Common Reasons People Are Scared to Get Sober
While sobriety is well worth the effort required to achieve it, choosing sobriety is a significant endeavor that requires courage, difficult conversations, and significant life changes. In fact, this fear personally led to a dozen failures in my own sobriety journey. Once you get a hold on the fears that are driving your hesitation and procrastination, you can begin to see clearly the benefits of getting sober. Below are ten reasons why people are afraid to get sober and how to overcome them. Some people use alcohol or drugs to help them sleep. Part of alcohol and drug withdrawal does involve insomnia, but this is temporary.
More in Signs of Addiction
If so, think about it the next time you consider using drugs or alcohol. Not using drugs or alcohol is almost like a “stay out of jail free” card. All you have to do is stay sober, and you stay free. Using drugs does not help society, it actually hurts society. So, now that you are sober—stay sober so that you can continue to be a productive member of society. Some try to prove that they have control over their addiction and don’t need any help.
- I honestly did not know what people did for fun without being slightly or very drunk.
- I thought just because I didn’t drink in the morning and at times would go a few days without booze, that alcohol was a non-issue for me.
- Fear in recovery isn’t something you can avoid, but it is something you can overcome and work through every day in your journey towards recovery.
- Once again, males demonstrated no significant differences.
- There are times when youll doubt yourself and get pushed outside of your comfort zone.
- The personal repercussions of addiction can include financial hardship, damaged relationships, and physical and mental health concerns.
Common Fears about Getting Sober
This will ensure that a person gets back to their optimum health. This is a condition where individuals may experience withdrawal symptoms long after detoxification. It’s important to be aware of this so that you can take the necessary steps to manage your recovery. Co-occurring disorders are mental illnesses that can significantly contribute to substance use disorder and can be a major barrier to recovery. Therapy can be an invaluable tool that can help you build confidence and address co-occurring anxiety disorders. Many people are afraid to get sober simply because they think they will hate it.
- You are living your life for you, not other people.
- Following are the most common fears people have about getting sober, along with the reality of these fears once sobriety has been reached.
- Fear is the motivator of most actions taken by anyone in active addiction.
- There’s always the fear of a ride malfunction on a roller coaster.
- Co-occurring disorders are mental illnesses that can significantly contribute to substance use disorder and can be a major barrier to recovery.
- Alcohol was part of my identity and anything different seemed impossible.
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Even though many barriers remain, some encouraging signs point to treatment becoming more within reach for populations who have struggled to find recovery help in the past. You may have been using alcohol as a crutch to dull whatever might bother you. What began as a drink here or there after work soon wound up being much more than that, to the point where you could not wait to get home and get drunk. Maybe you even tossed back a few at work, in the car on the way home, or in the morning to get you going. A meta-analysis of two genome-wide association studies to identify novel loci for maximum number of alcoholic drinks.
Sobriety Fear #8: People won’t like the sober you.
- In treatment, you will have individual and group counseling and learn that you are not alone in your struggle.
- The experience will be much more vivid, and you will be able to remember them more fully.
- Don’t let difficult decisions and conversations with loved ones be the excuse you use to keep drinking alcohol.
- I had myself convinced that my drinking was just like everyone else’s and therefore I didn’t have a problem.
It will be present, but you can learn to deal with it, overcome it, and never let it stop you. The key here is not just to know that fear is common, but fear of being sober to know what to look for so you can take steps to avoid a relapse spurred by fear. It’s not always a good thing to lose your inhibitions, however.
Why Am I Scared of Being Sober?
This is particularly true for the introverted among us. With proper counseling and/or a good recovery program, you’ll learn important tools for navigating these relationships. Maybe these people have been in your life since childhood, and you’ve all fallen into the same trap. Sober movements are redefining what it means to have fun and challenging alcohol’s role in our social lives.
You Are Better Sober
Yet, this is far from the way that drug rehab centers actually operate nowadays. Your addiction rehab team will always endeavor to treat you with respect and without judgment. The most effective addiction treatment requires compassion, warmth and empathy. And this is the approach that your rehab team will take. Drug addiction specialists will always try to instill your recovery process with optimism and hope. They will help you to build self-confidence and allow you to realize the power you have to maintain sobriety.