If you have recently completed your rehab program, then we like to congratulate you for doing a great job. This accomplishment is worth celebrating but healthily without grabbing any alcoholic drinks. Does that mean you are free from addiction without any fear of relapse? The answer is no since staying sober is your next lifelong work to keep yourself clean.
Today, we are going to give you some tips on how you can stay sober after treating your Gabapentin addiction.
How to Safely Transition from Rehab to Life Outside Rehab?
A rehab center is a controlled environment that supports your recovery from Gabapentin addiction. After completing your treatment plan, you are excited to go back to your normal life, yet how can you be sure that your transition would be safe and smooth?
First of all, you need to embrace the fact that life outside of rehab is full of temptation. There’s a chance that you will be exposed to the same triggers that led you to the path of addiction. How will you be able to handle these triggers? This is where sober living houses play a significant role in your smooth transition from rehab to normal life.
A sober living house serves as a place for you to adjust from the controlled place of rehab to the free and unpredictable “real world”. Inside the sober living house, you will be around people who also have recently completed their rehab program. Here, you will continue to receive therapy and counseling that will guide you to the outside world. Each member will share their experiences and how they or can cope and resist cravings.
Unlike rehab, you have more freedom inside a sober living home. The best benefit of being here, you will be guided on how to live again in the “real world”.
How to Manage Triggers and Temptations to Avoid Relapse?
When you’re back to reality, you cannot escape the circumstances of being near again to temptations. Your sobriety and discipline will be challenged, and you need to stay strong in your commitment to living a clean life away from substance addiction.
Here are a few tips you can use to help you cope with any triggers you encounter outside of rehab:
Divert your attention to other productive activities
Learning new skills or having a new hobby is an effective way to distract yourself from craving the substance. Upon engaging in new habits, you will meet new people that will positively influence your life to be better and stay sober.
Daily appreciation
Each day you need to give thanks since you have completed your treatment and kept your sobriety. By doing this, you are valuing your effort of helping yourself recover from addiction. Once you appreciate the value of the work you have put into your well-being, you will never give in to the temptation that easily.
Book weekly appointments with your therapist
Keeping in touch with your therapist is a good way to check yourself. Self-denial will be your hindrance to checking yourself without bias. By seeing your therapist regularly, you have a professional to help you stay on track to keeping yourself sober.
Set a goal
Setting a goal for yourself is an excellent way for self-motivation. For instance, if your first goal is to stay sober for a month and you successfully achieved it, you can set a higher goal for the next month. The goals you set in the future help you positively look forward. It naturally motivates you to stay sober. Also, you can set some rewards for every milestone you conquer.
Clean up your home
You need to remove things that remind you of addiction. A clean home promotes well-being and healthy life. If you need help, you can ask your loved ones to help you declutter your room.
Find a support group
People who have completed rehab are one of the best support groups you can depend on. They have experienced the challenges of recovering from addiction, so you can share learning and experiences with them. They are your rich source of inspiration and morals to keep moving forward.
Have a healthy active lifestyle
Engaging in sports and other healthy activities is a great way to motivate yourself to live a healthy life. Here are some of the activities you can try:
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Exercise
- Reading
- Enrolling in a crash course
- Playing an instrument
- Engaging in community services
What are the Benefits of Living a Sober Life?
Staying sober takes work, and resisting temptations daily is an endeavor. But all your effort won’t be put to waste as you will enjoy lots of benefits from living a clean life free from addiction. Below are the advantages of maintaining your sobriety:
- You can make new friends that will support you in living a healthy life.
- You can save more money since you don’t waste them buying drugs.
- You enhance your concentration on work and school.
- You have more enthusiasm to live life to the fullest.
- You feel better and more alive, and you get to enjoy the company of your loved ones.
- You are a source of hope for those who have recently finished their rehab program.
It’s never easy to overcome Gabapentin addiction, yet all the work you do will pay off. Keep motivating yourself to stay sober since it’s much worse when you have a relapse and go back to addiction.
Addiction can be treated, all you need is the will and action to recover from it. There will be temptations along the way, but never give in to them. Remember all the hard work you have experienced to reach this far and think of your loved ones expecting you to be better. This is more than enough to give you a reason to stay clean and live a happy life.