In the early stages of recovery, particularly if you’re fresh out of residential therapy, your home can be a minefield of triggers. At first, returning to your own house might sound like an answered prayer, but the truth is that if you’ve gotten accustomed to a very structured day in a sober environment, it can be hard to reintegrate into “normal” life. A key component of any good rehabilitation treatment is the teaching of life skills, and this is when those skills are going to be put to the test.
Imagine that you lived alone, and all the detritus of your pre-recovery life is still scattered where you left it. Empty bottles of alcohol, a few pills rattling around in the bottom of a container, the pipe you always smoked with – any of these things can be cues for cravings. One study of people in recovery from alcohol dependence found that subjecting them to alcohol cues caused cravings and relapse, with two-thirds of the patients reporting non-abstinence at a three-month follow-up.
The obvious answer is this problem is to get rid of anything that can be a cue. You can’t control advertisements you’ll see on billboards or in the subway, or avoid every possible sighting of someone drinking or smoking, but you can control what you see in your own house. A heavy-duty spring cleaning will not only get rid of anything you associate with your past life, but it will give you something productive to focus on. It will also provide you with a bit of healthy exercise.
It might not only be drug paraphernalia that you need to remove from your home. Maybe you have a favorite pair of shoes that you always wore to a particular bar. A sweatshirt that belonged to an ex who you used to get high with. A picture of a group of friends you frequently did drugs with.
Particularly for people who are already prone to anxiety or obsessive behavior, a messy home can be a trigger all on its own. Stress is a major contributor to relapse, and a lack of organization can be stressful for anyone.
Once your home is clean, use keeping it that way as a routine to introduce a bit of structure into your life. You’ll find that you are much more productive when you follow a routine, rather than sitting around worrying about how much needs to be done or what you should do next. Try simple things, like making your bed every morning, vacuuming every second day, or dusting furniture on Sundays. It might not sound like much, but the adjustment from therapy to home can be overwhelming, and every little bit of control helps.
If you or a loved one need help to quit drugs or alcohol, consider Asana Recovery. We offer medical detox, along with both residential and outpatient programs, and you’ll be supervised by a highly trained staff of medical professionals, counselors, and therapists. Call us any time at (949) 438-4504.
