You might be thinking that asking for help when you’re going sober is a sign of weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, it takes strength to admit you need a little help from friends who really have your best interests at heart. Still, many addicts resist seeking support when they decide to go sober.
Here are 5 reasons why you should avoid facing sobriety alone.
1. Addiction Changes Your Brain
The thing about addiction is that it actually changes your brain, making it harder for you to make good choices. Drugs and alcohol actually interfere with the way the nerve cells (neurons) in your brain send and receive signals.
These substances can also create problems with the way your brain processes those signals. That can easily lead to abnormal messages being sent throughout your brain’s network.
If you try to go it alone, you might have trouble seeing how the choices you’re making can make it more difficult to stay sober.
2. Addicts Don’t See the Severity of Their Problem
Many, if not most, addicts have problems recognizing the severity of their problem. That’s why it’s helpful to have a loving support network of family and close friends who can provide the encouragement an addict needs to recognize how substances are damaging their life.
Reaching out to that support network can be the first step in changing your whole life for the better.
3. Dangerous Side Effects
For some addicts, going sober can result in dangerous side effects like seizures. This is particularly true for those who have been using for many years.
That’s why it can be important for hardened addicts to have medical supervision as they are withdrawing from substance use. Without that, recovery can actually put your life in danger.
This is an important reason why you shouldn’t choose to go it alone. Recovery is all about making healthier decisions, so let the first one be that you’ll reach out to get support during your recovery process.
4. Facing Sobriety Alone Makes It Easier to Relapse
You might like the idea of going it alone, but studies show that your chances of long-term recovery are statistically significantly better if you join a support group.
Some 85% of recovering addicts will relapse in the first year, and only one in seven addicts even seek help.
If these statistics are scary, they should be. Hopefully, they also indicate why getting support during your recovery process is vital for your success.
5. Making the Necessary Changes is Easier with a Little Help
When you’re giving up your substance of choice, you’re going to have to make some necessary changes. It’s important to socialize with people who support your recovery as opposed to those who continue to use, for example.
You have to change those old habits to avoid the triggers that caused so many problems in the first place. Having supportive family, friends, and other recovering addicts makes that process much easier.
A Little Help from Your Friends
We all need a little help from our friends from time to time, and recovery from addiction is one of those times.
At Sober Sidekick, we’re all about non-judgmental connections between people who know how hard recovery is.
Our data show that among members who wrote comments within their first month, their monthly relapse rate dropped 18.6 percentage points. That’s the power of connections, and it’s a great reason to avoid facing sobriety alone!
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