Self-Care Therapy To Prevent Opiate Relapse

Thanks to guest contributor, Kent Elliot, for this excellent article:

According to the US National Library of Medicine, 72 to 88 percent of people working toward sobriety suffer a relapse. However, when you incorporate self-care into your journey, you’re stacking the deck in your favour. Here are some suggestions.

Don’t Go It Alone

Millions of people have been previously or are currently addicted to opiates.

One option is to reach out to the community to find a support group and find others with similar experiences you can talk to when you’re having a rough day.

Communication is a critical component of self-care, and when you’ve connected with somebody who encourages you to be yourself and provides a safe harbor where you can release your emotions and relieve your mental burden, you’re less likely to use drugs to cope.

Make Lists

Create lists to foster organization and self-accountability, and reduce anxiety. You should list:

• healthy activities to replace drug use
• sober friends to call when you’re struggling
• triggers to avoid
• coping skills to counteract unavoidable triggers

Experts recommend also listing people or situations that put your sobriety at risk, so you’ve got a written reminder of which environments to avoid and which are safe.

Put Yourself First

Check your guilt in at the door – prioritizing your self-care while you’re in recovery is vital to the healing process.

Think about why you used drugs. Was it to escape? Relax? Reward yourself?

When you think about using, reach out to somebody who understands your struggle, whether a family member, friend, or sponsor. Share your urge or your trigger, because when you verbalize that craving, it starts to dissipate. Distract yourself with a walk, meeting, or other activity.

As you ease back into your regular daily life, make balance a priority. Don’t overwork yourself. As ZenBusiness notes, when trying to establish work-life balance, it’s important to prioritize your own well-being and learn to say no when your plate gets too full.

By taking these steps now, you can create boundaries that will benefit your recovery.

Emotional Self-Care

Treat yourself well – and that starts with forgiving and learning to love yourself. Be as kind to yourself as you are to others.

Working through and leaving behind the harmful, self-abusive coping mechanisms you used to cover feelings of inadequacy and failure might be the most challenging task you face. But treating yourself well – and you’ve already taken that first step by starting the journey toward sobriety – will also cultivate positive feelings of self-worth, resilience, and strength.

Spiritual Self-Care

Whether you take a yoga class that includes meditation or choose to meditate on your own, make time to reflect each day. You might read a devotion, spend time in nature, or create a gratitude journal.

Practising mindful meditation enables you to focus completely on the moment. By practising mindfulness, you’’ll be more aware of how you’re thinking, train yourself to live in the moment, and add techniques to release stress and tension.

Regardless of what spiritual practice you follow, you’ll learn additional coping methods, improve your mood, increase happiness and contentment, and even live longer.

Physical Self-Care

Take care of your body by eating well, cultivating healthy sleep habits, incorporating exercise or activity, and staying hydrated.

Prioritize your diet, which is an invaluable resource for helping to heal your body from the physical damages caused by opiate use. Remove or greatly reduce processed foods, refined sugars, saturated and trans fats, and caffeine from your daily meals. Instead, add whole foods like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, and whole grains.

People often confuse hunger with thirst when it’s really dehydration that’s sending their brain those “hunger signals”. While most people are familiar with the 8×8 rule (eight 8-oz cups of water daily), you can get some of your daily allowance of water from certain foods, like watermelon and celery. Keep a water bottle handy so you can sip throughout the day. If you hate water, try these healthy alternatives.

Believe In Yourself

Trust the treatment process – and yourself. Commit to making the time for self-care every day, whether it’s a 20-minute walk, a mug of warm tea, a massage, or a romp with your dog. Believe in yourself because you do have the power to reach your goal of sobriety.

Kent Elliot is a retired architect with a passion for dogs, DIY, and universal design. After a stroke left him with mobility issues, he thought he would need to move out of his home and into an assisted living community. But, using his experience as an architect and with a little creativity, he was able to successfully remodel his family home instead. The relief he felt has inspired him to help others do the same. He created At Home Aging to share what he’s learned.