If you search the internet for the 5 pillars of addiction, you’re going to find various opinions on exactly what the pillars are. It can make you feel even more confused than you are right now.
That’s why we’ve compiled 5 pillars of addiction that encompass many of the themes you’ll find in a search.
1. Face the Problem
Honesty is something an addict must cultivate. You have to be honest with your therapist, your family, and perhaps most important of all, yourself.
Being rigorously honest means admitting you have a problem and taking the appropriate steps to learn more about it. You can fight the lure of your substance of choice if you don’t know how addiction works.
You also can’t fight it if you hide the truth from yourself and others. Facing your problem is the first step toward getting and staying sober.
2. Get Help
Most addicts can’t get and stay sober without therapy or support from a peer community. The demons that brought you to a state of addiction are very difficult to dispel on your own.
You need help, and that means getting therapy for yourself and your family. Most addicts have done significant damage to the people they love, and to repair that damage, therapy can help.
A supportive peer community of non-judgmental people who know exactly how you feel is a must for successful recovery. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of a supportive peer community. Seek therapy from a professional, including family therapy. They understand, and they don’t judge, so you can feel safe exposing your vulnerabilities. That’s a vital part of recovery.
3. Build Healthy Habits
A big part of your recovery is replacing your unhealthy habits with positive self-care. Not only does it make you healthier in general, but it retrains your brain to respond to negative stimuli with positive actions instead of reaching for your substance of choice.
Building any kind of habit takes repetition. As long as you’ve been an addict, you’ve been repeating the same negative actions when you feel triggered. But you can change that.
You can start building healthy habits to replace those negative ones. The research suggests it takes anywhere from two to eight months to build a new habit. That may seem like a long time, but it’s a goal to reach for, and it can provide you with the motivation to stay the course.
4. Acknowledge Your Value
A big part of why an addict reaches for substances to numb the pain is that they have low self-esteem and self-worth. That’s why a big part of your recovery has to be working with a therapist, accountability partners, and peer communities to reestablish your value.
You have value, and you deserve a better life than being a slave to an addiction. You just need to remember that, and that means working through the old wounds that made you think you were worthless in the first place.
5. Know You Aren’t Alone
One of the most important pillars of recovery is to know that you are not alone. According to the Addiction Center, more than 21 million Americans suffer from at least one addiction.
There are a lot of us out there, and together, we can get and stay sober. Reach out to a community of people who know how you feel, and you’ll have a much easier time getting and staying sober.
Sober Sidekick – A Peer Community that Cares!
Sober Sidekick is a great app and social media platform that includes a peer community of over 150,000 people strong. We know what addiction is like because we’ve experienced it firsthand. Give the app a try today and find the support you need to heal the wounds that created your addiction!
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