Choosing Sobriety

Drugs and alcohol are just chemicals; they don’t have thoughts, feelings, or desires. Yet they can control what we think and want all too easily. Addictive substances are capable of warping our minds and damaging our bodies. They can completely change the ways in which we behave, causing us to lose our jobs, our loved ones, and our way in life.

But drugs like cocaine and alcohol do not have to run your life. If you have a problem with substance abuse, now is the time to stand up and change things. Recognize the problem that you have to seek the help that you need. With the right support and the strength that you’ll find within yourself, you can conquer your substance abuse problem and choose sobriety.

Do you have a problem?

If you want to walk away from a substance that you are abusing, you have powerful options at your disposal. But none of those options will mean anything to you unless you can first come to a vital realization: You have a problem.

Recognizing that you have a problem with substance abuse is the mandatory first step toward long-term recovery. Unfortunately, recognizing and admitting the problem is much easier said than done. As any expert in addiction and recovery will tell you, denial is a notorious part of addiction.

In fact, denial is in many ways a part of addiction. Denial plays vital roles within the psychology of addiction. If you are unable to see your own substance abuse issues, then you won’t be able to muster the arguments for stopping or the willpower to follow through. And even as addicts begin to see the problem, denial allows them to think that they can “have just one” and then stop—triggering another major bout of binge-drinking or drug use.

Admitting that you have a problem isn’t easy. But if you familiarize yourself with the signs of drug or alcohol abuse, you’ll be better able to see those issues within yourself.

Making the choice

Only you can decide whether you are really ready to choose sobriety and recovery. The road won’t be easy, but it’s rewarding. Addiction can never be cured, but substance abuse issues can be managed. With the proper commitment, you could be sober for the rest of your life. But that lifetime goal needs to be tackled one day at a time, and long-term sobriety requires care.

That’s “care” in the sense of being careful, but it’s also “care” in the sense that you can and should seek professional help for finding and maintaining your sobriety. Conquering addiction isn’t something that you need to do on your own—in fact, it’s really something that you shouldn’t do on your own. You should turn to experts in mental health care and addiction.

Getting the help that you need

Detoxing and getting through withdrawal can be tough and dangerous, and kicking off a mission of sobriety can be difficult even if you don’t have withdrawal symptoms. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to turn to mental health professionals and specialists in addiction as you begin your recovery.

You may find that you can make more progress in a professional environment, say experts who run a respected drug rehab in Toronto. Inpatient and outpatient rehab options can give you a chance to break out of your typical environment (full of your typical triggers) and put your whole focus on the task at hand.

The journey won’t be over when you’ve sobered up; the real challenge is staying that way. But if you continue to get support from specialists in mental health care and consider 12-step programs and support groups, you’ll find the help that you need to get the future you want—one day at a time.