One of the most troublesome questions, not just for patients but for their well-wishers as well, is that of coping with the early days of sobriety. Patients newly out of rehab and detox and their family remain anxious on how to deal with the stresses of life avoiding relapses or worse outcomes. Here, we will addressing the same question.
Experts on rehabilitation and detox treatments speak up for managing expectations to better deal with life after treatment. Especially the early days of sobriety are challenging as people often have unrealistic and rigid expectations. These expectations can be from the patient himself, family members, partners or life in general. Metaphorically, expectations should pave a runway for the patient to slowly get into the normal life instead of just thinking of getting out of treatment and getting to live a life free from addiction or cravings.
Don’t Set Unrealistic Goals
Statistically, people who relapse are those that had set up unrealistic goals and expectations from life and then found it unbearable to see that the truth is different altogether. When patients get out of treatment they may expect others to behave differently to them or things to happen that would not happen usually. Patients might expect better behavior from their spouses or a happy atmosphere all around. This might cause frustration when things don’t go according to plan, causing stress and then outcomes such as relapse.
However, one thing people in general miss is that addiction is just one problem itself. It may not be that an opiate or alcohol addiction was not the only problem in a person’s life but sort of a cascading event that caused multiple other issues like financial troubles, emotional stress to family members, public embarrassments etc.
If patients expect all problems to disappear just because they are no longer addicted, they face a conflicted reality, pushing them further into confusion and frustration. Expert advice on communication with professionals as well as your loved ones, what they want and what you have to offer as a sober responsible person.
Get Professional Help
Professionals term coping mechanisms inferior to setting realistic goals and expectations as to how a patient’s life will be after treatment. Many cases provide positive feedback where patients report a change of behavior of their children, spouses and their peers towards them as a sober person in charge of their life. However, in some cases, patients find it hard to cope with all the stresses of their life without their addiction and think that the efforts they are putting in are sufficient and they deserve better. You have to be honest with yourself and to your loved ones and everything will be all right in time.