You may be at a point where you realize you have a problem and that something has to change, but you can’t quite decide to make a change. Or maybe you’ve taken the first steps toward recovery, but it’s just not going very well. It could be that although you have had enough of addiction, you aren’t quite ready to embrace sobriety. You may have some image of sobriety that is better than addiction, but not exactly appealing. There are several common fears and misconceptions about sobriety that might be sabotaging your recovery.
Sobriety is boring.
This may be the biggest one. People are often afraid that if they quit drinking or using drugs, they will never have fun again. They often fear they will lose their spark, their wit, or their confidence. They fear they won’t be able to do the fun things they used to do. They fear missing out on the pleasure of drinking or using. It’s true that some drugs cause an intensity of pleasure that nature never intended, but fun and pleasure aren’t the same thing. The pleasure of drugs is bought at a high price, sometimes with your life. Fun is a product of what you do and your attitude toward life. Freedom from addiction gives you more control over those things. More to the point, what’s more boring than addiction? You do the same thing every day, suffer the same consequences, and are unable to behave differently. Also, drugs and alcohol mask boredom. Most of what you do while drunk or high looks boring to everyone else. Sobriety is a chance to do more that’s actually interesting.
You’ll lose all your friends.
It’s not a great idea to spend time with friends who still use after you quit. This prospect makes many people feel like they will be lonely if they get sober. Typically, what they discover instead is that they didn’t have much in common with those friends other than drinking and drugs. This can be painful in its own way, but it also shows that the friends you lose aren’t usually real friends; they’re just drinking buddies. Real friends want you to be healthy and successful, while the people you should avoid in recovery are the ones who want to bring you down.
You’ll turn into someone else.
For many people, drinking and drugs are part of their identity. It’s not just something they do; it’s who they are. Some people start using in the first place as a way of finding a social identity. If drugs and alcohol are a major part of your self-image, quitting can feel like a loss of identity. However, just as your drinking buddies are not your real friends, drugs and alcohol are not a real identity. More often, they are something you adopt in the absence of a clear identity. It’s also common for people who struggle with addiction to be in codependent relationships in which they suppress their own identities in an effort to please others. Sobriety is the beginning of the process of finding your true identity. You may have other assumptions about sobriety that keep you from committing to recovery. It’s important to be aware of those assumptions and really examine whether they have any basis in reality. Often they don’t, and the sooner you discard them, the better your recovery will be.
If you or a loved one struggles with addiction, we can help. Recovery Ways is a leading addiction treatment provider with an excellent recovery rate. Our expert staff includes masters and PhD level therapists and board certified addiction psychiatrists. Our comfortable facilities will help to make your treatment as enjoyable as possible and our therapists use proven techniques like sensory integration and recreation therapy to help to engage the world without the assistance of drugs or alcohol. Call us today at 1-888-986-7848 or email us through our contact page to learn more.
