Self care in recovery means intentionally building habits that support your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing so you can protect your sobriety and heal from substance abuse. Whether you are considering treatment, already in recovery, struggling with substance use or behavioural addictions, or supporting a loved one, understanding how self-care works in practice is essential: this guide explains what self-care means, why it matters in addiction recovery, which strategies help, what can happen when it is neglected, and how it is built into treatment at PCP.
We at PCP are passionate about helping individuals heal from substance use disorder (SUD), substance addictions, active addiction, and the wider impact these conditions can have on health, relationships, and daily life. As a CQC-registered residential treatment provider based in Luton, Bedfordshire, with clients coming to us from across the UK, we use our treatment programmes to help people establish lasting self-care habits that support long-term sobriety, stability, and recovery.
What Does Practising Self-Care Entail?
Before implementing self-care practices into your addiction recovery journey, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of what self-care is and what practising self-care entails. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH):
Self-care means taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health. When it comes to taking care of your mental health, self-care can help you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy. Even small acts of self-care in your daily life can have a big impact.
In other words, broadly speaking, practising self-care intentionally and proactively strengthens your health and well-being. Yet, it may be more helpful to narrow the definition of self-care to better apply it in your daily life to maintain health and recovery.
As an article in the International Journal of Nursing Sciences explains, “There is extensive literature from various disciplines on self-care…but its meaning remains unprecise due to the difficulty integrating the diverse definitions developed over time across disciplines.” Further, an extensive review of the literature discovered a more clarified definition of self-care: “The ability to care for oneself through awareness, self-control, and self-reliance in order to achieve, maintain, or promote optimal health and well-being.”
Therefore, to be more specific, practising self-care involves strengthening characteristics of self-awareness, self-control, and self-resilience. These characteristics play a key role in your ability to prioritise your sobriety and well-being as you work through the stages of recovery.
What Happens When Practising Self-Care Goes Neglected
Contrary to what you may think or believe, treatment for substance abuse involves much more than merely implementing new, healthy habits, to avoid or prevent future substance use. While this is certainly a central goal of treatment, other interventions focus on establishing whole-person wellness through a range of approaches and techniques. For example, in treatment, you will work with treatment professionals to uncover the root causes of your substance use while managing intrusive thoughts and tending to your social support needs simultaneously. Perhaps overwhelmed by all there is to do in recovery, you may be asking yourself, “Why are all of these efforts necessary?”
Consider some of the underlying causes that led you to use alcohol and other drugs. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the most common risk factors that influence addiction include:
Biology: Including factors such as family history of substance use and mental health disorders, as well as gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other mental health disorders.
Environment: Including an array of factors from family and friend groups to socioeconomic status, untreated trauma, early exposure to alcohol and other drugs, stress, lack of parental guidance, and more.
Development: Pertaining to the intersection of genetic and environmental factors that influence critical developmental stages. One example of a developmental influence is the age at which you started using alcohol and other drugs.
In reference to these factors, many individuals initially use alcohol and other drugs in an attempt to self-medicate uncomfortable feelings. From anxiety and to intrusive thoughts, a lack of social support, or a lack of purpose, no one wants to wallow in their own distress. Thus, many individuals may unconsciously perceive substance use as a form of self-care, providing temporary relief from thoughts and emotions. What many often do not realise, however, is that feeling uncomfortable emotions is a form of self-care in and of itself. By self-medicating, you are deliberately neglecting self-care.
Fortunately, the addiction recovery journey offers you a clean slate for healing. It may seem like there is an overwhelming amount of tasks to accomplish in recovery because this opportunity allows you to rebuild your life from the ground up. As you had likely not taken self-care seriously when you were actively using alcohol and other drugs, it is imperative to prioritise self-care in your addiction recovery process to enable lasting sobriety, healing, and wellness in your life.
Practising Self-Care: What It Means in Addiction Recovery
In addiction recovery, self-care can make all the difference as to whether you are able to successfully abstain from drug and alcohol use and other drugs long-term or otherwise choose to fall back into old substance-using habits.
According to an article in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine:
How individuals deal with setbacks plays a major role in recovery. A setback can be any behavior that moves an individual closer to [revisiting old alcohol and drug using habits]. Some examples of setbacks are not setting healthy boundaries, not asking for help, not avoiding high-risk situations, and not practicing self-care.
