The first year on the road to recovery is not always an easy path to travel. With the support of family and a good program from a reputable addiction treatment center, you or a loved one will not have to travel that road alone. Support along the way can make a difference in recovery.
The First Year of Recovery from an Addiction Treatment Center
Once the program has been completed, you or your loved one will be back in the hustle and bustle of life. Here there are also the ever-present problems and stresses in life. These negative stresses and influences may be overwhelming and it could be tempting to fall back on an addiction. Setbacks, loss of relationships, or a loss of job are just a few of the common stressors. All can be experienced by you or a loved one outside of the addiction treatment center.
In fact, the first year of recovery from an addiction treatment center is often the hardest. The first few weeks after rehab are arguably worse for a struggling addict because they have a lot less support than they did before. Not only will you or your loved one have to relearn how to handle every day stress or problems but you will have to do it without the everyday support of your addiction treatment center.
To help reduce potential stress, here are some major life changes that you or a loved one should avoid making in the first year of recovery back from an addiction treatment center:
- starting a new romance
- getting a divorce
- moving to a new house or apartment
- changing career or starting a new career
- try to quit smoking
- having or adopting a baby
- taking on additional responsibilities either in life or at work
How We Can Help
We encourage you or your loved one to avoid these major life changes to help reduce stress and the likelihood of relapse. However, some of these changes are unavoidable. This is why our addiction treatment center helps you or your loved one learn the skills needed to deal successfully with these potential changes so you can reduce stress and the chance of relapse in the first year in recovery. With addiction, it becomes natural to develop and hone destructive patterns of thinking and acting while under stress. Part of the healing process is learning how to handle life’s difficulties without falling back on these destructive patterns.
Of course, there are some ways to protect yourself and find support and stress-relief in the first year of recovery.
- get a sponsor either through meetings or from a family member
- find a purpose or support a charity
- rediscover childhood fun or things you love
- work on your relationships with family and friends
The truth of the matter is: the first year of recovery is hard. After rehab and not having the support of your addiction treatment center any more, stress and life changes can really seem overwhelming– almost to the point where you or your loved one would want to fall back on bad habits.
However, people successfully work on their recovery every single day– from the last day of the program all the way to the last day of the first year of recovery. You are a success story.
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