Accepting help for your addiction, whether it is alcoholism, a drug addiction, or a gambling addiction, is an important step. You should be proud of yourself for making the decision to regain control of your life.

 

To stay abstinent, you can do a range of things yourself as well as seek professional addiction support. In this article, we offer tips on how to achieve sobriety and abstinence and explore specialist addiction treatment options.

 

Sobriety and Abstinence Tips

Recovery requires time and effort. Adopting a sober or abstinent lifestyle requires a change in behaviour. As you begin this journey, there are a few steps you can take to help yourself.

 

Be open to getting better and ask someone for their support

After you decide to overcome your addiction, it’s a good idea to share your decision with a close friend or family member. If you’re having trouble recovering, they can act as a sounding board. 

 

Remind yourself why you want to change

Make sure you keep reminding yourself why you want this change and why you want to make a recovery plan. Staying focused on why you’re trying to get better can help you overcome temptations along the way. You may want to become a better friend, spouse, parent, or coworker, and be more present and active in the lives of your loved ones. Perhaps you want to be physically and mentally healthier.

 

Whatever your reasons are, keep reminding yourself of the reasons why you want to overcome addiction, especially if you are finding abstinence difficult at any point. 

 

Set goals to help the process

Along your road to recovery, you can also set specific and measurable goals for yourself. As an example, you might be able to save some money by not buying alcohol or spending it on gambling apps. It provides a handy boost to your self-confidence and encourages you to keep striving.

 

Cope with stressjournaling

Addictions can be triggered by stress. Because of this, it’s really important to learn healthier ways to cope with stress rather than relying on your old vices. To channel your stress more effectively, you could learn meditation or mindfulness techniques, such as journaling.

 

Remove temptations 

The first step toward recovering from a substance or behavioural addiction is to remove temptations from your life. Put an end to your gaming, gambling, and shopping addictions, for instance, by removing alcohol from your house.

 

Avoiding places and engaging in activities that trigger you is also important. Avoiding places where you can buy and/or consume alcohol is a good idea if you want to stop drinking.

 

Seek professional help

Quite often overcoming addiction and achieving lifelong recovery requires professional help. At Parkland Place we understand that alcohol addiction, drug addiction, gambling addiction and other harmful behaviours are frequently intertwined with psychological and social pressures – so we will work with you to identify the issues you face, and help you build a new toolkit to address them.