How Do I Manage Loss of Motivation in Recovery?

Something as simple as reading, journaling, meditating, praying, or exercise can give you relief and meaning during your journey to recovery. While motivation has provided you with a reason to end addiction, you must still achieve the https://ecosoberhouse.com/ necessary mental, emotional, and/or spiritual state to relentlessly pursue recovery. Such a counselor can help a client zero in on their “desire, ability, reasons, and need to change” to see clearly why they’re entering recovery.

This can be incredibly encouraging on days when you feel down or think you aren’t progressing. To combat these feelings, try to remove yourself from the triggering situation. If a song is playing, turn the radio off, if you get a text from an old friend with whom you used to use substances, consider blocking the number. Of course, not every trigger can be avoided but coping with your life being different can help you build a new life filled with less painful reminders from the past. Every day we encounter factors that motivate us from the outside (extrinsically). These extrinsic motivators coincide with external motivators because they are outside of ourselves.

Finding Motivation for Change at San Antonio Recovery Center

Another participant pointed out that the resident who developed that meeting received recognition in the household for his efforts, which furthered his commitment to the house as well as his individual recovery. Ways that residents supported one another resulted in a type of substitute family where persons could reside until they were able to begin reestablishing trust with their family. In response to the general question about motivation for maintaining sobriety, focus group participants emphasized many factors based on benefits and costs. For example, implementation of random and targeted urine screening, which could lead to eviction if positive for drug use, was viewed as an important motivator for keeping one’s sobriety. Many individuals enter the SLH with few if any other viable housing options.

• One participant felt that the house manager “hopefully, is almost parentified.
• Therefore, you can define motivation as the driving force behind an action.
• Everyone has different motivators for staying clean and sober.
• Participants also noted that costs related to substance use prior to entering the SLH were important motivators.
• It is exciting to change your life, even if it can seem a bit scary at the time.
• Recovering from addiction is a test of strength of determination, but also surrender.

Several managers noted that financial pressures from families can increase motivation. This was particularly common for young persons who were still financially dependent on their parents. When we presented findings about ways the benefits operated differently for different groups (ie, interactions with 12-step involvement and size of one’s social network), participants mostly responded to the latter issue. The finding about differential effects of benefits for persons with high versus low 12-step involvement drifted into general discussions about how recovery through the 12-step program worked. There were also few reflections about why benefits would be more important for persons with larger social networks. However, there were interesting reflections about the overall finding that smaller social networks had better outcomes than large networks.

Tips for Finding Motivation to Get Sober

Don’t disregard all your previous achievements and beat yourself up for getting off-track. Let’s say the road is five miles long, and you want to reach the end. Along the way, you stumble on rocks or veer off the course to take in some pretty views.

• Creating an individualized plan tailored specifically towards a successful transition into long-term recovery makes an individual much less likely to experience relapse.
• Suddenly, she was surrounded by her peers who stated they were going with her.
• It might be things like skipping meetings or avoiding your sponsor.
• The actions of the peers in the above case to reach out and help the resident who was upset and potentially vulnerable to relapse is an excellent example.
• Chances are you may become one of those people that are grateful for their sobriety because motivation makes things happen.
• Studies on motivation rarely identify peer relationships within service settings as important motivators to sustain recovery over time.

When you lose motivation in recovery, there is a danger of becoming stuck. When you get stuck in your recovery, your life is no longer satisfying, and you are at risk for relapse. But even if you don’t relapse, there is still something called dry drunk syndrome that can wreak havoc with your life and the lives of those around you. When you are a dry drunk, you view your sobriety as a punishment, almost a prison sentence. You’re not happy, and your behaviors can be just as sick as they were when you were using. It can be uncomfortable talking about addiction, but family members must understand what their loved one is going through to offer the best possible support system in recovery.

Reasons to Get Sober

When life gets hard, you will need to stay focused on what you want. You will need to eliminate all the distractions keeping you from your goals. Isolating yourself can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety, doubts and leave you stuck in a perpetual cycle of negative thoughts. motivation for sobriety When you reach out for support from others, you can get advice and outside opinions that you may not have thought of on your own. This can also help connect you with the recovery community to build up your sober support network to help you on difficult days in the future as well.

Therapists can help you work through these thoughts and feelings, so they do not derail you. Fading motivation is common among recovering individuals, which is why therapists are equipped with many tried-and-true ways to help you get motivated again. Building a supportive sober network around yourself is a great way to keep up motivation.

Consider the Costs of Drug Use

This may include supportive friends, family members, therapists, and 12-Step group peers. Various triggers in your life may exhaust you and drain the pool of inner motivation. However, if you talk about them with your therapists, friends, and other 12-Step members, they can release their power over you. When people struggle with substance abuse problems, family members may argue more often, harbor shame or develop an anxiety disorder. Keep an eye out for the signs that you might be vulnerable to a relapse.

You might also read inspirational quotes about self-care and health to feed inner motivation. For many individuals with drug or alcohol problems, motivational factors such as religion can inspire them to change their lives and avoid substance use. A final way that residents were thought to be motivated had to do with leadership of the house manager.

Which 12-Step Program Is Right For Me?

In addition, the ability to recognize the struggles you faced a few months or a few years ago will help you view the progress you’ve achieved in a new light, giving you the inspiration you need to continue pursuing recovery. Hopefully, you’ve been able to begin to rebuild parts of your life that were jeopardized or lost to addiction, as well as build new parts. When you face cravings, temptation, or bleak thoughts, remind yourself of all that you have to lose. You might break trust in relationships that you just started to make progress in, or lose the job that is sustaining you financially.

• Deciding to enter recovery is a complex process driven by a variety of motivating factors.
• Keep an eye out for the signs that you might be vulnerable to a relapse.
• The more open the conversation about addiction is among family members, the more likely individuals will remain successful throughout their journey toward sobriety.

Fellow peers provided a level of understanding and support that to a large degree was viewed as uniquely supportive. Ways that residents reached out to fellow peers in distress were felt to facilitate motivation at individual and household levels. There is a serious need for research on the specific types of peer interactions that best facilitate motivation for different individuals. We also need information about destructive peer interactions that hinder motivation.