If you are one of the millions struggling with addiction, you also struggle with coping skills. Your current way of coping with pain and problems; escape by numbing feelings and getting drunk or high.
Your lack of healthy coping skills started long before you became addicted. As your substance abuse grew, your ability to learn new coping skills was halted. This happens because addiction takes control of your brain, so addiction is considered a brain disorder.
There is a process that must happen before you can start learning healthy coping skills. It begins with understanding addiction and identifying if you are, in fact, one of the millions with an addiction.
What Is Addiction?
If you have an addiction, you have been abusing drugs or alcohol for long enough that now your life revolves around continuing to use those substances. Even if you have experienced adverse consequences, like the loss of a relationship or job, you continue to use it because it is too hard to quit.
It is too hard because the substances you abused have changed the structure of your brain. Your brain becomes so focused on avoiding withdrawal symptoms or pain of any kind that it obsesses over getting more drugs.
There are specific behaviors associated with addiction.
Identify Addictive Behaviors
There are common signs of addiction. Taking addictive substances has unwanted results, like tolerance.
The longer you take a drug or drink alcohol, the more you will need to consume to achieve the desired effect. This increase further damages your health. To make it worse, when you try to quit, your body can experience shaking, trembling, nausea, and flu-like symptoms.
Rather than just quit using, you may try to limit the amount you consume. However, you are rarely, if ever, able to accomplish this goal. Over time, addiction starts to affect all areas of your life.
You no longer enjoy activities you once did. You struggle to complete ordinary tasks like cooking and cleaning. You spend most of your time seeking ways to get high or drunk, and then the rest of the time is spent intoxicated. You may be lying and stealing to maintain your addiction habit. Your relationships are damaged in both your professional and personal life.
This is not the way you want to live. If you are addicted, you are not having fun. You want help but are scared to let go of your addiction. It has been a security for you. However, if you want to live, you know you must get help to overcome your addiction.
Overcome Addiction
You cannot beat addiction all by yourself. You must get help. The type of assistance you get will depend on many factors determined by a licensed addiction specialist. They can recommend appropriate treatments that may include medical detox, inpatient rehabilitation, intensive outpatient therapy, or even teletherapy.
The more time you spend away from using substances, the more you can focus on learning coping skills that will help you maintain sobriety long-term.
Learn Coping Skills
Now that your mind and body are free of addictive toxins and your mind is clear, you can learn and maintain healthy coping skills. Below are coping skills many have found beneficial in addiction recovery.
Skill: Self-Care and Mindfulness
When you were still in your addiction, the substances covered up any underlying mental or physical ailments. That may even be a reason you started using drugs or alcohol to ease symptoms. The first coping skill you must learn is to understand your needs.
To be sober for a lifetime means you must take care of yourself for a lifetime. Self-care means meeting the needs of your mind, body, and spirit so you can experience overall wellbeing. If you are experiencing anxiety or depression, self-care means seeking treatment from a mental health professional who can explore your feelings and help you work through them.
If you have physical ailments, take care of yourself by following up with a medical practitioner to determine how to ease your symptoms.
Mindfulness is your way of finding out what your mind and body need. It is listening and paying attention to each part of yourself. Meditation, yoga, and just sitting with focus are ways to discover more about your mind and body. This is the start of living a healthy lifestyle.
Skill: Healthy Lifestyle
One of the healthiest coping skills has to do with your lifestyle, including diet, exercise, and the environment in which you work and live. An unhealthy diet can lead to significant health problems.
Staying active and getting involved in positive activities versus sitting at home and watching television all day will distract you from wanting to relapse. At the beginning of your recovery, distractions are a great benefit.
Look around your environment. Are you living in a place that supports addiction or recovery? You must surround yourself with positive support to be successful.
Skill: Build a Support Team
The people with which you associate will influence your addiction for the better or for worse. If you hang out with people who are still using drugs, you will find it hard to cope with addiction. If you surround yourself with counselors, peers in recovery, and family members who do not enable your habits, you are likely to stay in recovery.
Support teams can include co-workers, bosses, family, friends, therapists, sponsors, and support group members.
Other Healthy Coping Skills for Addiction
Once you establish the three foundational coping skills listed above, you can start implementing numerous daily habits that will make you stronger. Some examples include journaling, learning a new hobby or taking new classes, and attending meetings to be a support and get support. You may also participate in a variety of therapeutic methods like art, music, or equine therapy.
Learning healthy coping skills will help you handle stress, emotions, past traumas, negative influences, and every other thing that life throws your way. You can learn to do all of this without the need to use substances.
To learn more about healthy coping skills, reach out to an addiction specialist today.