“Recovering from an addiction to alcohol can improve your life in ways you may not even imagine.
From feeling better physically and mentally, to improved relationships and having more cash in your pocket, rehabilitation and sobriety pay real benefits.
Here are just five ways sobriety makes life better, once you get the help you need.”
Improved relationships
When you have an addiction, you burn a lot of bridges. Chances are, you’re not that reliable, or even likeable, to be around. Alcohol impairs your social graces, from your judgement to your empathy, and you may also tend to let people down.
Rehabilitation and sobriety give you the chance to repair important relationships and build closer, more fulfilling ones.
Getting help also means making new friends who have a commitment to living life without addiction and who will show up for you when you are having a hard day and need support.
You may make these in group therapy, or outside of rehabilitation because you are going places and doing activities that don’t involve drinking.
Sobriety also means you’ll have more time to put into relationships because every moment of your day isn’t focused on when you are getting your next drink.
Better financial situation
An addiction is expensive. It doesn’t just cost relationships, it drains your bank account. How much cash have you burned on a habit that doesn’t pay positive rewards?
Once you have sobriety, you may be surprised how much better off you are. Suddenly you have the money you need to go on holiday, buy new clothes, or pursue an interest that, before rehabilitation, would have been out of your reach.
On an everyday level, you’ll have the money you need to pay your rent or buy actual groceries instead of alcohol to fuel your addiction.
You will also be more future-focused, able to plan how to save for goals, not living day-to-day in the grip of an alcohol dependency.
Increased wellness
Having an addiction makes you feel like s***.
There’s the hangovers, the blotchy complexion, the dark circles under your eyes and nausea that is a combination of anxiety and liver overload.
Alcohol is a poison that can cause raised blood pressure, loss of coordination, and mood swings.
When you have sobriety, your body will start to detox, your skin and your liver function will improve, and you’ll start to sleep better. That’s because alcohol disrupts healing ‘REM’ sleep, leaving you feeling groggy and under par.
Rehabilitation is also your pathway to better mental health – you won’t have to deal with the negative consequences of drinking on your brain, including depression, and your brain will actually start to work in a healthier way. Over time, your levels of the feel-good chemical dopamine will return to normal. All of these positive effects of sobriety will be reflected in an increased commitment to self-care – preparing healthy meals, getting regular exercise, taking time out to relax and have fun – and that means you’ll look better and feel better.
Lower long-term risk of health problems
Besides increasing your risk of mental health disorders, addiction can rob your body of essential vitamins and antioxidants and lead to a weakened immune system so you get sick more often.
As chronic drinking persists, you increase your risk of anaemia, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease and cancer.
The good news is that once you get help to maintain sobriety, your risk for chronic health conditions begins to decrease.If you’d like to live a longer, healthier life, rehabilitation treatment is right for you.
More confidence and less shame and regret
Not losing friends, jobs, or money; having more energy and health; and knowing your life is going in a positive direction, will all reduce shame and boost self-esteem and confidence.
Rehabilitation is a time to put regrets behind you and focus on a better life ahead.
That begins with getting help to make your life better and discovering the many benefits that sobriety brings.
How to help loved ones suffering from a drinking problem
Alcohol abuse isn’t only painful for the person suffering from it. It hurts friends and family too. If you care about someone who is struggling with an addiction, the best course of action is to get them to get help. But how can you do that?
- Try talking to them in private, when they are sober, about what’s going on.
- Share with them how their drinking makes you feel and the effect it is having on family or relationships.
- Consider getting friends or family together and staging an intervention, that comes from a place of caring.
- Contact us for ideas on how to set boundaries, communicate with your loved one, and eventually get them to a point where they are willing to get help.
