Surrounding oneself with understanding friends and family can provide emotional stability. These connections offer encouragement and reduce feelings of isolation, making the recovery process more manageable. “These are safe, non-addicting medications that have been proven to help people reduce the craving for alcohol, stay sober and are especially helpful,” he shared.
What is nifaliophobia? Understanding the fear of being sober
💙 Start this simple 30-day program on Mindfulness for Beginners to build this supportive habit into your daily life. If you’ve done some major damage in your past, you might feel like you don’t deserve to be happy and healthy. You’re likely also to start feeling the stress build, perhaps the same stress that leads you down the fear of being sober path to using. Even after being in recovery for a while, you may not be delighted with the changes you have made.4 In fact you may realize you don’t like being sober.
Overcoming Fears Associated with Recovery
This knowledge of benefits and challenges can empower you and reduce anxiety and alleviating fear by framing sobriety as a positive lifestyle change. The fear of being sober usually has a mixture of root causes, including the discomfort of facing underlying emotional or psychological issues without the numbing effect of substances. It may also encompass concerns about how to cope with stress and social situations soberly if one does not feel they have the proper emotional tools to regulate the nervous system.
- It should be viewed not as a definitive failure but as an opportunity for learning and growth.
- With your support network, mark milestones in your sobriety, whether they’re days, weeks, months, or years.
- We can call it an irrational fear if you become overwhelmed by anxiety about the prospect of not being inebriated.
- Thankfully, there have only been a few times when someone at the table hasn’t pointed it out on my behalf and adjusted accordingly.
Feeling like you need to rely on alcohol or drugs for enjoyment can be scary. It can affect your own physical and mental health as well as hurting people around you. Addiction can damage relationships, cause money issues and affect your work, studies and other aspects of your life. Phobias can impact the way you live your life and stop you from doing certain things.
Dual Diagnosis 101: How Mental Health Disorders and Substance Use Disorder Often go Hand in Hand
This is a very good time to speak to your counseling team about these fears and the emotional struggles you are having. They can help you work through them and explain more about how you can recover more fully. When you are facing these challenges and downright fear of recovery, just focus on what is happening right now. Thankfully, there have only been a few times when someone at the table hasn’t pointed it out on my behalf and adjusted accordingly.
tips to help you overcome the fear of being sober
You’re there to process what happened in the past and think about what must happen going forward. 💙 Awaken your potential by exploring the world around you and developing interests outside of substances by Saying Yes to Life. 💙 Take your goal-setting one step further by getting clear on The ‘Why’ Behind Your Goals, which not only helps you gain clarity but also helps you stay committed to your aspirations.
When we aren’t sober, we can use that as an excuse to avoid those problems. Coping mechanisms are tough—they work temporarily, and allow us to avoid and put things aside for the time being. We use drugs to numb ourselves and our emotions and to push off thinking for another day. But when we no longer have those devices at our disposal, we’re left with only our minds, our willpower and our inner strength to carry us through the hard times.
Friends and social circles can often revolve around drinking or drug use, making the transition to sobriety feel isolating. However, it’s essential to recognize that genuine relationships can deepen as individuals embrace a sober lifestyle. Staying sober means staying clean, and that alone can be a scary thought for many addicts and nifaliophobia alcoholics.
How to build a support system for sobriety
The first step in addressing a fear of sobriety is acknowledging the fear itself. Once you recognize and accept that you’re afraid, you can begin to address nifaliophobia the underlying causes with specific strategies. Educating yourself about the benefits of sobriety and the recovery process can demystify what sobriety entails and help alleviate some of the fear.
The first thing is that sobriety can be a really hard thing to face for a lot of addicts. All the people you share experiences with at AA meetings or a Solana Beach sober living home are there to process fears. This could include friends who understand your journey, family members who encourage your choices, or support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous or SMART Recovery. Addicts will have to face their relationships with people again, with their families, friends, and co-workers.
Overcoming Fear of Sobriety
You may also be afraid of having to confront your past behaviours and the damage you have done to yourself and those around you through your drinking or drug use. You may be afraid of boredom and feel like you need to use drugs or alcohol to have fun. Rehab Clinics Group can provide expert mental health support alongside addiction treatment, giving you the best possible chance of making a full and lasting recovery. If you’re wondering how to overcome nifaliophobia and address any underlying substance misuse issues, it all starts with a phone call or message. You may think that your loved ones will think less of you or not want to be around you.
- Many people use substances as a way to avoid problems and specific aspects of reality, which would have to be faced if they sobered up.
- Our services include sober companionship, coaching, and mentorship for those who are recovering from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.
- These practices encourage focusing on the present moment, which helps alleviate worries about the future.
- Many people like to drink occasionally as a way to relax or socialize, but for others, the habit is rooted in anxiety and fear.
It’s important to view these events not as failures but as opportunities for learning and growth. If you experience a setback, take the time to analyze what led to the relapse and discuss it with your support network or therapist to understand the triggers involved. Strengthening your coping strategies and possibly adjusting your recovery plan can help prevent future setbacks. Most importantly, maintain a compassionate attitude toward yourself and recognize that recovery is a journey with ups and downs. Nifaliophobia is a phobia and anxiety disorder related to the fear of sobriety and facing up to a life without alcohol or drugs.
