Getting sober and staying sober can be one of the most difficult challenges you face.
In this article, we’re sharing a few tips so you know how to get sober and stay sober.
How to Get Sober and Stay Sober
Once you decide to get sober, you have already completed the hardest step. You have admitted you have a problem and that you need help.
Now that you are out of denial, you need to know what steps to take next. You need a guideline on how to get sober and stay sober. After all, all you can really think about is avoiding withdrawal symptoms, fighting off cravings, avoiding withdrawal symptoms, and fighting off cravings.
If you keep reading, you will be given these specific steps, so you don’t have to try and guess how to get sober. All you must do is follow-through with the steps, all the way through.
Step 1: Win the Fight with Your Brain
Your brain is already telling you not to get help. It’s telling you that you can do this on your own …
You can stop whenever you want, right?
Wrong.
Your brain is a complex system capable of convincing you to give it what it wants – the chemical-reaction provided by the substance you’ve been abusing.
One of the ways your brain will try to convince you that you need to keep abusing substances is the uncomfortable feelings it produces as you detox.
You feel like you may die. You may have even wished for death. The moment you knew you had access to more substances, your withdrawal symptoms went away. Just seeing your substance told your brain it was about to get high again which led to a decrease in withdrawal symptoms.
So, start preparing for the Rocky Balboa fight of your life, the fight with your own brain so you can get sober and stay sober.
Step 2: Get Medical Detoxification
You are out of denial and ready to fight your own brain. You need help but are scared to face the withdrawal symptoms, which may involve harsh flu-like symptoms, tremors, and nausea.
Remember, this is a sneaky move made by your brain. You are stronger than your brain right now because you have help. Your withdrawal symptoms can be treated if you go through medical detox. You will be monitored around-the-clock by nurses and doctors who can give you medicines to treat your symptoms.
Doctors today realize withdrawal symptoms are one reason people relapse. Therefore, they are doing what they can to eliminate this excuse.
After detox, do not check out and go home. Your brain may tell you to go home, that you can make it on your own, that you are strong enough. These are all lies to get you to relapse.
The only option you have is to continue your stay in inpatient hospitalization if you want to get sober and stay sober.
Step 3: Go to Inpatient Hospitalization
Inpatient hospitalization is also called rehab for rehabilitation. You’ve heard stories about rehab. You may have even been to rehab before. Either way, your stay this time can work. Here’s what you do. The moment you get transferred from detox to rehab, start working with counselors to find ways you can stay longer than the typical 14 or 28 days.
Research has discovered the more time you spend in treatment, the higher your chances to get sober and stay sober.
The goal of rehab is to teach you how to live sober. Some treatment facilities start right away with relapse prevention tools, treating mental health as well as addiction, and providing you with the motivation to beat your addiction.
Better treatment facilities start with teaching you how to complete basic life skills while sober. They realize you haven’t done anything, not even brush your teeth or wash your clothes, without being drunk or high for years now. So, they start at the bottom.
If you don’t learn these basic skills in rehab, you can learn them in a sober living environment.
Step 4: Transition to a Sober Home
Hopefully, you were able to stay in inpatient treatment at least 90 days, preferably longer. It is still not time to return home.
Your brain has adapted. It is pretending like it wants to be sober for the rest of your life. However, if you were to go straight back to your old environment after rehab, your brain would become the traitor of all traitors. It would turn on you. It would reinitiate cravings with every memory triggered, especially when you see your old drug friends or places you once got high.
Going to a sober home is non-negotiable if you want to get sober and stay sober. It hears you can allow your brain to continue healing while also learning how to successfully live without using. Sober homes give you the practice of living in the “real world” without living back in your old environment.
Sober homes build your confidence, teach you skills like job searching, paying bills and completing chores. It helps you improve your social skills without relying on a substance. It is a place where you can continue to improve the various aspects of your health.
Step 5: Stay Longer
If you find yourself itching to go home, then stay a little longer at the sober home. This can often be a sign you are not ready to go home.
Be honest with yourself about why you want to go home. Stay in control of your recovery. You may not ever get this chance again and you are so close.
Keep fighting for the sober life you deserve. Gain strength from your peers in sober living, knowledge from your counselors, and pride in yourself for fighting hard for your success in sobriety.
Conclusion
If you have confronted your addiction and accepted that you need help, you’re already on the right path.
It’s an uphill journey, but you can absolutely succeed with the right support in place. This is where a sober living home helps people discover how to get sober and stay sober.