The Gift of Recovery

It’s the Holiday Season. I wish everyone in addiction recovery a safe and happy holiday season. If you’re new in recovery and feel anxious because of parties and other festivities that might involve alcohol, reach out to someone in your support network and let them know what’s going on. If you don’t have a support network, you might want to develop one. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, especially if it can help you avoid relapse.

Even if your problem is with another drug other than alcohol, you still need to lean on your support network. You should know by now that anyone addicted to one drug will likely go back to that drug if they substitute one drug for another. For example, if someone is in recovery from cocaine addiction, then they start using alcohol as a substitute, they are likely to return to cocaine. It takes all the awareness a person in recovery can muster to avoid relapse, so if a person is under the influence of a substitute drug and they have the have the opportunity to use their drug of choice, it’s common for the person to start craving their drug of choice and make a bad decision with impaired judgement. The other risk is developing a problem with the substitute drug. Research has shown that people who become addicted are susceptible to becoming addicted to drugs other than their drug of choice — it’s called cross-addiction.

The main point is to be safe and protect your recovery. There are plenty of things to do during the holiday season that don’t include drugs. That shouldn’t have to be said, but if you’re in recovery you’ll understand. Reflect, Rejuvenate and Rejoice.