One of the hardest parts of overcoming addiction is reentering back into your usual environment. You may be forced to surround yourself with the same people who once encouraged your addiction. You might find it difficult to attend social events and outings that involve alcohol. Part of the recovery process of addiction treatment also include sobriety during maintenance. With appropriate planning and understanding of these difficult situations, you can ease yourself back into your social environments as a sober person.
Understand the challenges
Understanding that interacting as a sober individual when you are only used to interacting with other while using will be a difficult adjustment is the first step to the reentering process. It is likely that you will discuss this process in your addiction treatment and your drug treatment therapist will help to prepare you for it. You will discuss the difficult people that you will interact with and identify the situations that will be the most difficult. However, once you have accepted and attempted to understand these challenges, the process will become easier.
Know your challenges
Your addiction treatment likely included a lot of self exploration. You probably attempted to identify what caused you to start in the first place, as well as the situations that you felt most comfortable in using. These sessions of self exploration can be especially helpful in identifying your personal challenges. Your most challenging situations will be different than any other ibogaine drug treatment patient. In 2015, 26.9% of people ages 18 and older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month, 7% reported that they engaged in heavy alcohol use in the past month. Of these high percentages of drinkers, everyone?s recovery process is different.
Set your limits ahead of time
It can also be helpful to set limits ahead of time. Do not push yourself to handle too many stressors at once. Allow yourself to only go to small gathering with no alcohol usage at first. Once you have achieved sobriety for a longer period of time, move onto one on one drinks with a friend with alcohol present. If you find that a situation is more difficult that you expected, remove yourself from the situation. This can also be a great time to get in touch with a sponsor or a trusted friend. One of the greatest things about the ibogaine therapy centers is that you are likely to develop a strong circle of people you can call when times are difficult.
Choose a new drink of choice
It is likely that you had a preferred drink of choice when social drinking. It may feel like you are breaking a habit in this new environment of sobriety. It may feel weird and you may be unsure of what to order. Consider your options ahead of time and find a new drink of choice, something that does not contain alcohol. Your addiction treatment therapist can help you explore your options. Finding a drink that you do not occasionally consume, something that is more of a treat, can make the transition easier.
Know that roadblocks occur
It is also possible that you may fail at your first attempts into sobriety. You should not plan for this, but know that it is common, and it does not mean that you cannot start again. If you find yourself in an especially difficult environment and you succumb to the pressures, attempt to remove yourself and call a trusted friend. If you find that you are on a downward spiral, contact your ibogaine clinic for further addiction treatment.
On average, alcohol addiction patients receive treatment 8 years after the age at which they develop the condition. This means that these patients have made drinking an important part of their lives, and it can be difficult to break the cycle. Putting yourself back into your pre sobriety environment can be one of the most difficult things that you will do. Follow these steps and remember that a misstep does not mean that you have failed.