Your Holiday Sobriety Survival Guide

The holidays are always a time to celebrate. From office parties to family get-togethers, this time of the year is often filled to the brim with laugher, fun, and a fair amount of stress. Though it can be tempting to indulge in a little “fun”, it’s important to keep in mind your goals and happiness when attempting to maintain a happy and sober lifestyle during the holiday season. In this entry, we will discuss some tips to tricks to help you through.

1 – Consider hosting your own party for friends and family members. If the temptation of social drinking poses an issue, this can be a wonderful way to control the situation. Spend the money that would otherwise go towards alcoholic beverages on fancier food items, decorations, and entertainment. Not only will you likely save a good deal of cash, but avoid the mess associated with a large-scale alcohol-based get-together. And heck… you’ll probably end up creating some new and magical memories you may have forgotten otherwise!

2 – If you do decide to attend a holiday party, volunteer yourself to act as a designated driver. The more people you have counting on you to get them home safely, the more likely you will be to remain responsible.

3 – Remind yourself of how much better you will feel after the party if you avoid alcohol. When you are tempted to indulge in a drink, try remembering how far you’ve come with your sobriety, and how sick you have felt after previous binges. Making a point to recall these instances may be enough to trick yourself into foregoing the bottle.

4 – Ask your family and friends for their support. Utilizing a buddy system can help keep you on track in case your commitment to sobriety begins to wane. Explain your desire to remain sober, and ask them to help you when temptation is lurking.

5 – Never go out on an empty stomach. If you are attending a holiday function, it’s a good idea to head out with a full belly. The more food you have in your system when you arrive, the less you will be tempted to indulge. A healthy dose of protein will be enough to fill your belly, while providing you with energy to socialize during the event.

6 – Implement your New Years resolution early. Most of us make resolutions to better ourselves following the holiday havoc, without regard to the damage we are doing along the way. Remember that New Years is just another day. By making an early commitment to yourself to maintain sobriety throughout November and December, you will be more likely to abide.

Need Help?

If you or someone you know is having difficulty maintaining their sobriety, our Above It All drug rehab counselors are available to help! Give us a call today, and let us help you back on track towards the merry, happy, and healthy holiday season you deserve.

The Alcoholic Double Life

“More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor. To the outer world he presents his stage character. This is the one he likes his fellows to see. He wants to enjoy a certain reputation, but knows in his heart he doesn’t deserve it. The inconsistency is made worse by the things he does on his sprees. Coming to his sense, he is revolted at certain episodes he vaguely remembers. These memories are a nightmare. He trembles to think someone might have observed him. As far as he can, he pushes these memories far inside himself. He hopes they will never see the light of day. He is under constant fear and tension.”-pg. 73 Into Action from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

As alcoholics we are very good at living a double life. While we might be dying on the inside, and spiritually bankrupt it doesn’t matter as long as everyone around us thinks we are doing well, and have it together. This doesn’t always change after receiving alcohol addiction help especially in the beginning. It’s as if we have an alter ego. It stops us from letting people in. Its that part in us which drives us to gain acceptance and be the favorite and before we know it we are constantly striving for perfection and always coming up short. Weather its wanting to be the favorite student, partner, child, or friend it becomes our mission to show everyone how “okay” we are when we know we are dying on the inside. It plays out in many ways. We end up compartmentalizing our relationships and often times feel overwhelmed when we can’t keep it together and we start coming unglued. This pressure that we continuously put on ourselves to be a chameleon and do things perfectly is torturous. When we get into a 30 day rehab program, AA, or drug addiction detox we can begin to work on this issue and finally experience freedom from the bondage of self. We know longer have to be a slave to our ideas of what our life as well as personal relationships should look like. As it says in the big book “we will begin to know a new freedom and a new happiness, we will comprehend the word serenity, and we will know peace.”

Fighting Depression Following Addiction

Combating depression on its own can be a difficult obstacle to overcome. Fighting depression following an addiction to drugs or alcohol can be 10x worse. A small part of you will want to pick up where you left off; another will disagree. In some ways, it’s safe to say that depression works on the human brain in similar fashion to drug use… it’s time consuming and negative. If you’re up for the good fight, you will require assistance along the way. Reading this entry is the first step.

1 – Educate yourself. Though reading this article is a wonderful step forward, the act – in and of itself – will not cure your depression. Throw yourself into the fight by learning as much as you possibly can about it. Find out how other addicts have dealt with their depression, and chose combative techniques that best suit your individual needs and situation.

2 – Know that turning to drugs will only serve in feeding the depression. Though you may experience a few moments of euphoria, the escape will be short-lived, and draining. Finding ways to address your depression without the aid of drugs or alcohol is key to ensuring a happy life to come.3 – Need help? Ask for it! While medications and pills can help combat the pain of depression, they only address a small part of the big picture. Set goals, stay positive, and communicate your worries with a trained LA drug rehab counselor. Seek support from close family and friends who hold a vested interest in your sobriety. Drug addiction is very common in our society, as is depression. Finding help to address these issues is only as difficult as you choose to make it.

