If you’re trying to get and stay sober, you’re going to need a supportive social environment to be successful.
When you’re feeling the pain of addiction recovery, talking to someone who knows what it’s like is key to getting through those tough times.
Here is an explanation of why you need your sobriety partners to get and stay sober.
Positive Reinforcement Helps You Stay Sober
The reasons behind your addiction are often painful realities to face alone. But when you have a supportive peer community of sobriety partners who know how it feels, you get the kind of positive reinforcement you need to keep going.
Relapses are easy, especially when life gets tough. It’s staying the course that can be difficult, but with your sobriety partners, you’re much more likely to get through the tough times, and that’s supported by research.
What the Research Shows
A 2007 study conducted by researchers at the National Disease Research Interchange and the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery found that social support was a vital factor in recovery.
Specifically, they found that the changing demands in terms of coping strategies that occur over time were buffered by the support of recovering peers in particular. They were able to offer hope, role models, and coping strategies to give a struggling addict strength in trying times.
A 2015 study conducted by the Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute in California also found that recovering peers are able to help addicts feel understood. Moreover, they are able to recognize vulnerability and better identify with the recovery processes you’re going through than others who aren’t addicts.
This kind of support is a vital element of motivation for recovering addicts. It’s difficult to replicate without sobriety partners.
Sober Sidekick’s Findings
Sober Sidekick has also conducted their own internal studies that have demonstrated the importance of connection in getting sober and maintaining your sobriety.
The Sober Sidekick app provides the company with a means to isolate, monitor, and report on data that show a strong correlation between connection and engagement with a large peer community on the platform and a reduction in relapse rates.
Specifically, among real users who created the data themselves by self-reporting and updating their sobriety status, those users who responded to, reached out to, and/or assisted other people on the platform didn’t need to change their sobriety date as frequently.
Even more specifically, among 4700 members who had joined the Sober Sidekick program within the previous six months, those who wrote comments within the first month of use saw a reduction in their relapse rate of more than 18%. That’s the power of sobriety partners and a peer community of ongoing, 24/7 support.
Sober Sidekick Saves Lives
Our data show that Sober Sidekick saves lives by helping addicts get and stay sober. What’s more, our data are right in line with what the research says. Peer communities and sobriety partners who know the score can best support your recovery for long-term sobriety.
The Sober Sidekick platform offers 24/7 support via connection with the online community and sobriety partners, virtual AA meetings any time of the day or night, and connections with professionals when the going gets really tough. Give it a try today – you’ve got nothing to lose but a bad habit!
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