This is a good time to re-familiarize yourself with your favorite urge-busting tools. Check your handbook or the online toolbox and begin actively practicing these tools before you need them, to strengthen your urge-busting muscles. Include the tools that work best for you in your plan for dealing with those tempting holiday events if you choose not to avoid them. Crafting your holiday relapse prevention plan will help you anticipate your every move, so you can stay away from the substances that once caused you irreparable harm.
Understanding Holiday-Related Mental Health Risks
Before someone relapses on drugs or alcohol, there are typically many warning signs. Identifying these warning signs early and utilizing positive coping mechanisms can decrease alcoholism your risk of relapse. Some people struggle with immense sadness during the holidays, often called the «holiday blues.» Putting too much pressure on yourself to create the perfect holiday experience can lead to disappointment and stress. Read Kali’s story, Alone on Christmas, for strategies on how to cope when spending the holidays alone.
Support
The holidays are just around the corner, and while some people love this time of year, many feel anxious, overwhelmed, and even dread it. For those newly in substance use recovery or supporting a loved one in recovery, this season can bring added challenges. As a mental health occupational therapist, I work with many clients who feel stressed and overwhelmed this time of year. From increased family obligations to events with alcohol to overbooked schedules, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. While setting boundaries with others and yourself can be difficult, maintaining balance is essential. The holiday season can be a joyous time of connection, celebration, and gratitude.
How To Navigate The Holidays Without Family During Early Recovery
The rewards of simple acts of kindness will go further than you think to help brighten other people’s lives. These acts of kindness will also bring benefits to you in your recovery. If you will be serving alcohol, check to see if your invitee is comfortable with that. Note, even if you’re willing to host an alcohol-free holiday event, your family member or friend might not be comfortable attending if alcohol is https://ecosoberhouse.com/ not served simply because he or she is present. If your festivities will include someone with a year or more in recovery, you may simply want to ask if there is anything you can do to make the holiday better for them.
Look into local meetings and support groups and find ways to support the family in the process of understanding addiction as a disease, and in learning that no situation is too difficult to overcome. Make plans with your friends in recovery from your sober living facility, your 12-Step or other support meetings, exercise groups, work, or other places you have sober friends. The benefit of surrounding yourself with friends in recovery is that you mutually support one another. You may not be the only one trying to navigate the holidays without family. By spending time together, you create an all-new family that is built on love and the principles of recovery.
Everyone deals with holiday stress, but for people in recovery trying to stay sober, the holiday season places unprecedented challenges. There is a reason that people like the saying, “Friends are the family you choose.” Friends are the people you love and choose to spend time with. Making your friends a part of your holiday plans will help you avoid being alone or lonely at this time of the year. Your friends may not replace your family, but in many ways, they may exceed your family in quality time together.
- Include the tools that work best for you in your plan for dealing with those tempting holiday events if you choose not to avoid them.
- However, there are several things that family members can do to be supportive.
- If your loved one tells you they don’t want any special steps taken to accommodate them, and both you and they are comfortable with them taking part this time, then simply go ahead.
For Individuals in Recovery: Planning for Success
- It may seem harsh to not exchange gifts over the holidays but putting money into a savings account they cannot access or planning future trips may be a better way to think of gifts.
- We’re ready to make sure you have the support you need to achieve lifelong recovery.
- Those who are supportive of your recovery want to know what you need.
- You may need to leave a party early or decline an invitation if it conflicts with a self-care activity.
- From increased family obligations to events with alcohol to overbooked schedules, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
This holiday season, make your recovery a priority by implementing practical strategies to help maintain balance amid the chaos. Avoid the trap of overscheduling by intentionally selecting events that bring you a sense of safety and support. Sticking to routines—like getting enough sleep—is essential for your wellbeing. Remember, prioritizing your recovery doesn’t mean you have to miss out on fun; it’s all about finding the right balance! Seize this wonderful opportunity to cultivate joy and connect with loved ones while also caring for your mental health.
Keep the Focus on Fellowship
Stop Covering Up – Enabling is also when family members try to hide their loved ones’ substance use problems from others. Chances are, other members of the family or close friends are already very aware of the problems, and efforts to cover things up won’t be successful. Addiction is a disease and treating it like a secret or acting embarrassed about it may delay recovery or make things worse.
Those who truly care about your well-being will not mind you skipping a holiday meal to focus on your mental health. It might seem silly at first, but writing down reframing holidays in early recovery our triggers, responses, and plans in advance can help us be better prepared for difficult situations. Take some time this holiday season to print out our holiday and recovery worksheet to help you create your plan to stay on your recovery path this season. For people in or seeking recovery, 12-step programs provide a widely available and remarkably effective support system by surrounding them with people who have gone through and are going through the same struggles. If you’re looking for practical strategies on maintaining your sobriety or supporting a loved one in their recovery, keep reading! I’ve compiled a few tips to help you find peace and maybe even enjoy the season.