When trying to avoid alcohol or drugs for long periods of time, it is important to develop a drug-free lifestyle in all areas of your life – at home, at work, and in your free time.
If you would like to be treated by a professional rehab program for your alcohol or drug problem, one of the most important goals of your ongoing or subsequent care is to help you replace your previous destructive behavior with healthier and more productive alternatives.
Supportive friends and family
One of the first steps in developing a drug-free lifestyle is to avoid those people who were directly involved in your previous drinking or drug use lifestyle – those who helped you get drugs, use drugs, or were your drinking buddies. Many addicts find that they need to develop new friendships, social patterns, and recreational activities in order to develop a substance-free lifestyle.
Your rehab counselor will attempt to help you identify drug-free supportive friends and family members and encourage you to improve those relationships and participate in recreational activities with them to replace the time you spend finding and consuming Spent drugs. If you don’t have drug-free friends or loved ones, your counselor will encourage you to get involved in new social groups and make new, supportive friends.
Developing a structured schedule
Another important aspect of developing a drug-free lifestyle is developing a structured daily schedule that you can consistently follow. Structure and organization in your life can be your best friends in recovery, while a chaotic and disorganized lifestyle can be your enemy.
When you were in the early abstinence phase of your rehab program, your counselor likely worked with you to create a daily and / or weekly schedule to help you structure your time and drug research and consumption activities replace them with healthy alternatives. During the abstinence phase of your recovery, it is important not to abandon this structured schedule or to deviate from it on a regular basis.
Develop larger, expanded goals
While maintaining your sobriety is a high priority in your life, it helps to identify larger goals for your future in order to develop a long-term drug-free lifestyle. After you’ve achieved more than 90 days of abstinence, you will likely develop larger, long-term goals such as: B. starting school, changing career paths or saving towards financial goals.
Identifying other goals for your life and devising a plan to achieve those goals can play an important role in developing and maintaining a drug-free lifestyle. Your follow-up advisor will help you learn how to work towards these goals as part of your new lifestyle.
Develop spirituality
If you’ve attended a 12-step group as part of your rehab program, you have likely already been introduced to the concept of spirituality, which has nothing to do with religious practices or dogmas. Spirituality in relation to recovery means developing values in your life and pursuing altruistic goals – going beyond yourself to find fulfillment and happiness.
Spirituality can be an important factor in a successful recovery program. It’s about connecting with a force that goes beyond the worries of everyday life. Your counselor will encourage you to get involved in efforts that are “bigger than you”, such as: B. Service work for your self-help group, greater involvement in your religious organization, community service or volunteering for charitable purposes.
Your advisor will not try to define a “higher power” for you – that is entirely up to you. However, research has shown that developing a drug-free lifestyle can be improved by referring to a power that is transcendent and greater than yourself.
