Recovering from addiction is no walk in the park. There are plenty of people in recovery who still struggle to sustain their sobriety years after they received treatment in a substance abuse program.
Although getting help was a crucial step, it’s one of the many moving parts involved in the recovery journey. Sobriety is a decision you have to make on a daily basis. A person’s sobriety should be prioritized and they should learn new ways to incorporate what they’ve learned from treatment into their lives in order to stay clean. Many addiction treatments also focus on understanding your thinking and behavioral patterns to better understand your condition. This can also be referred to as self-awareness. As a drug and alcohol rehab in Texas, we wanted to share the importance of self-awareness in recovery.
What Is Self-Awareness?
Self-awareness refers to understanding how you think, behave, and feel in specific ways. Having self-awareness is about completely knowing yourself and how you’ll react to certain places, people, and situations. Self-awareness is the complete opposite of denial, a feeling that many addicts experience when they’re unaware of the severity of their addiction. Because denial is such a common aspect of substance abuse, it can be difficult to be self-aware while trying to stay sober. This only attests to the importance of self-awareness in recovery.
In order to become self-aware with an addiction, you must receive professional help first. If you have yet to take that first step towards recovery, today is the day. At Banyan Treatment Centers Texas, we have various levels of care that can help you take back control of your life.
Why Self-Awareness in Addiction Recovery Is Important
When combined, self-awareness and recovery can produce amazing results. Being self-aware in addiction recovery is important for a variety of reasons.
It promotes selflessness.
When you develop personal awareness, you begin to realize the selfishness involved in addiction. Whether you intend to be this way or not, an addiction can bring out the selfish nature in you. This disorder promotes personal gain without regard for the consequences. Self-awareness can help you realize how your behavior affects others.
It encourages independence.
Relying on others for support is normal when you’re going through something difficult. In addiction recovery, you may be especially dependent on certain people to help you get through the day; however, this pattern of behavior is unhealthy for you and the other person. This can even result in enabling, which can quickly lead to relapse. Instead, self-awareness encourages independence and reminds you that you’re the only person who can sustain your sobriety.
It helps you identify the good and the bad.
Self-awareness is important for addiction recovery because it also helps you differentiate the things that trigger your addiction and the things that don’t. Making this separation is important in order to away from people, places, and things that can spark a relapse.
It keeps you accountable.
Personal awareness also emphasizes honesty. Because denial is such a common trait in many addicts, self-awareness almost forces you to realize the impact your behavior can have on others. It also makes it difficult for you to lie about relapse or keep any difficulties to yourself.
How to Improve Self-Awareness
In order to improve or increase your level of self-awareness, you should focus on the following:
- Don’t be afraid to identify your addiction triggers. You can’t avoid a problem if you aren’t aware of it.
- Focus on the present; dont' dwell on the past
- Keep a daily journal so you can read about any improvements you’ve made or need to make
- Talk to someone who can keep you accountable, like a close friend or family member
- Don’t get upset when someone identifies a problem, it’s better to get an early warning than relapse
- Learn how to identify your emotions when you experience them, don’t bottle them up
- Identify any patterns of behavior that may have previously contributed to your addiction, no matter how small
At the end of the day, building self-awareness in addiction recovery is about becoming vulnerable to yourself. This can be difficult, but it’s definitely worth it.
If you or a loved one is struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction, call Banyan Texas today at 888-280-4763 to learn more about our addiction services in Waelder.
