During the recovery process and even after it can often feel like there’s a hole left in the addict’s life. Since drugs dominate the life of an addict, it is understandable that when they are gone, it causes a massive shift that many people don’t know how to deal with. Therapist and recovery centers can help understand those feelings and how to cope with the change in life, to a certain extent, but it can still be hard to deal with that empty feeling. Here are a few things that other addicts have used to replace the part of your life that drugs filled.
Journaling
Journaling is common among people suffering from mental illness or drug addiction as a way to express their feelings in a privet way. Journaling is a good thing to keep up with during and after the recovering program as there is an emotional release that comes with expressing feelings, and if the addict ever feels stuck or down, they can read the old entries to see how far they’ve come.
Meditation/Yoga
Meditation is the practice of clearing the mind of all thoughts in order to have a quiet, peaceful moment of relaxation. Mediation is a good way of relaxing that a lot of people do, not just those suffering from mental illness or depression. If meditation is clearing the mind to relax, then yoga is moving the body in a way that calms the person practicing. Meditation and yoga being used in conjunction with each other can lead to a relaxing and healthy lifestyle that can help someone recovering from addiction.
Socializing
When an addict is deep into their addiction many of their relationships will apart, whether it be from ignoring friends and family to focus on drugs, or angerly pushing people away when they try to help them. After the recovery process is complete, it is a good idea for the addict to try and make amends with those they pushed away before, as having people to socialize with is good for mental health. Some of these relationships may not be salvageable, but it is good for the addict to at least try and apologize to those they have hurt in the past.
Finding Other Hobbies
One way for a recovering addict to move past their addiction is to find something constructive to put their energy into. Using the energy they normally would use on drugs on something productive will help, as it keeps the recovering addict occupied and when they are finished they will get the natural high from having completed something. It could be anything they put their time into, sports, exercise, woodworking, art, writing, anything that brings them joy and keeps their mind occupied.
Before focusing on how to coup with the end of the recovery process, the process must actually be completed. If you or a loved one is in need of help on the path to sobriety, please visit us at Asana Recovery.
