Many people make the mistake of assuming that they have to enroll in an inpatient recovery program in order to get clean from drug addiction. This isn’t always the case. For many people, an outpatient treatment program is the best option for them because they are able to continue with their daily life while going through their recovery.
If you have chosen to enroll yourself in an outpatient treatment program, you need to be sure that you take steps to manage your life and ensure that you don’t relapse as you attempt to get clean. Here are some tips you can use to manage your life appropriately during recovery and better your chances of sobriety while participating in an outpatient treatment program.
Create a Schedule for Yourself
When you are in an outpatient treatment program, there is often a specific time every day or every day that you need to go to the treatment center to get your medications or to meet with a member of staff who is responsible for monitoring your recovery.
Creating a schedule for yourself ensures that you never miss a meeting with the advisor and that you never have to miss a dose of your medications. You want to be sure that you don’t have periods of the day that are left vacant, it could cause you to spend that time thinking about how it felt to be high and cause you to become wanting of the drugs again.
Avoid Temptations
Many people make the mistake of thinking that they can go back to the life that they had before they started getting treatment as soon as they detox from the drugs. This isn’t the case though. Just because the drugs are out of your system it doesn’t mean that you won’t crave them mentally.
Many people assume that they have the mental willpower to be able to surround themselves with drugs or drug users and not relapse, but this is rarely successful. You need to avoid putting yourself in social settings where drugs are readily available to you to ensure there is no chance of a relapse occurring.
Nurture Your Body
It can be tempting to give in to the sugar cravings that occur when you detox from drugs, but you need to try your best to avoid them. Instead, be sure that you provide your body with the nutrients that are needed to promote health and stability.
Eating whole foods and drinking plenty of water is essential when you detox. Foods that are rich in iron, magnesium, and calcium can help to make the detoxification easier and provides you with an abundance of foods to choose from each day.
Maintain a Medication Regiment
Another huge mistake that people make is thinking that they can stop taking the medications that are prescribed during outpatient therapy whenever they want. This isn’t’ a good idea. Many of the medications that are given to make detoxing easier require you to be weaned from them in order to have the best chances of staying clean.
Stopping the use of any medications abruptly could cause you to have the withdrawal symptoms that you were trying to avoid. You also don’t want to try to self-medicate because you don’t know the proper doses that you need to take for the medications and it could end up causing you more harm than good.
Seek Counseling While in Outpatient Treatment
Since addiction to drugs is both mental and physical, you need to be sure you seek professional mental help with your addiction during recovery. You need to talk to a counselor to find out what triggers you to want to do drugs and if there are any co-existing conditions that need to be treated separately.
Treating both separately can help you to avoid relapse in the future. Depression and bipolar disorder often coincide with drug addiction and need to be treated properly.
Talk Openly About Your Addiction
Addicts need to be able to talk openly about their addiction in order to be able to truly control it. You need to talk to your friends and family about anything that they are doing that is making your recovery more difficult. If someone truly loves you, they will be able to avoid drinking around you or talking about drug use as it could cause you to relapse.
Go to Group Therapy Sessions
Believe it or not, talking to other people who have battled addiction in the past can help you to get clean and sober. You can learn from the mistakes that they have made and get advice for things that you are battling on a daily basis so that you can live as productive of a life as you possibly can.
You want to find a meeting that is local to you so that you can go to it on a regular basis. Everything that is said in the meetings is kept confidential so that you don’t have to worry about anyone finding out what you say when you speak openly and honestly.
Limit Your Stress
Stress can often be a huge trigger that leads to relapse. You want to be sure to minimize your stress by taking breaks from somewhat stressful situations whenever you can. Find a hobby that allows you to release stress, such as playing an instrument, learning yoga, taking part in an art program or even learning to cook.
Staying clean while you participate in an outpatient treatment program is often much harder than when you participate in an inpatient treatment option. You have to be willing to rely on others to help you through this difficult time and make changes in your daily life in order to get the most out of the treatment that you can. Only you can be in control of the decisions that you make and being willing to make changes to better your life overall will be crucial to your sobriety in the end.
