Likely if you’re just beginning drug addiction treatment, you’re probably also learning how to take care of yourself. Having an addiction is, in many ways, a self-harming experience.
Instead of taking a nap when you’re tired, you might get upset and end up drinking. Or instead of eating when you’re hungry you might lash out at your wife, feel bad about it, and then end up at the bar to cover your guilt.
But if you’re in drug addiction treatment, then you’re learning how to listen to your body. You’re learning when to take a break and tend to your needs.
This article will list physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual ways to take good care of yourself.
Physical Self Care
- Eat regularly (three meals per day is ideal)
- Eat healthy
- Exercise
- Get regular medical care for prevention
- Get medical care when needed
- Take time off when needed
- Get massages
- Dance, swim, walk, run, play sports, sing or do another physical activity that is fun
- Take time to be sexual with your partner
- Get enough sleep
- Wear clothes you like
- Take vacations
- Take day trips or mini-vacations
- Make time away from telephones and Ipads
Psychological Self Care
Make time for self-reflection- Have your own personal psychotherapy
- Write in a journal
- Read literature that is unrelated to work
- Do something in which you are not an expert
- Decrease stress in your life
- Let others know the different aspects of you
- Notice your inner experience, such as listening to your thoughts, judgments, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings
- Engage your intelligence in a new area, such as going to a museum, history exhibit, sports event, auction, theater performance
- Practice receiving from others
- Be curious
- Say NO to extra responsibilities occasionally
Emotional Self Care
- Spend time with others whose company you enjoy
- Stay in contact with important people in your life
- Give yourself affirmations and praise yourself
- Love yourself
- Reread favorite books and watch your favorite movies again
- Identify comforting activities, objects, people, relationships, places and seek them out
- Allow yourself to cry
- find things that make you laugh
- Express your outrage in social action, letters and donations, marches and protests
- Play with children
- Spiritual Self Care
- Make time for spiritual reflection
- Spend time in Nature
- Find a spiritual connection or community
- Be open to inspiration
- Cherish your optimism and hope
- Be aware of nonmaterial aspects of life
- Try at times not to be in charge or be the expert
- Be open to not knowing
- Identify what is meaningful to you and notice its place in your life
- Meditate
- Pray
- Sing
- Spend time with children
- Contribute to causes in which you believe
- Have experiences of awe
- Read inspirational literature
Other Forms of Self Care
- Take breaks when you need to during the day to be with yourself
- Take time to chat with friends.
- Make quiet time to complete tasks
- Identify projects that are exciting and rewarding
- Balance your life so that no one day is too much for you.
- Arrange your home so that it is comforting and nourishing
- Have a support group
This list is long to provide you with many options. Part of being in drug addiction treatment is learning how to love yourself. And learning how to love yourself is learning how to take good care of your body, heart, and mind.
Reference:
Saakvitne, K. and Pearlman, L. Transforming the Pain: A Workbook on Vicarious Traumatization. New York: Norton, 1996.
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