Saturday, 30 August 2014

Top Tips for Staying Alcohol Free After Rehab

Many people mistakenly believe that the journey to becoming addiction free ends when you leave alcohol or drug rehab. This is not the case because there are always triggers that remain in your mind. What you need to understand is that even someone who has stayed sober for decades has the potential for relapse. The difference between them and someone at the beginning of their journey is they know how to handle triggers.

After you leave rehab, you will still experience triggers. This is why we have teamed up with http://www.middlegate.co.uk/ to provide you with some top tips for staying alcohol free after rehab.


Keep Busy at All Times : Always stay busy. If you are not doing anything, the only thing you have to do is drink, and your mind is going to tell you this over and over again. The busiest people do not have enough time to think about alcohol or starting to drink again. This is why alcohol rehab will explain the benefits of getting a job, spending time with friends, and finding a hobby you can dedicate your time to.

Stay in Good Health : Believe it or not, other physical issues can drive people to drink. This is why clinics often prescribe courses that include exercise. People who are tired, hungry, or lonely are more likely to drink than those who are in good health. You need to take care of yourself if you are going to have the mental strength needed to beat this alcohol addiction.

Slipping Away : So you have relapsed and you had a drink of beer? You are rightly feeling angry with yourself, but this does not have to become full-blown abuse again. Get back on the horse and pretend that it never happened. This is not a situation where you have to be an addict or completely sober. Even the strongest people have relapsed before. Be honest with yourself about what happened, talk to a professional about it, and come back to your relapse prevention training.

Talk about your Emotions : Your emotions are not something to be locked away. Not talking about yourself can lead you back into the arms of addiction. This is one of the reasons why people start to drink heavily in the first place. Develop open communication lines with your family members and friends. Always make sure you have someone to talk to.

Think About Using Avoidance Strategies : Try to avoid triggers in the real world. Alcohol is particularly difficult to deal with because it is targeted at us on TV, on billboards, and in magazines. It can be as simple as changing the channel when an advert comes on or changing your commute so you do not pass the local bar. Little things like this are great for avoiding temptation. You are not avoiding your problems by doing this. You are doing the right thing by dealing with potential trigger points. Smart people will not go looking for trouble by exposing themselves to temptation. They will look at where temptation is and turn the other way. Doing this gives you the best chance of success.

Self Detoxing for People Who Abuse Alcohol

Someone who abuses alcohol is putting both their physical and emotional at health. Unfortunately, we cannot all afford to get into rehab. If you are using one of the NHS alcohol rehab clinics, the chances are you are going to be put on a waiting list. This does not mean you have to keep drinking until you get the help you need. On the contrary, you should start working towards your recovery right now. Here are some useful pieces of information for people who want to start self-detoxing immediately.


Taper or Cold Turkey? : You can quit completely and attempt to cut alcohol from your life from the beginning or start with tapering. If you have been addicted to alcohol for years, cold turkey is dangerous and can cause more damage. In some cases, it can even kill you. Instead, you should opt for the tapering option. Once you have decided what you want to do, write your goals down clearly. Be honest about what you want to accomplish and put your written goal in a place where you can easily see it, such as on the fridge.

Make it a Priority : Detoxing for anyone is painful. Clear your schedule of any major responsibilities so you do not distract yourself from this process. It is going to need your full and proper attention. This is why drug rehab clinics demand patients focus everything on their recovery. Part of the success is in completely withdrawing patients from the real world first to accommodate a successful recovery programme.

Look for a Mentor : By mentor, we mean someone who will support you emotionally when things go wrong. Forgive us for being pessimistic, but it is a universal fact that something will go wrong at some point. You will hit a wall where you are tempted to go back to your old ways. A mentor does not have to be a professional. It needs to be someone who is willing to dedicate the time to listen to you. A close friend or family should be enough. Make sure they are willing to do this. If you cannot find someone, avoid the self-detox and go the professional route instead.

Obey Your Body : Your body knows best and you are likely to experience feelings you have not experienced fully in years. Listen to it and obey. If you are hungry, eat. If you are feeling angry or lonely, confront these feelings. You have been burying them in the past, and now is the time to confront them. In most cases, talking about them will be enough. The only want you need to ignore is the addiction want.

A Trick to Dealing with Pain : As we already mentioned, you will experience pain. Rehab centres have a range of ways to deal with pain, but the chances are you do not have access to them in the home. A smart trick for dealing with the pain is to take a hot shower. The water on your back is remarkably effective at masking it. It also keeps you busy, which is another reason to distract yourself from drink using it.

5 Alcohol Rehab Tips for Success

Alcohol rehab is never an easy proposition. It involves breaking down barriers that have been built up over the course of many years. The chances are you have looked at alcohol and drug rehab clinics in the past. Whilst you will always get the help of qualified professionals at these locations, you still have to play your part in your rehabilitation. In this article, we are going to provide you with five useful tips for success in rehab clinics. Read on to find out more!


1.Set Little Goals : If your goal is to wake up one morning and stay sober, this is never going to happen. You will only overwhelm yourself with the enormity of the task. No, you have to set yourself smaller goals and accomplish them over an extended period. These little goals could simply involve not visiting the local shop that day, or purposely staying away from the alcohol section. Little things like this can lead to big changes throughout your life.

2.Consolidate Your Support Network : Few alcoholics have ever managed to beat their addictions without outside help. There is nothing wrong with this. It is not a sign of weakness and it is not a burden on others. They are there to help you. They want to see you come out of your addiction as a new person. Your support network should be a circle of friends and family members, along with professionals who have experience in beating addictions. Always make sure you have someone available to see both in-person and over the phone.

3.Find a Source of Inspiration : Inspire yourself and change your mind-set by finding some source of inspiration. This could be a picture of someone you look up to or something from your childhood. It is designed as an anchor point. Anchor yourself to a place where drugs and alcohol do not exist. It is about knowing where you are going during your darkest moments. A source of inspiration will always help you to combat negative thoughts.

4.You Don't Want It : Get used to the idea that you will not succeed all the time. Sometimes you will relapse emotionally. You will want to go back to your old ways again. Alcohol rehab clinics deal with this all the time. They may be relapses, but these relapses are also an emotional relapse. You will not always pick up the bottle again, but you will start to question whether this is right for you. Prepare for it now to increase your chances of success.

5.Rehab isn't the End : Do not make the mistake of seeing rehabilitation as the end of the process. Alcoholism is a lifelong struggle that you will always have to deal with. There will always be the risk of you relapsing again. Moreover, this is not something to be afraid about. Make sure you get local referrals to support groups that can step in when you need it. You can get a list of these from your GP. Even if you do not need them, the knowledge that they are there if you run into trouble is an extremely powerful recovery technique.