The road to recovery is long and tough. While addicts have difficult lives when they’re suffering through their illness, giving up their vices can feel a whole lot worse. When you’re an addict, your body isn’t being taken care of, and it often leaves you dehydrated, poorly nourished, and a mess. If you finally make that life-altering decision to quit and stay clean, you go through a very painful metamorphosis. In the end, it’s all worth it because you emerge this beautiful healthy butterfly, but your body will quite literally ache for what it’s being deprived of.
It’s a wonderful moment in your life when you choose to walk away from the addiction that has probably caused so much pain in your life. But just because it’s the right move doesn’t mean that the process is going to be easy. You have to ask yourself many questions and really think through every decision that you make. One wrong move and you could risk relapsing. Establishing that you’re in recovery can be difficult, so before you drop all your vices at once consider the following.
Should You Quit Cold Turkey?
Many addicts enter their recover with a very gung-ho attitude. You may think that you can get rid of all your vices at once with no problem. This method can work for a few people, but for many others, relapse happens in the beginning with this approach. The most important step for you take in the beginning is eliminating your primary vice that is hurting you, whether it be alcohol, meth, heroin, or any other harmful drug.
The process of stopping yourself from giving into these chemicals that are powerful and mind-altering can be extremely difficult on its own.
If you don’t have a less serious vice to fall back on, then it’s more likely that you’ll return to your primary drug of choice as you search and struggle to find happiness. Because of the fragility of early rehabilitation, it is typically considered best to wait to drop your other vices. Once your recovery is more cemented in you, evaluate whether it’s an appropriate time to cut out other addictions in your life.
Quitting: How Do I Do It?
Once you feel comfortable with how you wish to give up your vices, you’ve already made a huge step in your recovery. But now you might be wondering how you’re supposed to do it. Here’s some advice:
- Be gentle with yourself. While you want to display discipline, letting go of your vices is going to be difficult. Don’t be too harsh on yourself if you’re not following every rule you’ve imposed on yourself.
- Be sure you are choosing a wise time in your life. The saying “there is no time like the present” doesn’t hold true when giving up your vices. If you’re not in a good place mentally or in your life, then you’ll want to wait until the noise quiets before starting your journey. Starting too soon can guarantee a relapse.
- Be prepared for withdrawal symptoms. While weaning yourself off your addiction, you’re going to feel withdrawal symptoms. There’s no avoiding them. The cravings, sweats, irritability, and sleeping problems will feel unbearable at times. Consider looking into replacement therapies to lessen the pain.
- Talk to your doctor. Keep your doctor in the loop about your rehabilitation process. It ensures that you’re not going into recovery blind. Your doctor will have experience with helping others recover from their addictions. If they don’t have the experience you need, then they can refer you to someone who does.
- Reach out. There are always people you can talk to if you’re struggling. You have family and friends. If you can’t talk to them, then you can find support groups, both in person and online.
The Bottom Line
You can get through this successfully. A beautiful addiction-free life awaits you when you choose to go into recovery. While it may seem impossible at times, never give up. Remember, your vices don’t define you.
