5 Reasons to Have a Support System in Addiction Recovery
5 Reasons to Have a Support System in Addiction Recovery
When you were actively drinking or doing drugs, you probably found yourself using alone, withdrawing from your friends and family. If you did surround yourself with people, they were probably people who encouraged your drinking or drug use. When you decide to get clean and sober and enter rehab, you realize that the people who truly care for you are there for you.
After you’re in recovery and begin to get on track, you might feel like you can do anything on your own. However, not relying on your support system has consequences. Taking on too much without help causes stress and might overwhelm you. These feelings increase your risk of relapsing.
The Importance of Support in Recovery
You can lessen your risk for relapse by surrounding yourself with a healthy set of friends and family who support you and help you through this new phase in life. When you do, you’ll find that:
- Facing challenges isn’t as difficult. When you are faced with a challenge, you might become overwhelmed and stressed. These feelings might trigger your unhealthy reaction of drinking or doing drugs. Having people to rely on helps you handle the situation. Their insight and assistance make a complicated and emotional situation seem manageable.
- Friends help lower anxiety in social situations. You might have started using alcohol or drugs to reduce your social anxiety, but it took over your life and caused more anxiety. Having a friend or family member with you in a social setting helps reduce the stress of being alone or feeling awkward.
- Family and friends keep you in check. Sometimes you become too confident in recovery or fall back in old behavior patterns, which increase your risk of relapse. A loved one provides valuable insight about your behavior and that can help you address the issues.
- You have your own personal cheering section. Having loved ones who support your recovery is a positive thing, especially when you hit a rough patch. They can empower you to work through the issues that are keeping you down.
- Your confidence and self-esteem grow. It feels good to have people who want to be around you and who care for your success. Their presence and active role in your recovery can boost up confidence and self-esteem that alcohol and drugs chopped down.
Strength in Numbers
Recovery is a long road with highs and lows. You can’t avoid all the lows and that can stress you out and put you at risk of relapse. However, having a support system makes recovery manageable.
Recovery Connection has almost a decade of experience helping people with addiction recovery. We know the importance of having a support group set up before you return home after completing drug and alcohol rehab. For that reason, we only work with treatment centers that offer alumni programs and post-treatment support group options. Call today 866-812-8231 for a treatment center near you.
