The 3 Biggest Fears That One Experiences When Getting Clean and Sober. Guest post written by Tim Estes
Breaking our deadly addictive habits and getting clean and sober will be one of the hardest things a person will ever go through in their lifetime. There are so many issues one will come across from the actual physical pain of physical withdrawal from heroin abuse and opiates, all the way down to “pulling the scab” from emotional scars that will be exposed once someone gets clean and sober. So the combination of these issues, once one decides to end the deadly cycle of addiction, can seem overwhelming.
Addiction technology has come a long way in recent years and staying on top of the recent changes will definitely aid in recovery. Stress, anxiety and depression can contribute in keeping a struggling addict in active addiction, so discussing some of the fears that we will face while getting sober is a great idea. Talking through these fears ahead of time can definitely cut into the stress, anxiety and depression that can derail us in our quest to become clean and sober.
So let’s take a few minutes and talk about the top three fears that a struggling addict may come across on their path to becoming clean and sober.
1. Boredom– I wanted to place this fear first, because it has a direct impact on how we plan our daily schedules. Addicts have grown so used to their chaotic lifestyles which is the act of actually getting the money to get high and going through the motions of finding the drug out on the streets. In their SICK minds, this process actually releases endorphins much like when using the drugs themselves. So it becomes hard, at first, for a struggling addict to just “BE”. It becomes nearly impossible, at first, to just relax around the house and possibly meditate, or discuss with family and friends the addict’s planned path to sobriety. This fear shows its ugly face mostly at the beginning stages of sobriety. The best way to tackle this fear is to make daily “To Do” lists and start with making them small and easy to accomplish. Practice living “in the moment” and know that it’s okay to just “BE”.
2. Expectations– The next major fear that an addict faces once he or she decides to stop the deadly cycle of addiction is the fear that others will expect too much of you too soon. While we are in our active addiction we spend years destroying our lives and the lives of those closest to us. We spend years completely destroying our credit and we spend years not paying our bills. We spend years neglecting the people we love most and the relationships that mean the most to us. So having said this, one of our biggest fears when getting clean and sober is expectations! We fear that people will expect us to interact perfectly with our loved ones with little time to learn to get to know them again. We fear that our debt collectors and people that we owe money to will come demanding payments before we are ready to make amends in this category of our recovery. We fear that people will demand to repair relationships that we aren’t ready to repair. This fear takes a lot of work, time, and effort to get over and it also takes a lot of patience from others to allow a struggling addict to work through their issues before they take on too much.
3. Failure– The last of “The Big Three” when it comes to fears when an active addict first decides to get clean and sober is the fear of FAILURE. So many struggling active addicts never begin their journey to end the deadly cycle of addiction because they fear that they won’t succeed. They go into the beginning stages of fighting their addiction thinking that they can’t succeed. And to be honest, close-minded twelve step methods contribute to this thinking greatly. These outdated twelve step methods give the average active addict little hope that they can come out on top of this addiction. Addiction technology has changed greatly and the recovery methods have changed, so should the thinking when battling one’s addiction. There is NOT just one way to beat your addiction. Everyone is different and each addict should have their unique path to sobriety without the pressure of following some outdated path that is sold to us as “the only way”.
—Written by Tim Estes, recovering addict
So as you can see most addicts have a lot stacked up against them as they begin their journey to sobriety. Like we covered at the beginning of this post, getting clean and sober is going to be one of the hardest things a person will ever go through. We need to find the path of least resistance and the path that gives the recovering addict the best chance for success. Working through these big fears at the beginning is definitely a step in the right direction but hiring a top nationally certified recovery coach or top nationally certified sober coach is the way to go! The days of putting your entire life on hold so that you, the addict, can check yourself into a residential rehabilitation facility are over. The success rates from those recovering addicts who hired top nationally certified recovery coaches is at an all time high. And we here at The Addictions Coach have the addictions industry’s TOP professional nationally certified coaches to walk you through the path of recovery and to a lifetime of sobriety so head over to our website at http://www.theaddictionscoach.
If you are ready to help others while creating the career of your dreams, The Addictions Academy is here to help you get started with your training. Take a look at one (or more!)of our popular training programs, and call to speak with our team today! 1.800.706.0318 ext 2
