sober

Finally Facing Your Negative Thoughts and Feelings

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Feelings | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comPerhaps you know now that it was those negative thoughts that drove you to drink. Perhaps you’re more aware of yourself than you were when you were younger, and you know that it was the uncomfortable feelings and thoughts that kept you drinking for many years.

Sometimes, those hard-to-handle feelings stem from a particular event. Maybe your brother or mother died. Perhaps you lost your closest friend to suicide.

Or perhaps your boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse passed away. Losing someone or experiencing a tragic event can be incredibly difficult and it is one of the most common reasons that lead to addiction.

However, sometimes those challenging emotions and thoughts simply arise from negative thinking patterns in the mind, patterns we’ve had since childhood. Negative beliefs about ourselves, such as “I’m no good enough” can also lead to having negative thoughts and feelings.

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Five Common Relapse Triggers

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Five Common Relapse Triggers | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comComing home from rehab can be an exciting an empowering event but as you work to get back into the swing of life you will encounter obstacles that can trigger a relapse if not dealt with in the correct way.  Below are five common relapse triggers to watch out for.

  1. Old Places and Friends – Once you get home from rehab, it is important to continue to focus on your recovery. Being home and around old friends can remind you what times were like before rehab and this can trigger a relapse.  It is best to surround yourself by sober friends and avoid places where you used to partake in drugs or alcohol.
  2. The “Just Once” Thought – Having just once glass of wine might not seam like a big deal at first but that one glass of wine can easily turn into a full bottle of wine.  Having only a little bit of a drug or alcohol can trigger the urge to fall back into old habits.  It is important to stay in control and think about how the “just once” thought can quickly send you into relapse.
  3. Toxic Relationships – Relationships are not an easy thing for anyone but a toxic relationship can be extremely detrimental for a recovering addict.  Toxic relationships, whether it be with a roommate, boyfriend/girlfriend, or parent, can create feelings such as anger, jealousy, or depression and these feelings make it easier to relapse.  People often resort to their addiction in order to deal with these negative feelings.
  4. Unhealthy Choices – Living a healthy lifestyle can help a recovering addict stay sober.  On the other hand, constantly making unhealthy choices can be harmful.  Choices such as eating junk food, not exercising, and staying up late every night can effect your health, mood, and trigger a relapse.
  5. High Pressure Situations – Stressful situations are just a part of life.  Whether it’s enrolling for college or interviewing for a job, we can expect to feel a little more pressure than normal during these times.  The important thing for a recovering addict is to not overdue it.  Be in control and make sure you do not get to the point of feeling too much pressure that you can’t handle it.  Feeling too much pressure can turn into a relapse.

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Developing Your Emotional Intelligence Can Keep You Sober

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There’s something peculiar about the way we think about intelligence. Typically, when you were in school, you took several standardized tests that together yielded a score, which is what most people know as the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The average or median of these tests is 100 with 95% of the population falling between 70 and 130. The socially popular thought …

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Addiction Help: Factors that Contribute to Chronic Relapse

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Addiction Help | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comIf you’ve already gone through drug detox and you’ve already been through substance abuse treatment and yet you’re experiencing relapses, it might be helpful to look into the causes or the contributing factors to relapse.

For instance, experts in drug addiction therapy believe that the following can prevent long term sobriety:

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