Healthy ways to stay on the path to recovery from drug addiction
Here are 7 healthy ways to help you stay on the path to recovery from drug addiction.
18/07/2019
Struggling with drug addiction is a horrible experience which can have social, health, and economic consequences in one’s life. Drugs can have a multitude of immediate health consequences on your body and mind including changes in the appearance, changes in appetite, insomnia, and depression.
Moreover, apart from the short-term effects of drugs, a long-time addiction can also lead to increased risk of many severe health conditions, risk of injury caused by impulsivity and violent behavior, and increased risk of engaging in dangerous sexual behaviors.
Especially if you have been using them for a long time, recovering from addiction must be done in a healthy way that helps you improve your mental and physical wellbeing. Reinventing yourself and starting a new healthier life can be really difficult when you are struggling with cravings. However, regardless of how difficult it may seem, recovering from addiction isn’t impossible. Here are 7 healthy ways to help you stay on the path to recovery from drug addiction:
1. Have a healthy diet
Having a healthy diet during the recovery process plays a huge role in regaining your mental and physical health. The toxic substances and changes in your nutrition can leave your body extremely weak and with very poor health. Most drug addicts experience loss of appetite when using substances which often leads to malnutrition.
Thus, when recovering from addiction, it is extremely important to eat foods rich in vitamins and nutrients, such as fruits, vegetables, fish, dairy, and lean meats, that will improve your physical wellbeing. A healthy diet is essential in maintaining high levels of energy, improving your appearance, and improving your body immunity. It is also recommended to drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated and maintain all your body functions perform at optimal levels.
2. Find your inner peace
Practicing mindfulness and finding your inner peace is another essential step in having a healthy recovery from drug addiction. Most addicts start using drugs as a coping mechanism for a variety of problems they face such as emotional trauma, economic problems, or career failure.
Life can be hard on us sometimes but drugs should not be an option to escape from the problems. Thus, regaining your inner peace is extremely important to avoid relapse. Medical specialists explain that depression often appears as a consequence of drug addiction and can sometimes have fatal effects because it increases the risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.
For a healthy recovery and a reduced risk of relapse, it is extremely important to take care of your mental health and regain your balance. Practicing meditation and yoga are two great healthy ways to get in touch with your deepest thoughts and feelings and find your inner peace.
During the meditation sessions, you will be able to achieve forgiveness for yourself, a clearer view of your actions, and the best solutions for the problems that might have encouraged you to start using drugs.
3. Exercise
When using drugs, addicts don’t care about their physical appearance so they rarely exercise. Exercising is the best way to maintain and improve your physical wellbeing and repair the damage the drug addiction has made on your body.
Regular exercising, even low impact exercising such as practicing yoga, will play a huge role in improving your overall wellbeing, raising your levels of energy, and your sense of self-confidence as a result of improving your appearance. Exercising can also have a great influence on improving your mental wellbeing. Physical activity makes our brains release toxins called endorphins which give a sense of good feeling in the body and boost a positive mood.
4. Find a new hobby
The hardest step of overcoming drug addiction is dealing with the cravings. When you develop an addiction and stop using the substances, your body and mind will start giving you cravings to make you use them again. Thus, it is important to develop a coping mechanism for when you crave for drugs. For example, a healthy way to keep your mind busy and not think about using drugs again is to find a new activity that excites you and keeps you busy. Whether it is writing, painting, singing, or riding the bike, your new hobby can do miracles with helping you avoiding relapse.
5. Allow your loved ones to support you
Most drug addicts feel ashamed of their addiction and tend to isolate themselves from their peers to hide their problem. Consequently, isolation and the feeling of being lonely leads to depression and anxiety which severely affect their mental wellbeing.
One of the most important steps in recovering from addiction is accepting the love and support of the people that matter the most to you. Your loved ones will help you stay motivated in defeating addiction and will help you avoid relapse. Although you may experience feelings of shame and fear of being judged by your peers, you need to be aware of the fact that they love you and will support you through your darkest moments.
6. Keep your motivation by setting goals
Staying motivated to become sober when dealing with drug addiction can be really difficult when you start experiencing cravings and withdrawal symptoms. You may feel tempted to use substances again because becoming sober seems impossible. Thus, you need to create small goals that will help you keep your motivation up. Understand that overcoming substance addiction is a long-term process and that you should take things slow and steady.
7. Seek professional help
Trying to overcome addiction alone can make the process a lot harder than it has to be. The specialists from help4addiction London explain that there is a high correlation between recovery success and professional therapy. A professional therapist can guide you through the process of understanding your feelings and thoughts better to identify the cause which encouraged you to start using substances. Also, group therapy can be a great way to manage your addiction more easily by sharing your experiences with others who can understand what you are going through.