These changes can unsettle someone in recovery, making them more susceptible to relapse. There’s an underlying expectation to be merry and joyful during the holidays. For someone in recovery, this pressure can feel overwhelming, leading to the desire to turn to substances to fit in or feel the expected holiday cheer. Not everyone has the luxury of being surrounded by loved ones during the holidays.
Support
Does the family have an understanding of addiction and the process of recovery so they can support their own emotions as well as the needs of a loved one in recovery? It is best to avoid the proverbial “elephant in the room” approach, which is a metaphor to describe how families may try to ignore something obvious to all and not directly acknowledge it in efforts to drug addiction treatment cope. Thinking about how you will handle the tempting situations you will encounter over the holidays will help you make a plan that will allow you to navigate them successfully. • We encourage you to be supportive and proactive about your family member’s recovery. You can reach to them in a way that lets them know you trust them with their own recovery but that you are there for them if needed.
The Risks of Families Enabling in Recovery during the Holidays
- Just because it is the holiday season, doesn’t mean it is OK to use substances in any amount.
- The experience of sharing the holidays with family or friends can strengthen their recovery and reinforce the value of the fuller, more authentic way of life they are entering.
- However, just because these emotions can be too much to handle, they are not excuses to rationalize a slip.
When all members of the family readjust and reconnect in healthy ways, the odds of the loved one in recovery maintaining gains will improve. Family members share loyalty, common experiences, love and genuine care. When one member of the system is suffering from a disease, it can affect everyone in the family.
Lady Gaga and Her Struggles with Drug Abuse
For individuals in recovery, it is not enough to enter the holiday season without having any preparations in place for staying sober. In other words, it is vital for individuals to create a framework that identifies guidelines and expectations that they can use to protect their sobriety. Setting clear goals and boundaries is crucial for navigating gatherings. Establishing guidelines around how long to stay at events and engaging only in supportive environments can significantly reduce anxiety.
Prepping for the Holidays in Treatment or Recovery – 2023 Edition
Make a schedule of available support meetings (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, or SMART Recovery). Here are some additional tips for celebrating the holidays with a family member in recovery. Recovery changes family dynamics as each family member learns about the disease of addiction and their own need for support. You may be tempted to allow yourself more leeway but this can be detrimental to your resilience during this time. Take sleep for instance, regular bed times and wake up times with between 7-8 hours of sleep will keep you healthy by not over extending yourself. Then there is the actual physical distancing of being alone or separate from all other people.
Learn how to stop video game addiction with effective treatments, prevention tips, and supportive strategies. Ask if they’d like to invite someone or invite others who do not drink. Regardless of whether alcohol is served or not, the recovering person may want to invite a recovering guest. Many worry about family dinners, and purchasing presents as the holidays quickly approach. Part of maintaining an active and engaged sober lifestyle involves change. Assuming holidays or certain family traditions have to be the way they have always been, can derail success.
- Learn how to use the term ‘relapse’, understand its triggers, and discover effective prevention methods.
- Unveil Lady Gaga’s battle with drug abuse and mental health struggles.
- Some good ideas that you could try are things like restorative yoga or art therapy, but you can test out new hobbies that can also be therapeutic like wood carving, ice skating, cooking, or hiking.
- Set aside dates for visiting family and friends, baking, shopping, and other holiday-related activities.
- Healthy boundaries are physical and emotional limits that people set for themselves to safeguard their wellbeing.
- One of these reasons likely includes becoming healthier for your family, friends and loved ones.
In addition to the issue of freely available alcohol, many find resentments, conflicts, hostility, guilt, and triggers lurking just below the superficial holiday cheer. I’ve heard it said that your family can push your buttons better than anyone else because they are the ones that put them there. The winter holidays are almost universally experienced as a time of joy, and of familial togetherness. For many they are the highlight of the year, a time of relaxation, gift-giving, spiritual renewal, and reflection on a year of skirmishes fought on behalf of one’s family. Explore outpatient rehab in Kansas and find trusted centers for effective addiction recovery today.
And if you are not in recovery, but you are at an office party and someone declines an offer of an alcoholic beverage, please accept that as the most reasonable choice in the world and move on. If it makes you uncomfortable that they aren’t drinking, you may wish to reflect upon your own relationship to alcohol. Dive into the science and impact of social media addiction, plus effective strategies to regain control. Discover essential substance use disorder resources to support recovery and find hope in challenging times. Dive into average age reframing holidays in early recovery of substance abuse statistics, understanding onset, gender differences, and prevention.
Avoiding Holiday Triggers and Relapse
For individuals in early recovery, staying sober can be a challenging task at any time of https://ecosoberhouse.com/ the year. However, the holiday season can bring about additional stressors and pressures that can make staying sober seem even more daunting. The thought of attending additional social commitments and family gatherings may bring about feelings of distress and overwhelm. However, individuals in recovery can benefit from realizing that they still deserve to feel holly and jolly this season, regardless of their decision to remain sober.
The goal is to personalize your family’s boundaries so that they are not “too strict” or “too loose.” Seek a balance between reconnection with others and respect for the needs of everyone present. At the most basic level, the person in recovery is the primary focus of treatment. On a broader level, the family of the person in recovery has directly and indirectly been affected by addiction and may share all of the desperation with none of the control. As individuals begin the process of recovery, they pass through multiple stages of recognizing needs and making changes in their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, patterns of self-care and healing.