4 – Expand your social life! It can be easy for recovering addicts to avoid social interaction due to fears of relapse and anxieties. If you find yourself feeling nervous in social situations, just remember that you have the ability to leave when you like. Take things one step at a time, and push yourself to encounter new people and situations. In time, you’ll find yourself happier, more involved, and eager for fun!

5 – Always remember what brought you to this point. Some people will always maintain a desire for alcohol and drugs following recovery. Accept this, and move forward with a goal to maintain sobriety while staying active. Depression cannot be hidden or outrun… it must be dealt with head-on; as with addiction. When the going gets tough, just remember to take a good deep breath, and remember that for every low point, there is an equally drastic high point waiting around the corning.

Sobriety and Working With Others

“Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as much as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill…perhaps you are not acquainted with any drinkers who want to recover. You can easily find some by asking a few doctors, ministers, priests or hospitals, they will be only too glad to assist you .Don’t start out as an evangelist or reformer. Unfortunately a lot of prejudice exists. You will be handicapped if you arouse it. Ministers and doctors are competent and you can learn much from them, if you wish, but it happens that because of your own drinking experience you can be uniquely useful to other alcoholics. So cooperate, never criticize. To be helpful is our only aim.”-pg. 89 Working With Others from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

As alcoholics we have the amazing opportunity to be of service to other alcoholics that are seeking out alcohol addiction help. Since we have been through the same struggles and came out the other side we are more able then most people to be of maximum service. It is important that we don’t preach but rather lead by example. Weather we are being of service at a drug addiction detox, meeting, 30 day rehab program, hospitals, institutions, or one on one our best bet when it comes to reaching a fellow alcoholic is by listening and sharing your experience, strength and hope. This way of life is based on attraction rather than promotion. We need not sell sobriety to others. If someone wants to get sober nothing we say can stop them from trying or make them want it more. Our only responsibility is to be there when someone reaches out for help and needs us to show them the way.

Finding the Fun in Sobriety

“We have shown you how we have gotten out from under. “Yes, I’m willing. But am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring, and glum, like some righteous people I see? I know I must get along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient substitute? Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a fellowship in alcoholics anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom, and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, and so will you. “How is that to come about?” you ask. “Where am I to find these people?” you are going to meet these new friends in your own community. Near you, alcoholics are dying helplessly like people in a sinking ship.-pg. 152 A Vision for You from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

Many people that have just received alcohol addiction help or have a desire to get sober have the same concerns such as becoming boring, miserable, and unsuccessful at life. It can be hard for many of us to believe that there is a life of joy, happiness, and freedom just around the corner. It is also hard to see how we could possibly get the life back that we destroyed, and have fun again. If we are in a 30 day rehab program, AA or a drug addiction detox we may feel stuck. We may think to ourselves that this is as good as it gets. It’s not. As alcoholics we knew how to party, often times we were the life of the party, and that definitely doesn’t change in sobriety. We get to have a blast and there is something for everyone. If we just work for it we can find the joy and happiness we have been longing for.

Getting Sober and the Family

“If not irritable, he may seem dull and boring, not gay and affectionate as the family would like him to be. Mother may complain of inattention. They are all disappointed, and often let him feel it. Beginning with such complaints, a barrier arises. He is straining every nerve to make up for lost time. He is striving to recover fortune and reputation and feels he is doing very well. Sometimes mother and children don’t think so .having been neglected and misused in the past, they want him to make a fuss over them. They expect him to give them the nice times they used to have before he drank so much, and show his contrition for what they suffered. But dad doesn’t give freely of himself. Resentment grows. He becomes still less communicative. Sometimes he explodes over a trifle. The family is mystified. They criticize, pointing out how he is falling down on his spiritual program.” Pg. 126 The Family Afterward, from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

Most of us have had experiences where our family thinks our sobriety should look a certain way. Sometimes they want to tell us what we need to do whether it is go to a 30 day rehab program to get help, spend more time with the family, go to a drug addiction detox, go to more meetings, or go to fewer meetings so we can be home more etc. This can become annoying at times but what we have to realize is they are very much going through what we are in the sense that for years our using life was the only one they knew. Even though it was awful at least it had become familiar and now that we are sober it’s all new to us and to them. Change can be scary not only to us but also to family. They know just about as much as we do as far as what things are going to look like after receiving alcohol addiction help is concerned. The only thing we can do is be an example, stay sober, and show up for our family.

