All you have to do is take responsibility for your past mistakes and prove to your family and friends that you are now sober and trustworthy again. Personal growth is an important part of sobriety, and creating healthy boundaries for yourself will help you achieve that. As a result, you develop a better understanding of the world around you, how it affects you personally, and what actions you can take to stay sober in the long run.
- So now I’m sober, and I have zero choice but to be me in all situations.
- Drinking alcohol can be fine in moderation for some people, but alcohol misuse or alcohol use disorder can lead to health issues and personal and professional problems.
- I wanted to blend in nicely with a crowd who understood that sometimes you just want to drink your face off, or one that didn’t think anything was weird about a glass of noon wine.
- Managing stress and anxiety without turning to substances is crucial for maintaining sobriety.
- If you try to maintain a sober lifestyle, those feelings can become toxic and contribute to a relapse if you don’t manage them properly.
Sober October: Benefits of Quitting Alcohol for 1 Month
This past weekend, we woke up to the devastating news that beloved “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, who had long struggled with addiction, was found dead in the bathroom of his California home. Police quickly assured the public that there were sober life no signs of foul play while simultaneously assuring the public that no official cause of death would be announced for quite some time. Becoming sober isn’t just about abstaining from alcohol. It’s a subversive, hardcore choice to take your life into your own hands.
Maintaining Sobriety Long-Term
Living a sober life can be a challenging but rewarding journey. It involves making a conscious decision to abstain from drugs or alcohol and to live a life free from addiction. Sobriety is not merely about quitting substance abuse; it’s about creating a new lifestyle that promotes health, wellness, and personal growth. Finally, getting sober can improve the overall quality of life. They may also have more time and energy to pursue hobbies and interests and enjoy meaningful connections.
Sober Isn’t Boring: Reasons to Love Sobriety
- Some people who don’t drink alcohol have made a conscious decision to eliminate alcohol from their lives, sometimes through the help of a 12-step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
- Sobriety can be a fixed-term goal like staying sober for a set period (such as Dry January), or a lifelong goal of staying sober from all substances.
- Now that you are sober, you may have discovered that some of your past relationships were not only unhealthy but downright toxic.
- Sobriety is more than just saying no to alcohol—it’s about building a life you truly love without it.
You may not be aware of how much money you are spending on your addiction. Drugs and alcohol can affect your appearance in negative ways. You may not have even realized that your skin is drier, your hair is more brittle and you simply don’t look as healthy as you used to. As your body begins to heal in rehab, so will your skin, teeth and hair. While vanity may not be the best reason to get sober, the resulting change in your appearance is a nice bonus.
Benson’s research shows that when the relaxation response is activated, it’s not just your mind that benefits—your entire body responds. Your heart rate slows, your muscles relax, and stress hormones decrease. While alcohol may offer temporary relief, it doesn’t engage this powerful mind-body connection in the same way. The true power of relaxation lies in tapping into what your body already knows how to do.
How to Relax Without Alcohol: Build Lasting Calm in Sobriety
In this article, we will explore the benefits of sober life in more detail. For many people who don’t have healthy relationships with themselves, substance misuse can be a way to mask that discomfort. Then, they don’t have to learn how to love themselves because they’re covering their feelings rather than dealing with them.
Furthermore, a Cali Sober movement smokes marijuana in place of opioids and alcohol. And research shows that micro-dosing with psilocybin mushrooms has several benefits for mood, social functioning, and mental health. So there is a recovery community that microdoses called, Psychedelics in Recovery. After you’ve gotten clean, it’s essential that you understand how to stay sober—especially considering that relapse rates for substance abuse disorders are between 40-60%. For opioid use disorders, there is a higher probability of relapse at 72-88%. When you’re misusing drugs or alcohol, your relationships may be built on substance use.