Sustaining sobriety is about more than abstaining from substances like drugs or alcohol. It’s about developing a healthy lifestyle and coping habits to ensure that the change is long-lasting. But when someone has just gone through rehab and is new to sober living, it can be easy to fall back into old habits, and eventually relapse. 

There’s no shame in needing help sustaining sobriety when a person is newly sober. That’s why for this guide, we’ve compiled the top tips for maintaining sobriety. Read on to learn how to keep up a sober lifestyle and not backslide into old habits.

1. Join a Support Group

Addiction support groups, including online support groups, help members successfully manage their recovery from substance use disorder. Support groups can do this in a multitude of ways, for example, providing positive peer support and pressure to abstain from substance use. As a member of a support group, a person’s sense of isolation will be reduced, and they will be enabled to witness the recovery of others. As well, by seeing how other members deal with the issues of substance use disorder, a person can learn to cope with their own problems. All in all, a support group is a great way to find a sense of community and motivation to stay sober.

2. Identify Your Triggers

Sobriety can be difficult to maintain when a person doesn’t understand what led them to drink in the first place. This is known as triggers: external or internal catalysts such as people, places, things, situations, feelings, thoughts, and emotions that prompt thoughts or cravings to use substances.  Common triggers include stress, emotional distress, environmental cues, people who consume alcohol or drugs, relationship, job, or financial troubles. By avoiding or properly addressing these triggers, a person can prevent relapse.

3. Practice Self-Care

Self-care is important because it can help you manage stress and therefore avoid triggering a relapse. When a person incorporates it into their daily life, they will lower the risk for dealing with problems later. Physical and mental health are directly related. That means that by working on one, a person will also be improving the other. For example, when a person takes care of their mental health, they are enabling better quality sleep, thus leading to more energy for the next day’s tasks. 

In recovery, self-care lowers a person’s chance of turning to drugs or alcohol in order to cope. Instead, by paying attention to their physical and mental needs, as well as fostering positive relationships, a person can feel their best and stay on the road to recovery.

4. Avoid Old Routines and Habits

When a person continues to follow their old routines from before they were sober, their chance of relapsing increases. For example, it’s a bad idea for a person to hang around the people they used to drink with or obtain drugs from. Similarly, the places a person used to spend time in before sobriety may also trigger relapse. Instead of following the same lifestyle from before, create new, healthy habits.

5. Develop a Healthy Lifestyle

If a person has been struggling with substance use disorder for a while, chances are, they won’t be in the best state. Chronic substance use can negatively impact both physical and emotional health. Exercising regularly, eating healthy, balanced meals at regular intervals, getting plenty of good-quality sleep, making time for recreational activities and hobbies, and practicing relaxation strategies such as mindfulness are the building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. 

Poor eating habits actually can cause relapse, because addiction often causes a person to forget what it is like to be hungry, interpreting the feeling as a craving for drugs or alcohol. Dehydration is also common during recovery, so a person should make sure to get enough fluids throughout the day as well. 

6. Build Healthy Relationships

In recovery, a person might realize that some of their past relationships were toxic. Just as that person must leave their old habits behind, so too must they replace these old relationships with healthier ones in order to avoid relapse. Plus, the people you have healthy relationships with can be a part of a person's support network. When someone needs help in recovery, they can lean on their close friends and family.

7. Engage in a Meaningful Activity

It’s important for a person in recovery to fill their life with something that makes them happy. For example, regular exercise can release feel-good brain chemicals called endorphins. They might also volunteer for a good cause. There’s also hobbies. For example, a person could learn a new skill such as painting or woodworking, start journaling, or begin to take dance lessons. The important thing is for a person to stay busy, so that they can keep their mind occupied and avoid thinking about using substances again.

Sustain Your Sobriety with Never Alone Recovery

Navigating sobriety is a challenge for the newly sober, but it’s not a journey they have to take alone. By joining a support group, understanding their substance use triggers, building a healthy lifestyle full of self-care, crafting healthy relationships to lean on, and keeping busy, they can lower their risk of relapse. Keeping these tips in mind, sustaining sobriety will be a far more approachable task.

However, not everyone will have an easier time reaching or maintaining sobriety.  If you or a loved one is struggling with substance use disorder, there is no shame in asking for help. With an online support group and addiction recovery consultants, Never Alone Recovery offers the tools you need to stay sober. If you’re looking for an Indiana rehab or an insurance approved rehab, call us today at 844-422-2311 to learn which Never Alone Program is right for you.