Spark

5 Things All Moms in Recovery Should Know

The road to recovery can be rocky and challenging. Many people unnecessarily beat themselves up if they stumble and fall along it the first few times. However, knowledge is half the battle — including recognizing potential pitfalls and how to overcome them. Everything is a learning experience.

That said, you don’t have to struggle through trial and error alone until you find out what works for you. You can learn from the experiences of others — here’s what all moms in recovery should know.

1. Time Takes Time

The first thing you should know is that while recovery is possible the first time you go through detox and resolve to quit your substance of choice, you shouldn’t give up if you make a mistake. It takes most people an average of two to five attempts before they manage to quit for good. Some people take longer — it isn’t a reason to abandon hope of getting better. It merely means you’ve discovered methods that don’t work for you.

Part of the reason recovery challenges folks is that addiction creates changes in your neural pathways, triggering cravings. You might not even realize where your impulses stem from. Catching a glimpse of a billboard with folks socially drinking could increase your desire for alcohol even if you don’t consciously recognize the stimulus.

However, drugs like alcohol create chemical changes in your gray matter. For example, while a drink might make you feel calm at first, it alters your brain’s levels of neurotransmitters like glutamate and GABA. When this organ later dries out and tries to return to equilibrium, you could experience severe panic. This terror then drives you to seek relief — often in the same bottle that started the trouble.

Therefore, be patient with yourself. It may sound like a riddle, but the only thing that can help retrain your neural pathways is sufficient exposure to alternative positive stimuli. The time you need to do so takes, well, time.

2. Your Support System is Crucial

With whom do you surround yourself when you socialize? One reason for relapse occurs when people return to their old habits not because they desire to use again but from sheer loneliness.

For example, if you previously spent every afternoon at the pub, you could miss your social circle. You can’t expect all your old buddies to quit drinking and take up bowling.

Make a list of those people you know who have healthy interests. Reach out to them and suggest activities that can help nurture your bond. Having people to turn to for support whom you don’t associate with substance use can make a significant difference in your recovery.

3. So Is Cultivating Outside Interests

What kind of activities interest you that don’t involve substance use? Turning to these pastimes when cravings strike can help keep you on the recovery path.

If your addiction took up all your free time, you might need to become reacquainted with yourself. Ask what makes you happy and what you used to enjoy as a child. If you were always into sports, joining a recreational softball league might do the trick. If you’re more into intellectual pursuits, perhaps an online chess club can help you flex your mental muscle while having fun.

4. You Have Multiple Therapeutic Avenues to Explore

Your initial days of recovery might take place in a carefully monitored inpatient facility. After all, detoxing from some substances can pose severe risks to your health. It isn’t unusual for those coming off of years of alcohol abuse to experience dramatic, sometimes dangerous, liver and brain function shifts.

However, eventually, you’ll need to reintegrate yourself into regular life. That doesn’t mean your therapy ends. Instead, why not explore some of the new treatment modalities that may help you stay clean?

For example, many sexual abuse survivors find that yoga therapy helps them regain a sense of agency over their bodies. Those who love animals might gravitate to equine therapy and budding Picassos to art.

That isn’t to say you might not combine modalities. For example, perhaps you spend time on the mat in yoga therapy while processing your thoughts surrounding your triggers in traditional psychoanalysis.

5. Recovery Is Possible

Finally, please know that recovery is possible. It may sometimes feel as if you’re Sisyphus, endlessly pushing that boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down on you. Please believe that eventually, it will gather enough momentum to scale that summit and roll down the other side.

It might help to surround yourself with those who are further along in their recovery. There’s a reason why 12-step programs often have new members identify a sponsor. Such individuals can help you stay on the recovery path and provide necessary encouragement from someone who has been there if you backslide. Eventually, you will achieve sobriety and maintain it.