Congratulations, you just graduated an inpatient rehab center! The past 30+ days have probably been an interesting time for you. You started off in a detox center, your body was screaming wondering what happened and why it was feeling that way. Once detox was completed you were put into a program with a bunch of strangers. You were lost, you ended up there because you were hopeless. The life you were living was unmanageable, it was crazy and out of control; so you decide to take action. Throughout your addiction out probably hurt a lot of people, including yourself. You may have used drugs or alcohol to self-medicate the pain away. Hopefully, you used your time wisely and got some stuff of your chest, you took suggestions and you learned about addiction. Now you’re out, you are back in the real world. You no longer have a strict daily schedule to follow, you are in your own hands. So what should you do during your first week out of rehab?
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Get Involved in a Support Group
Find a support group you like, hopefully, you were given some direction for that while in rehab. Having a good support group is the foundation to a strong recovery. Find yourself a good support group, the most popular are A.A, N.A, S.M.A.R.T Recovery and Celebrate Recovery. These are all recovery groups that will allow you to meet others in recovery. Get yourself involved, it will help give balance and structure to your life.
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Help Others in Active Addiction
Even if you are just one day out of treatment chances are you know more about addiction/alcoholism than someone who is in active addiction. You need to go out and help those who are still in the middle of their addiction. Lend a helping hand and help show them the way, you may not know everything about recovery but you know more than that person who is struggling.
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Create a Daily Routine
Having a structure to your day is a good thing. Downtime can be nice and relaxing is great but too much down time is a bad thing. A bored mind can be a dangerous thing in early recovery, by giving yourself a routine or at least a small checklist of the goal to accomplish it will help the day move faster and keep you occupied.
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Start Working on a Healthy Lifestyle
You don’t have to try and become the next Arnold Schwarzenegger but getting your body healthy is going to help you out a lot when it comes to achieving long-term recovery. A decent diet and some daily exercises can help reduce stress, improve mood and help with sleep. It will add some structure to your day and will also help improve your self-image.
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Meet Other People in Recovery
Go out to a recovery group and meet some people. Go grab some coffee, talk about life, talk about your story, listen to their story; build friendships. Having a sober support group is very important throughout recovery.
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Job Hunting
While some of you may have jobs go back to a lot of you won’t. Whether you never had a job or were fired due to your addiction/alcoholism, you should start looking for a job from day one. Having a job will help give direction and purpose to your day. It will keep you from being bored, getting inside your head, becoming complacent and sleeping in too late.
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Volunteer Somewhere
Chances are when you were in active addiction/alcoholism you weren’t the ideal citizen, don’t feel bad we have all done a thing we regret. Now you have the opportunity to give back. Go to a local soup kitchen, help out at a food drive, donate something, clean up a park or whatever. Just do something for someone besides yourself, it is time to give back.
Is You or a Loved One Struggling?
If you or a loved one are struggling with drug addiction or alcoholism then their best chance at long term sobriety would be to enter a treatment facility. At First Steps Recovery, we never give up on residents. If you feel you are at risk of recurrent relapsing, contact us today so we can help you create a diversion plan that will fortify your recovery and help you to sustain your sobriety long-term.Please call us today if you or a loved one are struggling, 1-844-BIG-STEP (1-844-489-0836).