Getting Sober and Rediscovering Life

“You will be bound to them with new and wonderful ties, for you will escape disaster together and will commence shoulder to shoulder your common journey. Then you will know what it means to give of yourself that others may survive and rediscover life. You will learn the full meaning of “love thy neighbor as thyself. “It may seem incredible that these men are to become happy, respected, and useful once more. How can they rise out of such misery, bad repute and hopelessness? The practical answer is that since these things have happened among us, they can happen with you. Should you wish them above all else, and be willing to make use of our experience, we are sure they will come. The age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that!”- Pg.-153 A Vision For You from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

There is nothing that compares to the feeling that comes with seeing someone that has asked for alcohol addiction help finally “get it”, watch the fog clear, and the light come on. It is amazing to know what an incredible life in sobriety that  that person has to look forward to and that you get to share that with them to see someone struggle or experience those feelings of helplessness that can come up at times in early sobriety and walk through things like going through a drug addiction detox, AA meetings, 30 day rehab program, or other new experiences and still stay sober is rewarding beyond words. As it says in the big book “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.” It is imperative that we continue passing on the solution that was so freely given to us because if we stop then not only would we miss out on this amazing opportunity but the fellowship would suffer greatly as well.

Getting Sober and Repairing the Family

“We alcoholics are sensitive people. At the beginning of recovery a man will take, as a rule, one of two directions. He may either plunge into a frantic attempt to get on his feet in business, or he may be so enthralled by his new life that he talks or thinks of little else….since the home has suffered more than anything else, it is well that a man exert himself there. He is not likely to get far in any direction if he fails to show unselfishness and love under his own roof. We know there are difficult wives and families, but the man who is getting over alcoholism must remember he did much to make them so.” – Pg.125-127 in The Family Afterward from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

When we first receive alcohol addiction help and get sober we are usually so filled with relief and joy. Many of us are on what is referred to as a “pink cloud”. This is where everything just seems so great and amazing. It’s as if we had been dead inside for so long and were just reborn. Often times when we are in this state many of us want to experience everything, just enjoy it, and have fun which is okay as long as we are doing the work as well as repairing our relationships with others especially family. When the big book talks about how our home has suffered more than anything else it is referring to the damage we caused in our families lives .For most of us our loved ones were the ones that were there and witnessed us at our worst. While it may take a while the chances of familial reparation is high and likely for most of us. It is one of the gifts of sobriety .perhaps not at first but in time they will be able to see the dedication to sobriety and will most likely be thrilled, and supportive. With that being said If  we fail to mend our relationship with them and put time and effort into those relationships they will most likely continue to be resentful since not only were they losing their loved ones to this disease but they will probably go on to feel like they also lost them to recovery as well.Therefore its imperative that we do what we need to do to get sober, Go to a drug addiction detox, AA, or 30 day rehab program, and then do the best we can to be a better daughter,son,mother,father,and sibling .We owe it to them and to ourselves.

Powerlessness and Alcohol Addiction Help

“If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all of our might, but the needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. Lack of power that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a power greater than ourselves. obviously. But where and how were we to find this power? Well, that’s exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.” – Pg.44 We Agnostics from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

We have tried many times to get sober on will power alone only to fail over and over again. It is not until we are beaten down and surrender that we can then be truly open to receiving alcohol addiction help. If we want to recover we learn that we must rely upon a power greater than ourselves in order to be freed from our seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. We found that if we wanted it bad enough the tools along with our own concept of a higher power could be found through the help of 30 day rehab programs, AA, drug addiction detox, as well as other programs. It is through the continuous use of these tools as well as a conscious contact with our higher power that we can go on to live an amazingly happy, joyous, and free life.

Happiness and Continuously Working the Steps

“The less people tolerated us, the more we withdrew from society from life itself. As we became subjects of king alcohol, shivering denizens of his mad realm, the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down. It thickened, ever becoming blacker. Some of us sought out sordid places, hoping to find understanding, companionship, and approval momentarily we did then would come oblivion and the awful awakening to face the hideous four horsemen terror, bewilderment, frustration, despair. Unhappy drinkers who read this page will understand! Now and then a serious drinker, being dry at the moment says, ”I don’t miss it at all. Feel better. Work better. Having a better time.” As ex-problem drinkers we smile at such a sally. We know our friend is like a boy whistling in the dark to keep up his spirits. He fools himself. Inwardly he would give anything to take half a dozen drinks and get away with them. He will presently try the old games again, for he isn’t happy about his sobriety.” – Pg.152 from a vision for you from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

It is imperative that we continuously work the steps. For us alcoholics becoming complacent with step work will mean that we will end up like the boy whistling in the dark. No matter how hard we try when we are dry and not working a program we are unable to keep up our spirits. We become restless irritable and discontent and there is little hope unless we turn it over and do the work. It’s one thing to seek out alcohol addiction help. It’s another to go the extra mile and actually apply the principles to our lives. Weather we go to a 30 day rehab, AA, or drug addiction detox we must continue working on ourselves or we will surely drink. These places are not a cure all, or a quick fix. Sobriety is something that a) we must participate in and b) we must continuously work on in order to continue growing. If we keep at this we can go on to live a happy and healthy life.