Self-care in recovery is critical in the path toward normalcy, freeing individuals from substance abuse and addiction. The process involves daily nurturing of physical and mental health through conscious practices. Self-care in recovery can significantly supplement ongoing treatment and therapies prescribed by certified physicians and healthcare specialists, improving long-term recovery.
There is no standard approach to self-care in recovery since each individual faces unique symptoms and severity in addiction and withdrawal, which require different responses.
However, it is essential to check with a certified rehabilitation expert like Olympus Recovery to determine the safety of going ahead with self-care. More severe substance use and addiction cases usually require in-residence treatment that provides easy accessibility to the medical facilities and round-the-clock care necessary for managing symptoms.
Understanding Self-Care in Recovery
Self-care in recovery empowers individuals to take charge of their daily activities to function and perform at their best. The approach drives a conscious effort toward preserving healthy habits, which can help deter faulty practices and destructive behaviors that may result in a relapse.
Essentially, self-care in recovery guides individuals toward replacing alcohol and drug use as coping mechanisms in life with healthy alternatives. However, it is crucial to seek immediate professional consultation from a certified rehabilitation specialist like Olympus Recovery in debilitating cases of addiction.
Enjoying the Lasting Benefits of Self Care in Recovery
Through self-care in recovery, you can improve your physical and mental well-being by establishing a positive outlook in life. The positive lifestyle change can help eliminate boredom, intrusive thoughts, and stress often attributed to drug and substance abuse.
Additionally, self-care in recovery provides you with a strong sense of purpose in life, driving negative, depressive, or anxious thoughts while you focus on constantly improving your health. A renewed positive perspective on life acquired through self-care can help prevent other complexities stemming from addiction, such as addiction swapping.
Techniques of Self-Care in Recovery
Self-care in recovery is an umbrella term that includes systematic changes in diet, exercise, and perspective in life. Also, maintaining a supportive social network during self-care is essential. Studies show that emotional support from loved ones can help prevent relapse by addressing and dealing with early warning signs.
Embrace Social Support
Social support plays a vital role in self-recovery, where a broader network can help facilitate lifestyle improvements through trust and solidarity. You may choose to join a support group that promotes similar interests or recovery experiences, which provides a distraction from addiction symptoms while fostering a sense of acceptance and belonging.
Alternatively, you may confide in loved ones about your deepest self-recovery fears and insecurities through open conversation. Volunteering for a donation drive or at a local fundraising event can also help you enhance self-care in recovery. Studies show that the act of giving has the potential to dramatically reduce stress levels, a common cause of substance and alcohol abuse.
Reach out to Olympus Recovery to discover immersive community support programs featuring shared living spaces within a pristine environment conducive to recovery.
Follow a Healthy Diet Plan
Healthy diet plans keep the body nourished for maximum performance while reducing the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Additionally, a balanced diet helps you maintain optimal vitals through healthy blood sugar levels and enhanced mood.
A healthy diet plan should cater to your body’s unique dietary and caloric needs, so it is crucial to seek professional support from a certified nutritionist when in doubt. Balancing the essential vitamins, minerals, and macro-nutrients of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats provide your body with the energy required to participate in the physical activities that strengthen your recovery process.
Also, it is essential to note that nutritional deficiencies may increase the risks of relapse. Specifically, low-caloric diets may result in reduced energy levels and a lack of concentration, increasing the susceptibility to substance and alcohol abuse. For instance, research shows that iron deficiency in the body may cause abnormal levels of fatigue, which could trigger a prolonged dependence on stimulants.
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness refers to a conscious awareness of your physiological and psychological self. The modern world provides a diverse selection of mindfulness techniques that can help you reconnect with reality by tuning away from the stressors responsible for addiction. While there are many types of mindfulness practices, each one ultimately guides you toward focusing on the present.
Some popular mindfulness techniques include yoga meditation, breathing exercises, journaling, guided imagery, and sensory exercises such as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR). The results of scientific research have suggested mindfulness meditation techniques such as focused attention and open monitoring as effective substance use treatments that prevent relapse.
Commit to a Fitness Routine
Regular and carefully moderated exercise can help your body improve its core function while staving off addiction cravings. Scientific research has shown that exercise functions in a similar way to abused substances by stimulating the release of mentally rewarding chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine within the brain’s neural network.
Additionally, a new fitness routine can take you away from people and places that may trigger substance or alcohol abuse. Trekking through the forest or snorkeling activities can offer highly therapeutic and scenic breaks away from the stress and monotony of daily life.
Group exercise activities provide a compounded positive effect during self-care in recovery by expanding social networks with positive influences.
Deciding When to Seek Professional Assistance
While self-care can provide significant benefits in early recovery while retaining normalcy, it is best to seek professional assistance from a counselor or therapist in more severe cases of addiction. Positive declaration to the following guided questions can help you determine the need for counseling and rehabilitation.
- Is your addiction affecting daily activities and disrupting your social life?
- Do you depend on substances and alcohol to get through the day?
- Do you undergo violent tendencies, mood swings, and other mental shifts due to substance abuse?
Professional rehabilitation specialists can help perform a formal substance abuse evaluation to assess the urgency of support required. The assessment identifies addiction through the categories of social use, abuse, and dependency, each with a separate set of follow-up care and procedures.
Olympus Recovery – Your Trusted Specialists in Rehabilitation
The rehabilitation experts at Olympus Recovery focus on tailoring care to your individual needs. We offer various therapies across rehab programs catered to substance and alcohol addiction recovery. The specialized programs offered by our committed team of therapists include cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and experiential therapy.
Olympus Recovery serves as a nationally recognized and highly accredited rehabilitation center, ever-prepared to support your self-care in recovery. Reach out to our experts or call us at (866) 305-7134 to discover how we can help you regain the best quality of life with positive outcomes.
References
- Daley, D. C. (2013, December). Family and social aspects of substance use disorders and treatment. Journal of food and drug analysis. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4158844/
- Poulin, M. J., Brown, S. L., Dillard, A. J., & Smith, D. M. (2013, September). Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality. American journal of public health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3780662/
- DC;, P. A. J. B. W. J. P. J. R. R. (n.d.). Iron deficiency, general health, and fatigue: Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11190004/
- Priddy, S. E., Howard, M. O., Hanley, A. W., Riquino, M. R., Friberg-Felsted, K., & Garland, E. L. (2018, November 16). Mindfulness meditation in the treatment of substance use disorders and preventing future relapse: Neurocognitive Mechanisms and clinical implications. Substance abuse and rehabilitation. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6247953/
- Smith, M. A., & Lynch, W. J. (2012, January 12). Exercise as a potential treatment for drug abuse: Evidence from preclinical studies. Frontiers in psychiatry. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3276339/
