Self-care is a phrase most people associate with relaxation or self-indulgence – taking a vacation, scheduling a professional massage session or treating themselves to a lavish meal at an upscale restaurant. While those activities can be beneficial, the other side of the coin is that self-care isn’t always comfortable or easy.
This Self-Care Awareness Month, reconsider what it means to put your needs first. Sometimes, that involves honestly assessing your circumstances and admitting that you are struggling. If drugs or alcohol detract from your health and quality of life, asking for professional help may be one of the most valuable forms of self-care you can practice.
Self-Care Isn’t Always About Feeling Good
Even if your choices are healthy, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll provide automatic relief. For example, therapy sessions can bring uncomfortable emotions to the surface, and setting boundaries with your friends and family may disappoint them. Entering a residential addiction treatment program will require you to step away from familiar routines and acknowledge problems you’ve spent years sweeping under the rug.
In these situations, self-care means prioritizing your long-term well-being over what feels easiest today. Substance use can complicate this distinction because drugs and alcohol often provide temporary relief. You might drink to unwind after a stressful day, take medication to escape emotional or physical pain or use prescription benzodiazepines to help you sleep. However, a worsening dependency will eventually create additional problems.
Addiction Can Make It Harder to Care for Yourself
As substance use starts taking on an outsized role in your daily life, other needs may eventually fall by the wayside. Your sleep schedule, nutritional balance, hobbies, work ethics and relationships will suffer as a result.
You do not have to consciously decide that your health no longer matters. Addiction can slowly rearrange your priorities until obtaining, using and recovering from substances takes up an increasing amount of your time and energy.
Physical health problems may also go unnoticed, especially if you typically dismiss symptoms such as fatigue, digestive problems, sleep disturbances or unpredictable mood swings. Self-care often begins with recognizing that you deserve to take these changes seriously.
You Don’t Have to Wait for Rock Bottom
One of the most persistent misconceptions about addiction is that you need to lose everything to “deserve” treatment. Many people maintain successful careers, loving relationships and display other outward signs of stability even while other parts of their lives are going awry.
As you progress from tolerance to dependence, you may experience withdrawal symptoms that make it increasingly challenging for you to cut back on alcohol or drugs. That’s why asking for help at this stage is not an overreaction. It’s an opportunity to preserve the aspects of yourself that addiction hasn’t yet stolen from you.
Letting Other People Help You Is Self-Care
The phrase “self-care” is somewhat misleading because it sounds like something you’re supposed to accomplish entirely on your own. However, accepting help is a crucial component of looking after yourself, especially if you are physically dependent on one or more substances. Since withdrawal can cause serious and potentially life-threatening complications, attempting an at-home detox may expose you to risks you can’t mitigate with rest, hydration or willpower alone.
Choosing medically managed detoxification allows trained professionals to monitor your condition and respond if complications develop. Hemet Valley Recovery Center & Sage Retreat’s hospital-based setting provides 24-hour nursing supervision, regular physician involvement and access to medical resources while you stabilize.
What Self-Care Looks Like in Recovery
In the beginning, your self-care strategies will likely be small and simple – completing detox, eating balanced meals and getting enough sleep. Your priorities will expand as you gain stability. Together, every choice you make will add up to create a lifestyle that supports your long-term well-being.
- Attending therapy and recovery meetings, even when you know that painful topics will come up.
- Calling your sponsor when you experience cravings.
- Learning to manage chronic pain without relying on opioids.
- Declining invitations that could jeopardize your sobriety.
- Developing a stress-response toolbox.
Give Yourself Permission to Get Help
Sometimes, self-care means treating yourself. Other times, it means allowing qualified professionals and people who care about you to intervene. Recognizing that you no longer need to handle addiction alone can be the first step toward building a healthier life.
Let this Self-Care Awareness Month remind you that you don’t have to reach a tipping point to ask for help. Hemet Valley Recovery Center & Sage Retreat provides individualized addiction treatment that considers your medical, psychological and recovery needs. Our continuum of care includes hospital-based detoxification, residential treatment and ongoing services designed to encourage healing beyond the earliest stages of sobriety. If substance use has harmed your physical health, mental well-being or relationships, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for support.