Seven Common Fears in Recovery and Why Sobriety Is Still Worth It Promises Behavioral Health

For example, why are some people afraid of scary movies or roller coasters? In the mind, there is a negative, high-risk situation here. Scary movies often involve gore and death – both topics most people fear.

fear of being sober

On my very worst day in recovery, I still feel a million times better than I ever did when I was drinking. I thought that when I put down the beer or the whiskey, my life would be over. I would be boring, and everyone would think I was crazy. But when I threw away that last bottle, that is when my life really began.

Meaning of sober in English

Getting sober means replacing your primary coping mechanism – drugs and alcohol – with new, unfamiliar ones. The process can be uncomfortable, particularly for someone who is afraid of feeling in general. Staying stuck in this fear generally means staying stuck in addiction. Fear of what life will be like when all the mind-altering substances and parties stop is a common reason people don’t want to get clean. Getting sober also means that you have to admit that you have a problem with drugs or alcohol, which can be scary for some people to do on its own.

Another common fear in sobriety is that you’ll wind up alone because no one will want to hang out with you. We are biologically wired for companionship, so this is a very real and instinctual fear to have. There are plenty of things people do that do not involve or center around alcohol. You might be a little bored at first, but with time, you’ll discover new and more fulfilling things to do with your time. In my mind, sobriety meant Friday nights alone on my couch, watching Netflix and hiding from the rest of the world who was definitely out drinking. If you’ve spent the last umpteen years being THAT girl or guy, partying hard, struggling through the days hungover, and doing it all again – sobriety means an entirely new identity.

Why Am I Scared of Being Sober?

For years, I worried about the impact of sobriety on my social life. I honestly did not know what people did for fun without being slightly or very drunk. If all of your friends abuse alcohol and/or your spouse abuses alcohol, it makes a lot of sense to fear what will happen next. I don’t think it’s change that you’re so afraid of. If you didn’t want to change, you wouldn’t bother to get sober.

It’s the whole, “You mean I can never drink ever again?! ” Let your brain marinate on words like forever, and you’ll set yourself right up for failure. First, it is normal to be afraid when you first get sober. However, if you don’t learn to manage those fears and put them into perspective, they will drive you right back to the bottle.

Relational fears

It will be much better, and it won’t even be close. If you don’t buy drugs or alcohol, the money you save can quickly add up to pay for a trip or put down money on a house! A greater emphasis on family support is one solution the demonstrators agreed is necessary. Rodriguez described her mother’s struggles with drugs as a problem, but one that didn’t cause as much harm as DCF’s response.

Over the past 30 years, it was not some hocus pocus, and then suddenly I held no desire to want to stop using. It was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, along with the desire to want something different in my life. The thing is that, for me to be able to live a new life in recovery, I was going to have to change everything about what I had been doing during my years of active addiction. Your recovery has the potential to help you be a better friend, partner, sister or brother, professional, volunteer, and more. As long as you allow yourself to take the necessary steps forward, you can take this growing opportunity and newly found free-time to improve your life in all areas. You may find that to grow, you have to take inventory and release unhealthy habits from your past.

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When you stop using drugs or alcohol, you will experience a range of withdrawal symptoms. This can include physical withdrawal symptoms (e.g. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ aches and pains) and psychological withdrawals (e.g. strong cravings). Many addicts worry that withdrawals will be too painful to cope with.

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