Did you know that around 40-60% of people in recovery will relapse at least once, with stress being a major contributor?
The journey to sobriety is filled with obstacles, and finding effective stress management strategies can be difficult.
Developing healthy habits to manage stress during recovery is crucial. Long-term exposure to stress not only takes a toll on your physical and mental health but also increases the risk of relapse. Using effective stress management techniques is essential for individuals in addiction recovery to gain better control over their stress and prevent relapse.
Embracing positive coping strategies can make a profound difference in maintaining your sobriety and enhancing your overall well-being during sobriety.
At PCP we believe that managing stress is an essential part of the recovery process. Dealing with the challenges of recovery involves strong support, proper education, and consistency.
Let’s explore some important causes of stress during recovery and some useful stress management techniques for overcoming them.
Why Is Stress in Addiction Recovery So Stressful?
There are some common hurdles those in recovery experience like:
Withdrawal
The acute recovery phase usually comes with several uncomfortable physical and psychological symptoms. Everyone experiences withdrawal differently during recovery.
The symptoms may include nausea, tremors, anxiety, depression, cravings, and much more. The anxiety and depression associated with withdrawal are significant, making this experience very stressful and explaining why most relapses occur within 90 days of abstinence.
Finding effective ways to deal with the stress of withdrawal is important for increasing your chances of maintaining long-term sobriety. Remember that withdrawal symptoms are only temporary and will improve with time.
Financial obligations
Individuals recovering from SUD face several money-related challenges in terms of unemployment, legal fees, debt, housing, and therapy costs.
Studies have identified a direct link between failed sobriety and financial stress, with over a quarter of relapses involving problems with finances.
Lack of social support
Poor social support and loneliness are strong predictors of relapse. Drug addiction often leads to strain in family, social, and professional relationships. This may cause estrangement, divorce, separation, and social isolation.
Many individuals in recovery struggle with loneliness even while sober and often find it hard to create new social connections. They also deal with significant societal stigma and discrimination.
Uncertainty
There’s a lot of uncertainty concerning the future during recovery. Particularly concerning employment, finances, housing, personal relationships, and maintaining sobriety. This situation sometimes makes it hard to form long-term plans and build stable relationships.
Changes in Lifestyle
SUD recovery comes with a lot of lifestyle changes. This could include new housing arrangements, legal requirements, and treatment obligations. This is often a source of friction as those in recovery struggle to adapt to sudden changes in lifestyle and the new restrictions aimed at maintaining sobriety.
Triggers
Environmental and emotional triggers are also often a source of stress. Often, individuals in recovery are advised to avoid situations that may trigger cravings. This includes staying around people or situations that involve drugs or alcohol or negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and boredom.
Helpful Stress Management Techniques During Recovery
Fortunately, there are several healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with stress for those in recovery.
Identify your stressors.
Taking time to identify your major sources of stress goes along with your chances for long-term sobriety. This could include daily journaling, meditation, and therapy.
Identifying these stressors helps you build healthy coping mechanisms, create boundaries, and enables you to seek professional support on how to tackle them.
Learn to manage time effectively.
Procrastination and missed deadlines add stress to an already busy schedule filled with work, family, personal goals, and treatment obligations.
Fortunately, there are several tips to help those in recovery manage their time effectively:
● Establish a daily schedule. Long-term consistency creates stability, reduces stress, and reduces the temptation to relapse.
● Allocate time each day for self-care activities. This could include exercise, meditation, hobbies, or simply spending time outdoors.
● Use a calendar or planner with reminders to keep track of commitments and therapy sessions.
● Set clear, attainable short-term and long-term goals. Break them down into manageable.
● Limit idle or unstructured time. Fill your day with productive and positive activities to stay engaged and focused.
While having a routine is important, it’s also crucial to remain flexible. Be prepared to adjust your schedule as needed without compromising your recovery priorities.
Regularly assess your progress and the effectiveness of your schedule so you can make adjustments as necessary to support your recovery goals and overall well-being.
