Addiction made my life miserable for years; my alcoholism nearly killed me. In some ways I’m grateful because I wouldn’t be who I am today without that experience, but the sad truth is that many people never escape addiction; many die from it. Here are some tips to help you escape addiction.
1. Don’t believe that you have to reach some rock bottom before you can begin to escape addiction. This may often be true, but believing this way could cause you to put off getting help until it is too late. The best time for you to quit addiction is now; your rock bottom could be death.
2. Don’t believe that relapse is a normal part of recovery. People do escape addiction without any need for continued relapse. It is too easy to use this belief as a means to justify continued addiction. Don’t beat yourself up for having a relapse, but don’t try and fool yourself into believing that what you are doing is normal. Relapse isn’t normal; it is deadly.
3. If the only thing to change in your life is that you are no longer drinking or using then you are not likely to win against your addiction. Freedom from addiction doesn’t mean returning to your old life with the only difference being that you no longer party as hard; freedom from addiction should mean the start of a great new life. You don’t have to change everything over night; in fact this could be counterproductive, but you need to be willing to take your life in a new direction.
4. Tell everyone that you are going to stop your addiction. They may not believe you if you have made too many broken promises in the past, but this is more for your benefit than theirs. It is not enough to help you win against addiction by itself, but telling other people about your plan is one more thing to keep you going.
5. Take a few moments to mark the beginning of your quit. Do whatever you can to make it feel significant. It doesn’t matter what this is; it could be a few moments of silent reflection or praying to your God or gods; it doesn’t matter just make this feel significant.
6. Treat your withdrawals the same as you would any other illness. It will pass after a few days. If there is any risk that you could go into the DTs then you should seek medical assistance.
7. A mindfulness technique can be a great way of dealing with your drinking thoughts during your withdrawals and beyond. Observe your thoughts as the pass through your mind without identifying with them. Observe your mind saying I need to drink or I need to use, but don’t identify with as being you.
8. Read plenty of inspirational material about recovery. Use anything and everything that will encourage you to keep going; anything from the AA big book to whatever you can find on the internet – so long as it is positive about recovery.
9. Join a support group. These can really make the difference to your recovery, but many people do have successful recoveries without time - I did. The important thing not to dismiss anything. You need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get sober or clean; this may mean joining a support group. If you have never belonged to one of these groups then I would strongly advise to at least give them a try.
10. Join an online recovery support community; these are a great way to share and get helpful advice about recovery from addiction.
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