Tips to Maintain Your Sobriety

Becoming sober is a huge accomplishment. You may feel like you have a new chance at life, and a new opportunity to start fresh. With that being said, maintaining your sobriety, and not falling back into old destructive habits, can sometimes be difficult. At Victory, we provide our patients with the tools, skills, and resources needed to not only become sober, but continue a path of sobriety for both the near and far future. 

There are several tips that we recommend to help you stay sober and avoid a relapse. Once you feel confident in being sober, it is recommended to avoid situations (both places and people), that may encourage you go to back to your old ways. This means you will have to give some significant attention to, and really think about, changing your lifestyle. For example, it may be best to not spend time with friends you used to do drugs with, and you should avoid places where drugs/alcohol are widely available. If you had a favorite bar that you were always binge drinking in, we recommend not visiting that bar until you are totally confident that it won’t trigger a relapse. If you have doubts, use caution and do not revisit that bar.  

Building a support network is another tool that works well with those trying to maintain sobriety. By reaching out to friends and family as you begin to develop a close circle of individuals who can help you, you will realize that you do not have to go through this alone. Furthermore, you will be able to enhance your relationships with friends and family which is beneficial beyond even just maintaining sobriety.  

While trying to quit any addiction, such as drugs, alcohol, or even tobacco products like cigarettes, there will be urges and cravings to go back and use the substances again. Not giving into these urges requires great patience and a display of impulse control. To help with this, it is recommended to find a way to redirect your focus and attention elsewhere. For example, if you are craving alcohol, try listening to music, or even keeping a journal. Recording your thoughts and feelings in the present moment will help you to wait out the period of urges and cravings that you may experience as your body withdraws from the substances. 

As you try to maintain your sobriety, you may notice that you have both some anxiety and tension in your body. It’s not easy to give up a substance that you have been so physically and emotionally dependent on. However, learning to relax and be in the present moment will help you to maintain your sobriety. Under this umbrella of relaxation, there are several tools you can implement into your daily routine. This includes doing yoga, meditating, reading, taking long walks, getting a massage, taking a bath, and learning breathing exercises. Additionally, there are many mobile apps that can help with this – many of which are free (or very inexpensive).  

You may be wondering what you should do if you are in a social setting where others are using your substance of choice, such as alcohol. There are so many non-alcoholic beverages that look similar to alcoholic drinks. By physically holding one of these non-alcoholic drinks while you are around others who are drinking alcohol, you feel like you are still involved in the social setting. People choose not to drink for so many reasons – always remember that there is nothing to feel ashamed or embarrassed about. In fact, you should feel proud of yourself for achieving sobriety and maintaining it.  

Victory Recovery Partners is a network of five addiction and recovery centers on Long Island, New York. We are unique in that we provide total treatment under one roof, including behavioral health, medication-assisted treatment, psychiatric, and wellness services. Our broad and experienced team of specialists including doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, substance abuse counselors, and licensed social workers collectively work as a team to ensure the best possible treatment for our patients. To learn more about Victory Recovery Partners, visit www.victoryrp.com