Rehabilitation is the journey of recovery from addiction, and it can be a long process. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the thoughts, worries, and anxieties that come along with rehabilitation. This can make it especially difficult to determine if progress is being made. However, your growth is far more exponential than you may realize. This blog post will define how you know rehabilitation is working and what progress looks like in addiction recovery.
Rehabilitation Is Working When You Are Prioritizing Your Well-Being
When starting your new lifestyle, a sign of growth is that you are placing a high priority on your health and well-being. Your mental well-being starts with your environment. Life feels much better when you’ve committed to daily tasks like cooking and cleaning. This will give you the consistency and comfort needed to keep a sustainable lifestyle. These priorities are frequently lost when you are battling addiction.
The next thing to keep in mind when choosing healthy habits is how you groom yourself, feed yourself, and commit to exercise. In terms of grooming, you may want to consistently take 30 minutes out of your day to focus on showering and your appearance. The better you look, the better you feel. Next, you must always ensure you are having a balanced diet as this can directly affect your health and mood. Lastly, be sure you are getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, either walking or some other activity. It may be difficult to maintain that routine at the start, but your body will start to look forward to the movement over time. When you’re doing these things regularly, you’ll know your rehabilitation is working.
Rehabilitation Is Working When You Have Created a Routine
When beginning recovery, you might discover a sense of normalcy in your day-to-day existence by establishing daily routines. You can better plan and get ready for the future when your life has some order. According to the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, it takes 66 days to form a new habit. It starts with small consistencies every day. They build daily until they are integrated into your daily routines.
This is also true for sleep. Early on in recovery, having a nightly ritual might be extremely beneficial. You could avoid using screens before night, practice mindfulness meditations to fall asleep, and pause to acknowledge everything you have achieved. Whatever you decide, make sure to stick with it, and your sleep may quickly start to improve. If you notice you’re already doing these things, it’s a sign your recovery is becoming well-established.
Rehabilitation Is Working When You Have Fewer Negative Thoughts About Yourself
According to Addiction & Health, when recovering from addiction, it is essential to increase your self-esteem to decrease your tendency toward addiction. When struggling with addiction, it can be easy to fall into self-hatred and a cycle of negative self-talk. This is often intensified by continuous substance use.
Those thoughts can be carried into recovery. You have accomplished so much to get to recovery and are more than deserving of loving yourself. A good indication of progress in recovery is when you can self-reflect on areas you are proud of about yourself. This can be possible by journaling certain milestones or accomplishments, both big and small. It is important to give your brain evidence of your accomplishments, which reinforces motivation.
Rehabilitation Is Working When You Are Taking Responsibility for Relationships
One sign of positive trends in your life is that you can plan out any required follow-up appointments and show up on time. Another sign of progress is that you communicate honestly and openly with your healthcare providers. Additionally, it’s a good sign when you can own up to your errors and correct them politely.
Another change begins when you are aware that the disease of addiction deprives you of many pleasures in life. Perhaps one of the most painful consequences is the breakdown of relationships with close people. It can take time and effort to restore these relationships. The effort made to restore relationships is a good indication that you are making an effort to ensure the success of your recovery.
Rehabilitation Is Working When You Are Working Through the Past
When you struggle with addiction, you may also be processing past traumas and learning to control your rage. There may be several memories that are tied to your addiction. These memories may be triggers to your use of substances. When you are in recovery and begin to work through your old memories, you become free from the grip that those triggers had on your life. This will consistently improve as long as you are patient with yourself.
Celebrate Little Successes in Rehabilitation
The recovery process is a long and winding road and the milestones that come along the way should be celebrated. It is important to give yourself credit for the hard work you have put in and the progress you have made. Celebrating these milestones can be as small as buying yourself a treat or taking time to relax and reward yourself for doing something positive. The fact that you are driven to approach healing from all perspectives is a great indication that you are making progress.
At First Steps Recovery, we recognize that progress is difficult to make but incredibly rewarding. We want to help support our clients on their recovery journey and provide them with any assistance they need to celebrate their milestones. Celebrating milestones helps to keep you motivated and encourages you to stay focused on your recovery journey. We want you to break free from addiction and find freedom in sobriety.
Addiction recovery is a step-by-step process that requires consistency. It is not about moving mountains; it is about making the choice to keep moving each day. Your commitment will build until your sobriety becomes a lifestyle. While you may not recognize it immediately, you will realize your progress when you look back and see how far you’ve come. At First Steps Recovery, we know how important it is to maintain motivation for a full recovery. We are prepared to support you in this journey and be there when you need help avoiding relapse. If you are struggling with addiction or want to make the decision to seek recovery, please call First Steps Recovery at (844) 489-0836.
