Thriving In Recovery From Addiction

Relapse Prevention

The basics of addiction treatment have a lot to do with relapse prevention. Especially in early recovery, it’s important to learn skills necessary to avoid relapse — however, avoiding relapse and thriving in recovery are not the same. A person can develop a plan to take certain actions to avoid relapse, but still be miserable. Even though relapse prevention is important, recovery is about more than relapse prevention. In the beginning of recovery, a lot of energy’s spent avoiding mood altering drugs. This energy spent on avoiding mood altering drugs can be mentally and emotionally exhausting, if there isn’t also something that generates positive recovery energy. A person who’s avoiding relapse because, say, there’s a legal concern, a relationship problem or pressure from an employer, etc., that motivates the person to stay straight will one day move beyond that pressure — the legal concern will go away, or the relationship problem will be temporarily resolved or work performance will improve. This can be a dangerous time for someone who’s not generating internal, positive energy to recover. A person staying straight for the judge, a spouse or an employer, but not generating internal motivation to recover and develop a good life without alcohol, cocaine, pot, etc., will likely return to their drug of choice once the external pressure is gone, even if their intentions are good and they tell themselves and others they’re serious about getting better. Usually, this person hasn’t really accepted the reality of addiction and how it takes more than just avoiding the alcohol, cocaine, opiate, etc., to really recover.

Internal Motivation

Something we don’t discuss enough is what people in long term addiction recovery do to change their lives and generate internal motivation in recovery. This is about much more than relapse prevention. This is about a deep internal change. First, there’s usually a full acceptance that if they start using a mood altering drug, their addiction is activated again and the same bad things, and worse, will happen. The person internally motivated will understand they’re doing this because they want to be straight, that they can enjoy life without some kind of chemical in their body. The person internally motivated will take responsibility for recovery, knowing if they take recovery for granted, they could lose it. The person internally motivated in recovery seeks and utilizes support from others, so that they remember what it was like and to keep their life in perspective. A smart person realizes they don’t have all the answers for everything, but they know how to utilize the experience of others to find answers. The person internally motivated is no longer exhausting their energy staying away from mood altering drugs, but, rather, they’re generating positive energy to move beyond drugs to a better, saner, healthier life. In a sense, they’re pulled forward to a better life.

Thriving in Recovery

The person thriving in recovery usually gives back by helping others who’re lost in addiction. They don’t necessarily devote their lives totally to helping others, but, when they get a chance and it’s appropriate, they willingly share their experience and what it took to recover. Sometimes, addiction treatment and recovery are perceived in ways that have nothing to do with what’s possible in recovery. I’ve witnesses many, many people who came to treatment with nothing, broken, angry, scared, confused, and then they found something, with the help of others, a switch came on, and they transformed their lives. They didn’t have to be forced to do the things that promote recovery. They willingly did these things and actively looked for other ways to enhance recovery: they developed new interests; they sought help with strained relationships; they re-evaluated their career goals; they joined a support group and started helping others; they got with a doctor and set a nutritional plan; they started exercising, improving their physical condition; they took time each day to stop the noise of life, to meditate and stay centered; they embraced life without mood altering drugs; they embraced life, period.