Moreover, the article highlights that self-care needs in recovery are unique to each person. It states, “A simple reminder of poor self-care is the acronym HALT: hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. For some individuals, self-care is as basic as physical self-care, such as sleep, hygiene, and a healthy diet.” In addition to considering these basic physical and spiritual self care–care needs, it is also crucial to consider emotional and mental self-care needs. The article explains that to do this, “Clients need to make time for themselves, to be kind to themselves, and to give themselves permission to have
Suggestions for Practising Self-Care in Addiction Recovery
As mentioned earlier, when considering how to implement self-care practices into your own recovery process, it is important to consider your physical, emotional, and mental needs. Every person enters recovery with different individual needs. The goal of recovery is not necessarily to meet every one of these needs; rather, recovery is meant to provide you with the knowledge, resources, and skills that you need to progressively meet your needs over time. In a similar way, you will always have needs, and they will be ever-changing depending on your unique life situation, life purpose, and associated goals.
That said, before you can tend to your self-care needs, you must first be able to identify them.
Identifying Your Self-Care Needs
Research has identified seven pillars of self-care: physical, environmental, emotional, mental, spiritual, recreational, and social. Some of these pillars can be grouped together to help you better identify and prioritise your self-care needs. Creating a gentle routine can also provide stability during recovery. Consider the following categories:
#1. Physical, Environmental, and Financial Self-Care Needs
Ensuring a safe and secure home environment: Involves removing any substance-use or emotional triggers from your home environment
Obtaining proper nutrition: Involves regularly eating healthy meals, choosing nutritious foods, staying hydrated by drinking enough fluids, and keeping up with regular check-ups to maintain physical health in recovery
Prioritising exercise: Involves regularly engaging in physical activity on a daily basis; regular exercise can improve mood and reduce stress during recovery
Strengthening sleep hygiene: Involves getting an adequate amount of sleep every night as well as sleeping soundly throughout the night; getting 7-9 hours of sleep can enhance decision-making and emotional management
Prioritising hygiene: Involves cleansing your body, washing your hands, and brushing your teeth daily
Ensuring secure employment: Involves having a steady and reliable income in order to meet personal needs in recovery
#2. Emotional, Mental, Social, Spiritual, and Recreational Self-Care Needs
Honouring and acknowledging your feelings
Expressing your feelings healthily
Engaging in behaviours that bring you joy and fulfilment
Identifying and utilising coping mechanisms for stress and discomfort
Setting boundaries for mental health helps set boundaries that protect recovery and lower stress levels
Building a support network through social self care can strengthen supportive relationships
Having a secure social support system
Prioritising and making time for relaxation
Finding purpose and meaning for sobriety
Practising mindfulness in ways that support overall well-being
Ensuring a proper work-life balance
Once you have a better idea of your self-care needs, you can better identify what needs must be met before others. For example, ensuring a stable and secure home environment must be met before prioritising and making time for relaxation. Conversely, you may also find that some self-care techniques can help you meet multiple self-care needs. Here are some other suggestions for prioritising self-care first:
Journaling
According to an article in Substance Abuse, expressive writing can be effective in complementing traditional SUD treatment as it facilitates a healthy outlet for acknowledging, processing, and expressing an individual’s thoughts and emotions, allowing emotional expression as part of healing after a challenge. In addition, journaling about your experiences in addiction recovery can help you to record and look back on your progress, promoting greater reflection, self-reflection, and awareness. While some may prefer to journal with a pen and notebook, others may choose to write in an online blog or journaling app. No matter the method, journaling is an undeniably valuable form of self-care in addiction recovery.
Learning How to Take Breaks
A perhaps undermined facet of self-care involves learning how to take breaks. In today’s day and age, we are constantly on the go, working to check the next task off of our to-do list. However, we must learn to take breaks for the sake of our physical, mental, social life and emotional well-being, as daily healthy routines can prevent burnout or other challenges from piling up over time.
You may consider scheduling breaks into your busy day to engage in a hobby you enjoy, as these are healthy ways to support stress relief and enjoyable activities can promote healing and purpose, whether that means reading, crocheting, or watching your favourite TV show. Additionally, you could also consider going for a walk in nature, merely feeling the sun on your skin, or scheduling time to get coffee and catch up with a loved one. Regardless of what you do during your “breaks,” taking breaks can help you to be present and find fulfilment in little moments, while keeping self-care flexible and realistic over time.
