The Importance of Support Systems for Recovering Addicts

Communicating your recovery needs and discussing the nature of your relationship with members of your support network can also help you avoid potential misunderstandings. Enrolling in a rehab program is perhaps the most pivotal, actionable step an addict can take toward recovery. However, the journey does not end once a program participant graduates from a rehab program. In fact, building a support network is one of the most important things to do after completing drug or alcohol rehab. Building a solid support network will provide you with a firm foundation for your continued recovery post-treatment. Sea Change Recovery is your premier drug and alcohol addiction treatment center. The fact that most of your support network will consist of other people in recovery means that your honesty may sometimes be tested.

• As caring and well-intentioned as our friends and family can be, there will always be an understanding they cannot provide unless they have gone through what you are experiencing.
• Depending on the type of dependency, PAWS can last from six months to two years after you stop using drugs or alcohol.
• When you seek treatment for your addictions, you’ll find that the treatment center assigns you a counselor.
• Some of the immediate changes you will need to make will be obvious—like not hanging around the people that you used with or obtained drugs from.
• You can use the app to connect with people near you who are also in recovery, find rides to support meetings, or meet others who share similar hobbies or special interests.

When we learn new skills, we cannot be expected to immediately become experts, and the same concept applies to learning to cope with the urge to return to substance use. This environment is not the place for fair-weather friends sober networking who will write you off in the event of a relapse. You are inevitably going to make mistakes during recovery, and being surrounded by people who understand that and help you get back on your feet can keep you going.

Factors that help individuals sustain recovery include:

Many addicts burn bridges throughout the course of their addiction. If you have damaged a relationship that was positive and healthy prior to your substance abuse, you may be able to repair the relationship. Mending damaged relationships is typically not an easy process as addicts often destroy the trust in the relationship.

• We aren’t saying that you need to become the perfect model of sobriety before you can begin building your support network.
• A drug addict needs to find solid support systems to help them stay in recovery and avoid relapse.
• Why continue trying supports that you don’t like or don’t aid your recovery?
• For this reason, many programs offer sober living houses where clients can start to live their everyday lives without giving up the support they had while in treatment.
• Your support network can play a part in all four dimensions of recovery.

Further down the road , use patterns become much more solitary, withdrawn and isolated. Many have suffered through conflicts with family and friends and, by the time they seek treatment, feel disconnected from potential supporters of change. In addition, to break the destructive patterns that are in place when they seek treatment, they have to distance themselves from current friends who engage in the same behavior . The importance of having a safe https://ecosoberhouse.com/ and stable living situation is hard to overstate. For some people, a safe and stable living situation may be in a halfway house, a sober living house, or transitional living. Your living situation during recovery can be the deciding factor in whether you continue a successful addiction recovery journey. A living situation with accountability, structure, peer support and a sober environment is often the best follow-up to drug and alcohol rehab.

What Is a Healthy Addiction Support System?

If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, finding professional help is paramount. With all the treatment options that are available, you can easily become overwhelmed and not know where to turn.

The more you can push yourself to stay connected, the more you can benefit from their support. What do you do if you are having a bad day, and just can’t bear to talk with anyone?

Go to 12-Step Meetings or Recovery Group

You may not always be perfect at it, but strive to make progress rather than perfection. Certain members of your family and close friends will likely make it into your support network as well .