Fear in Recovery Personal Growth & Meditation Alcoholics Anonymous Cleveland

It becomes a sense of “normal,” where you know how to do “that.” Feeling “good” is new and different and may feel uncomfortable at first. You are not used to it and may feel anxious or irritable. The depressed brain sees feeling good as different and “not right” so the tendency is to go back—back to the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of depression or anxiety. Feeling depressed may feel safer and more comfortable than risking the new territory of wellness, which has a new set of feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and expectations.

We automatically put time constraints on ourselves when we should really just be thinking about today. One of the most well-known sayings in Recovery is, “One day at a time.” And it’s true, we only ever have today. When I stopped using/drinking, I honestly didn’t know how long it would last, but I just keep going for the next 24 hours. It’s not unusual to have perpetual “why me” syndrome when considering getting into Recovery. I constantly wallowed in self-pity, asking myself why I was the one who couldn’t use/drink normally. Why do I have to be the one who misses out on having fun and using/drinking with friends?

How Do You Improve Your Self-Awareness in Addiction Recovery?

Drinking stunts your emotional and personal growth. It’s what you use to check out of everything else. Here’s the thing about the word “fail.” So long as you dust yourself off and keep trying, you haven’t failed at all. People go into these big personal transformations expecting a linear progression from start to goal.

The trigger for this emotion can be real or imaginary, and it may or may not be rational. When people feel fear, they may go into panic mode. This means that are unable to think clearly or make good decisions. It is usual to view fear as a negative emotion, but it can also be highly beneficial, as it helps to keep humans out of danger. Call Briarwood Detox Center today to learn more about our detox center and programs or for intervention assistance.

Sobriety Fear #3: You’re going to fail.

It is so common that it often becomes normalized or even goes unnoticed. The best way to overcome your fear of success is to take that first step forward. Then take another step, then another, and keep moving forward.

In treatment, you will have individual and group counseling and learn that you are not alone in your struggle. There are other people just like you that are meeting their fears head-on and are coming out on the other side with a bright and limitless future. Recovery also means leaving the familiar illness and “life as you know it now” behind, venturing into the world of wellness that is uncertain and unfamiliar to you. You might feel anxious, irritable, feel like retreating back to your old depressed self. You don’t know what to expect, especially if you’ve had trouble remembering what you were like before the depression began. So some people may feel more comfortable keeping things as they are, staying with the familiar.

How a Growth Mindset Can Help You Beat Addiction

A total of 100 patients were recruited in this study. The mean age of the sample was 32.9 years (SD 11.1 years, range 17 to 73 years). The majority of the sample was married, employed, and belonged to an urban background. The sociodemographic and clinical variables were ascertained through a semi-structured https://ecosoberhouse.com/ performa. The PGI Locus of Control Scale, Social Support Scale, and Reasons of Help-seeking and Fear Questionnaire were applied. I failed more times than I can count before I finally got it right, and I assure you there is nothing special about me that you can’t find within yourself.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you. When you get proper care from an effective addiction treatment provider, you can learn to manage your symptoms and control your behaviors. This will empower you to resist the compulsion to use alcohol or other addictive substances. Being sober means you have learned how to respond to stresses, pressures, and other challenging situations without resorting to substance abuse.

Fear of relapse can keep us drinking for a long time. But the truth is, making mistakes is part of the human condition as well. We are all flawed fear of being sober and it’s not realistic to think we will be perfect, even at sobriety. You can’t fail at sobriety, you can only keep trying and keep growing.

• Another common fear in sobriety is that you’ll wind up alone because no one will want to hang out with you.
• On the other, you’re scared to death of what sobriety will do to your world.
• Feeling scared is normal when you’re making such a significant life change.
• When you experience these moments of procrastination, indecision, or friction, ask yourself if fear of change might be the cause.
• If you’ve typically required a little social lubricant to lighten up at parties (as many of us have), navigating social scenes without liquid courage can be scary.

It’s important for them to know that sobriety is worth the risk of failure–even repeated failure, if necessary. There are always challenges and setbacks but you don’t fail until you quit trying. However, that is a cognitive distortion, most likely all-or-nothing thinking.

Fear of what others will think

If you do not think you can handle responsibility, you may have used drinking as an excuse. As human beings, everyone has the capability to handle responsibility. While you are in treatment, you will learn about accepting responsibility, and you will learn ways to ensure that you follow through on your commitments. Here are some easy steps to help you better recognize your fears and address them. Write your answers down on a piece of paper and think about it for a little while.