Using Mindfulness for Mental Health
Another suggestion for practising self-care in addiction recovery is practicing mindfulness, a powerful tool in recovery. If you are new to the practices of meditation, yoga, deep breathing, or breathwork, such forms of mindfulness may seem like a chore. However, research shows that there are incredible benefits to mindfulness practices, from reducing anxiety, depression, and stress to aiding in physical and mental health conditions and more. Grounding techniques can alleviate intense stress and difficult emotions. Moreover, implementing mindfulness strategies into your recovery journey can strengthen your attention, focus, and self-control – all of which became impaired as a result of chronic substance use. By engaging in mindfulness, you can develop self-awareness, build healthy coping skills, and limit unhelpful coping strategies to support longer-term well-being.
Prioritising Your Physical Self Care and Hygiene
Ensuring your personal hygiene is yet another valuable aspect of self-care in addiction recovery, and simple routines like washing, grooming, and wearing clean clothes can help rebuild self-esteem during recovery. When you think of hygiene, you likely picture yourself taking a shower or making sure you have clean clothes. However, hygiene involves more than these critical behaviours. You can prioritise your hygiene by making these daily healthy choices, which can also help prevent burnout through steady routines:
Getting a manicure or pedicure
Engaging in skincare
Making an appointment for a dental cleaning
Finding and using a new face wash daily
Getting a haircut
Scheduling an appointment for a massage
Cleaning your nose and ears
Wearing fresh and clean clothes
Washing your bedsheets often
Soaking in Vitamin D
Staying Connected
According to the aforementioned journal Substance Abuse, social support plays an undeniable role in facilitating treatment entry and participation throughout the recovery journey. In addition, staying connected with supportive people reduces feelings of isolation and loneliness and, in turn, can increase fulfilment, longevity, and well-being. Still, despite these benefits of social support, many people forget to acknowledge staying connected is a critical element of self-care.
Staying connected with others involves getting out of your home as well as your head. Although you can reap the benefits of social support on your phone, truly staying connected requires you to disconnect from technology and interact with others in person. Some suggestions for staying connected involve seeking out and participating in support groups, attending sober networking events, scheduling quality time with friends and other loved ones, and being as present as possible when you are with someone. Supportive relationships can help you feel less alone and more grounded in recovery. Building a support network and seeking professional help when extra support is needed can also ease distress and aid recovery.
Practising Self-Care in Treatment at PCP
As important as self-care is for your addiction recovery journey, it is necessary to also shed light on the importance of self care important to participating in treatment for lasting sobriety. At PCP – The Perry Clayman Project, our experienced professionals offer numerous treatment programmes that are individualised to meet the unique needs and recovery goals of each client we serve. Moreover, our treatment programmes are centred around helping individuals create and implement healthier habits into their sober lives, and identifying and tending to self-care needs is a huge part of this.
Depending on the severity of your substance abuse, your treatment journey with us will likely begin with detoxification. Our detoxification programme provides medically assisted services to promote comfort as your body rids itself of harmful chemicals. Following detox, your therapeutic journey can begin. Over the course of your treatment, you will speak with professionals and peers about your relationship with addictive substances and form a plan for how you can overcome it. Professional support can also help clients process trauma and grief during recovery. You will also be evaluated for any co-occurring mental health disorder that must be treated in tandem, using a holistic approach to support lasting sobriety and recovery.
As a brief overview, the treatment programmes we offer include:
Detoxification
Primary alcohol and drug rehabilitation
Third-stage supported housing
Daycare rehab
Aftercare
Treatment is not something that should be rushed through to be accomplished; rather, the longer the duration of a treatment programme, the more effective treatment will be. For those seeking a strong foundation for their sobriety journey, we recommend our 12-week (90-day) treatment programme. This program works in tandem with a traditional 12-Step program, walking clients through each of the Twelve Steps one step per week.
No matter where you stand on your journey with substance abuse and self-care, let us help you secure lasting, healthy relationships in sobriety and recovery.
If you are seeking ways to be proactive in your recovery journey, it is essential to consider the role that self-care plays in your healing. Practising self-care involves identifying your needs while working to obtain the knowledge, resources, and skills to effectively meet those needs. Self-care encompasses many practices that work to strengthen physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being. Moreover, remember that your self-care needs are unique to you and your recovery journey. We at PCP – The Perry Clayman Project understand how challenging it can be to prioritise and practice self care**-care in recovery. Let us help you implement self-care strategies in treatment to incorporate self care, identify relapse triggers, and build a sober lifestyle that supports long term recovery and a brighter future. Call us at 08000 380 480 to learn more about our programmes.**
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