Is silly to be afraid of being sober just live it and enjoy it. Another common fear in recovery is rejection from friends and family. You may think that your loved ones will think less of you or not want to be around you.

You may no longer be in some people’s lives because of your actions. You may feel as though you don’t belong in a place of employment because you screwed up so badly. We provide you with the resources and support you need for a successful recovery that helps you now and throughout your entire life. 💙 Start this simple 30-day program on Mindfulness for Beginners to build this supportive habit into your daily life.

All the people you share experiences with at AA meetings or a Solana Beach sober living home are there to process fears. This could include friends who understand your journey, family members who encourage your choices, or support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous or SMART Recovery. Addicts will have to face their relationships with people again, with their families, friends, and co-workers.

Besides, once you get to the point where you can attend boozy social functions sober, you’ll see that many people think they’re being charming when in reality, they’re kind of a mess. If you allow yourself to fall down emotional rabbit holes early in sobriety, you increase your chances of relapse. Learning to navigate all your emotions in early sobriety is hard. Both Kushner and Umhau share the importance of exercise and a nutritious diet. “The importance of restoring a healthy brain through an optimal diet is often overlooked, and eating seafood rich in omega-3 fat may be especially helpful,” shares Dr. Umhau.

For example, your friends can say they support your sober living journey and avoid offering substances to you. However, if they’re still opening and actively consuming substances in your presence, you may still need to separate yourself. They don’t have to be direct triggers, like someone offering you the substance. However, you may not realize that the more you drink, the more stressful things become.

Practice mindfulness and relaxation techniques to manage stress

1. The unknown always causes anxiety because you don’t know what challenges you might face.
2. One way to deal with this anxiety is to treat it like excitement, which, physiologically, is nearly identical.
3. A therapist specializing in addiction recovery can offer personalized advice and coping strategies.
4. Addiction can be a way to avoid the things we don’t want to deal with.
5. Additionally, there are many different sober support groups that you can join.

“These are safe, non-addicting medications that have been proven to help people reduce the craving for alcohol, stay sober and are especially helpful,” he shared. If you’re newly sober and you need help with avoiding relapse, call on the compassionate team at Casa Pacifica. Our services include sober companionship, coaching, and mentorship for those who are recovering from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. For more information about our sober living facilities, call us today.

Remember your reasons

Spending mental energy on things you cannot possibly know is useless. Or maybe, on some level, you don’t believe you’re worthy of success. If you’ve done some major damage in your past, you might feel like you don’t deserve to be happy and healthy. Post-detox, you may have a wide range of emotions flooding your mind. You’re likely also to start feeling the stress build, perhaps the same stress that leads you down the fear of being sober path to using. Even after being in recovery for a while, you may not be delighted with the changes you have made.4 In fact you may realize you don’t like being sober.

Broken and Bleeding: Emotional Trauma and Substance Use Disorder

In the case of alcohol use disorder (AUD), you would have to get drunk a few times before nifaliophobia sets in, but only if severe AUD develops. We can call it an irrational fear if you become overwhelmed by anxiety about the prospect of not being inebriated. This can certainly happen at the neurochemical and physiological levels, but then it wouldn’t be a phobia. A therapist who specializes in addiction and recovery can offer invaluable support. This might include providing strategies to manage fears related to sobriety and sensitively addressing underlying issues.

There’s the chance that they might not make it through it, they could fail, and then there’s the pressure to succeed. There’s a fear of a nifaliophobia life without the ability to ever drink or take drugs again. Staying sober means staying clean, and that alone can be a scary thought for many addicts and alcoholics. There are various strategies to assuage fears during the journey to recovery. Invariably, you should address concerns that require practical solutions first.

It also shares a connection with other types of anxiety disorders, such as social phobia. Nomophobia, or “NO MObile PHone PhoBIA” is when a person experiences fear or anxiety about not having mobile phone connectivity. It can lead to agitation, changes in breathing, and other symptoms.