How to Navigate Your Life After Inpatient Addiction Treatment

Like Hawaiian seafarers use the stars to navigate their journeys through the calm and dangerous seas, the same goes for those in recovery. Once your treatment time is over at your drug and alcohol inpatient treatment center, it is time to brave through the new world again. By learning how to navigate your life after inpatient addiction treatment, you will be more than confident about living a newly sober life.

In the past, your group of friends may have been people who drank or abused drugs to pass the time. Now that you are in recovery, you cannot trust that being around the same people will not lead to a relapse. Luckily, there are many people out there who are in sobriety that you can find. 

You can also find meetup groups through social media that can expose you to new activities. For example, you may find a group of people who take hikes every weekend. You can also see if there are any classes you can take, whether academic classes, cooking classes, or music classes. A sober life does not have to be a boring one. Sober friends can teach you there are other, healthier ways of enjoying your life.

Part of going back to the real world means finding a job to support yourself financially. This is the opportunity to return to your old job or find a new career path. However, it is wise to ensure that the job you go back to will not trigger you. For example, maybe you used to work at a winery or as a waiter serving drinks. In recovery, these are jobs you may want to stay away from.

To find a job, you can look through job boards and see if there are any positions you are interested in that you have qualifications for. You can also practice interview questions to better prepare. Make sure to fit in therapy, support groups, or anything else you need to do for your recovery into your work schedule. A job will provide you with the stability you have been looking for and a nice distraction away from cravings.

Just because you no longer live in a center for alcohol and drug treatment does not mean your recovery work is done. Addiction is not just a brain disease but a condition that occurs from stress and other environmental factors. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you understand your addiction and the underlying issues that contribute to it. You can discover why you have certain emotions and why you feel like drugs and alcohol are the way to cope with them. If you need an outlet for your thoughts and feelings, a therapist is a great person to do that. You can gain access to many tools through therapy, like meditation practices or assignments to do at home to learn more about yourself.

Even if you have been sober for years, you may still experience a desire to continue using. Joining a fellowship like Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous can be very helpful in preventing cravings. You will be surrounded by people going through the same journey as you. You can hear the stories of people who have been struggling with sobriety, making you feel less alone. You can also learn to maintain sobriety as you listen to others share how they cope with triggers and cravings.

In recovery, it’s essential to work toward maintaining a healthy mind and body. With no drugs or alcohol in your system, this is the chance to start over and take care of yourself. One way you can do this is through exercising. Exercise will give you a healthy, natural high once those feel-good endorphins kick in. When you go on a hike or walk around your neighborhood, there is something very soothing about being surrounded by nature. 

To create a healthy lifestyle, you can also make sure that you eat well-balanced meals. It’s also crucial to ensure you get seven to eight hours of sleep a night to wake up with plenty of energy in the morning.

Sobriety may not be the most effortless journey. After all, you are used to the routine of relying on drugs and alcohol to cope with your emotions. However, now that you are not in inpatient rehab anymore, you are more than ready to venture into the world with what you have learned. By taking what you have learned in rehab and applying it to the rest of your life, your new routine to follow will help you successfully maintain sobriety. 

Inpatient rehab was never meant to be forever. You were there because you were in need of serious help for a severe disorder. However, you may be afraid that you will not be able to go through sobriety alone without inpatient rehab there to protect you. It is important to remember that a sober lifestyle is not dull and boring. It can be amazing with the right people and tools to help you brave life head-on. Keeping up with your recovery every day will make life easier for you. At Hawaii Island Recovery, one of the leading rehab centers in Hawaii, we dedicate ourselves to showing the way toward a sober lifestyle. Located in Kailua, Hawaii, we can provide you with continuing care after a residential stay, including therapy, life skills education, and more. For more information on how we can help you through your recovery journey, call Hawaii Island Recovery today at (866) 390-5070.