We gain so much more by living sober than we do by drinking. What you gain will be personal to you but noticing and recording what you’re gaining rather than what you’re missing out on is a good way to keep yourself motivated. When you stop drinking, you’re not going to have an awful lot in common with that first group of people anymore.
Additionally, I examine the way mental and physical health as well as our relationships with others impact the reasons people drink and their role in maintaining sobriety long-term. Support groups are foundational for maintaining sobriety from drugs or alcohol, both short term and long term sobriety. Going to support groups means you have a ready-built network of sober friends who have been through similar experiences to you, and are able to offer you advice and emotional support. Addiction treatment for alcohol abuse is a one stop shop designed to help you get sober and remain sober. If you’ve been curious about how to stop drinking alcohol and get sober, you might be wondering where to start. Keep reading to learn about steps you can take to stop drinking, take back control of your life, and how to get sober from alcohol to start the path to recovery and long-term sobriety.
Spain, Germany, Italy: Travel strikes planned for January
Now that you are sober, you may have discovered that some of your past relationships were not only unhealthy but downright toxic. It’s not just your drinking buddies and drug dealers who can get you into trouble—sometimes those who are closest to you can contribute to a relapse. Cindy and her incomparable team aid individuals in remaining free from the shackles of active drug and alcohol addiction, as well as other co-occurring self-harming actions and disorders. Getting some sober friends sounds like a great idea, but how are you supposed to meet people?
- The addiction treatment at Silver Maple is designed identify the root cause of your substance abuse and offer a healthy way forward.
- Establish clear intentions and goals for the gathering, such as connecting with others, having meaningful conversations, or simply enjoying the company.
And it’s natural to think that this means you won’t be able to spend time with them. A half-decade later, that challenge has become a second career. Ms. Bandrovschi runs Listen Bar, an alcohol-free bar open one night a month downstairs at Von, a bar on Bleecker Street in Manhattan. That sounds a little intense, but that’s because (sometimes) it is. Whenever you question whether you made the right choice by giving up drinking, remember your reasons for choosing sobriety.
Practice Healthy Living
I also travel with my own tea bags so I can make sure I have my favourite hot drinks in the mornings and evenings. Once you have got over the initial hurdles, life is far better without alcohol. You will encounter difficulties in life, no matter how long you have been sober for. Recovery is a lifelong process that will have challenging moments. Early recovery is difficult, and these difficulties may stifle your happiness. As you remain sober for longer, though, living the sober life gets better and better.
For the non-German, it conjures images of lederhosen, massive steins overflowing with German beer, and drunk tourists stumbling through the streets. Knowing what steps to take ahead of time, I can go anywhere. This is a permission slip to drink what suits you and the situation you happen to find yourself in on a given evening. In January, Coca-Cola began test marketing a line of nonalcoholic cocktails, Bar None, with names like Bellini Spritz and Spiced Ginger Mule. It starts with a tingle of citrus, with notes of hibiscus and orange peel, then swells with a hint of syrupy bitterness, which, along with its blood-red color, calls to mind a negroni. Online, sobriety has become “the new black,” asserts a recovery site called, yes, Hip Sobriety.
Make Your Sobriety a Team Effort at Silver Maple Recovery
What we often find is that those people drop out of your life because it’s going to be no fun for you going along to a drink-fuelled event with those people when you’re not drinking. You might find you actually have very little in common with them. If the point of the evening is getting drunk, then there’s being sober around drinkers nothing in it for you so it’s quite likely that you’ll stop hanging out with those people and they’ll start to drop off your radar. It’s everything you’d imagine a big family gathering to be. Chaos and fun and laughter and catching up and lots of chats and entertaining kids and activities and stuff.
Most people who make their way into recovery have left a lot of pain and suffering in their wake. Feeling guilty or ashamed of past behavior or actions during active addiction is natural and healthy. Other definitions, however, often focus on the process of recovery and developing coping mechanisms and habits that support health and wellness over the long term. Total abstinence may be the goal, but the reality is that setbacks are common. Socializing without alcohol can open up new possibilities for connection, fun, and personal growth. Embrace the opportunity to experience social interactions in a different light and create meaningful relationships that go beyond alcohol.
It’s important to remember that you are accountable for your own recovery. Be honest with yourself about the temptations you can and cannot handle. Once you find the set of activities that work for your recovery, stick with them. Jeanette Hu, AMFT, is a San Francisco-based therapist who helps people to become curious about their relationship with substances. As a daily drinker in the past, my attempts at Dry January were marked by early setbacks.