Exercise regularly
Paying close attention to your physical health is a great way to relieve stress during your recovery journey and improve your overall well-being. This includes getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, combined with a balanced diet and enough sleep.
Regular exercise reduces stress levels and improves your mood by activating the release of endorphins (happy hormones). Exercise also helps regulate stress hormones, which can alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. It also increases energy levels, improves sleep quality, and is great for maintaining a healthy weight.
Work on your healthy diet
A diet filled with hyper-processed foods can lead to unhealthy spikes in blood sugar, which can cause mood swings and increase stress levels. Hyper-processed diets are also linked to chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Adopting a healthy diet goes a long way in improving both your mental and physical well-being. Healthy meals are crucial as they help improve mood, reduce stress, and increase energy levels, essential in addiction recovery. Your goal should be to aim for a meal plan that is affordable, easy to make, and balanced.
For example:
● Whole grain wheat, oats, and bread
● Leafy green vegetables and fresh fruit
● Lean protein like chicken, fish, tofu
● Healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, sunflower seeds and sugar-free peanut butter
Get plenty of sleep
Sleep difficulties during the recovery period are a common complaint. This could be due to several different issues, but ultimately, it negatively affects your mental and physical health.
Aim for about seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Some helpful tips to help achieve this are:
● Avoid screen time at least one hour before bedtime
● Create a relaxing bedtime routine
● Avoid taking caffeine and other forms of stimulants close to bedtime
● Limit daytime naps
● Avoid large meals and heavy exercise shortly before going to bed
● Optimize your bedroom by creating a safe, dark, soothing environment
Develop social bonds and supportive relationships
One primary stress for many people in recovery is the lack of genuine social connections. Addiction places stress on personal relationships, which leads to isolation and loneliness during and after completing your recovery program.
Go out of your way to create and maintain personal and professional relationships. This includes attending sober events, group meetings, volunteering, and vocational training.
Online communities and support groups are also great ways to connect with people. These platforms introduce you to people facing the same challenges and allow you to share tips on dealing with these hurdles.
Learn how to manage your finances
Learning basic skills like budgeting, saving, and how to use the credit system effectively can reduce stress related to finances.
Also, government assistance programs and family support can remove a significant financial burden.
Find a healthy avenue to have fun
Individuals recovering from substance use disorders typically have a lower threshold for boredom and often struggle with managing stressful situations. Prolonged inactivity is often a significant stressor for them and can increase their risk of relapse.
Develop healthy hobbies and outlets for creative expression, such as painting, hiking, sports, and so on. These are great ways to keep the mind and body stimulated during recovery.
Also include stress-relieving activities. This could include anything from meditation to aromatherapy, acupuncture, yoga, Pilates, breathing exercises and biofeedback.
Which activity you choose is not important.
Therapy
Being well-informed on the challenges of recovery and how to cope with them goes a long way in reducing the burden and providing stress relief. Proper counselling also reduces anxiety and depression, increases treatment adherence, and helps develop effective personal coping strategies.
Managing stress in addiction recovery is crucial. Techniques like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), group therapy, 12-step programs, community programs, family therapy, and psychodynamic therapy are great for dealing with stress during the recovery period.
Your healthcare provider might also offer medical assistance. This could include medications for anxiety and depression, as well as sleeping aids.
Prioritise your mental health
Despite your best efforts, it is often impossible to avoid stress in life. Learn to prioritize their mental health and sobriety over everything else, including friends, family, work, and their desires.
This means creating well-defined boundaries, learning how to say ‘no’, and removing yourself from situations that could potentially make you relapse.
Seek Help at PCP
Managing stress is crucial during addiction recovery. It can improve physical and mental well-being and reduce the risk of relapse.
Embracing healthy habits and coping strategies, such as exercise, a balanced diet, adequate sleep, social support, effective time management, financial planning, and therapy, can make a significant difference in maintaining sobriety.
At PCP we believe by prioritizing these practices and seeking professional support, individuals can navigate the challenges of recovery more effectively and achieve long-term success.
