Recovery from addiction is a lengthy process involving physical and mental withdrawal, long term hunger and lifestyle changes to help you fight against the original causes of your addiction. Although the first step to overcoming an addiction is always to seek professional assistance with addictions treatment, you will need to start building your support group while you’re in treatment so that you can count on people to help you once you’re out of a clinic.
There is no doubt that your therapist or consultant will talk about establishing a support system or a community as a part of your treatment and this guide helps you understand why you need one and how you can build and support yourself for a long time.
The peer encouragement can be described as the mechanism by which non-professional, non-clinical assistance is provided and offered by people with similar conditions or situations to obtain long term rehabilitation from drug or alcohol-related problems.
What is a Support System?
A support system is a network in which there is a group of people or organizations of which you could rely on to help keep you safe and sober. Your support system or community can be made up primarily of strangers, close friends, friends from 12 Step Recovery groups, close friends, or a combination of all that we have mentioned.
There is no option to help someone who is suffering addiction because your assistance relies on the partnerships and situations you have. This is especially true if the condition in the home is not one that fosters sobriety, whether your parents are still intoxicated or if you can not seek help anywhere.
Benefits of having a support system
Rehabilitation is an individual experience in many respects. Going into healing means getting comfortable with your patterns of thought and behaviors. This is a moment when you are very aware of why you abused drugs or alcohol and how to fight against those reasons. Although healing is somewhat of an individual process, the importance of your support systems can not be overlooked. So, what sort of benefits do support systems have for your journey in recovery?
They help you to surround yourself with healthy people.
When a person is consumed by addiction, they’ll likely harm a few relationships along the way. The great thing about support systems is they give that person a chance to make amends or create new relationships that will benefit them in their journey in recovery.
The people you meet in 12-step groups and other support groups work actively towards a healthy life by any means necessary. This kind of peer encouragement is extremely beneficial to surround yourself with in recovery.
You have a chance to express your struggles.
The road to recovery is not always quick or easy, as with any significant change in life. You are likely to face difficulties and problems while you continue to work on your rehabilitation. Support groups can help provide some compassion and relation to your struggles, making you feel less alone in them. It is likely that others in the group have experienced similar difficulties and have ideas or insights into how to deal with them.
They offer healthy pressure from peers.
Just as unhealthy people may encourage you to drug and alcohol, a healthy support group can help to put pressure on you to make healthy decisions. Regular meetings and consistent dialogue with your sponsors and support group members helps remind you that you are making the best kind of decision for yourself.
They provide a safety net during your lowest point
All recovering addicts deal with temptations, cravings, and triggers that may cause them to relapse. If you are tempted, access to a sponsor and a group of persons provides a healthy alternative to falling back into substance abuse. Eventually, you can walk the recovery journey by yourself, but the support groups and people around you are a great and extremely important tool to help you.
Importance of having a support system
You can use drugs or alcohol for several years before being sober and you can feel vulnerable by learning to live a chemical-free life. You are now no longer certain about the addiction you rely upon as a coping mechanism for the stunning of emotional pain or confidence. You need to enter the world and deal completely “unarmed” with other people and situations.
The rehabilitation program and the completion of a treatment and alcohol therapy program give some powerful tools to help you learn to live an alcohol and drug-free life. A recovery addict must continue to use the techniques used in treatment every day, but during the earlier days of recovery, he or she can use the encouragement of friends.
When family members participate in a counseling program during the addiction process, they gain a better understanding of addiction disease and its impact on their relatives. The family can provide people with wonderful support in early rehabilitation; they can provide every day encouragements and help their loved ones stay the course if circumstances arise that make them tempted to slip into past behavior.
Where to find a one?
Go to 12-step meetings or group recovery
The following care recommended by the drug or alcohol treatment center should be attended by some sort of group. One advantage of participating in a 12-step program or recovery group is that everyone involved understands what is exactly like in recovery immediately. The largest of all the 12-step programs is Alcoholics Anonymous.
Spend Time with Family
Families can lead to new acquaintances as members of the family can often invite their friends and neighbors.
Take part in an organization
Consider an organization that wants some room for support and service. There are several kinds of jobs that unemployed employees will carry out, and the organizations are more than grateful to have one extra eye. Regardless of the expertise, someone has to give in rehab, there is a structure.
Family members and old friends may assist, but they may not necessarily know exactly what to say to encourage a person in their recovery. Take advantage of a professional, social worker, specialist, or a community leader for your recovery support. Trained listeners can often provide a type of support other than good intentions of friends or family members, for those going through addiction recovery.
An individual seeking recovery needs a support system throughout recovery, especially in early recovery. Support systems help people find a sense of belonging and purpose in their journey through recovery. Without a support system, they won’t have anyone to talk to or relate to, which can result in relapse.
