmind.com/using-exercise-to-aid-alcohol-and-drug-recovery-67894
https://theoutline.com/post/7902/the-problem-with-group-therapy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2829243/
https://parade.com/1219503/marynliles/things-to-do-by-yourself/
https://www.addictioncenter.com/treatment/healthy-relationships/
https://www.sandstonecare.com/blog/5-ways-to-practice-self-care-in-addiction-recovery
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
https://wellnessretreatrecovery.com/accountability-drug-abuse-treatment/
https://www.ashleytreatment.org/eating-and-exercising-in-recovery/
https://www.ashleytreatment.org/self-care-and-recovery/
