We are biologically wired for companionship, so this is a very real and instinctual fear to have. 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. It sounds like a weird thing to be afraid of, but it’s very real. Don’t let difficult decisions and conversations with loved ones be the excuse you use to keep drinking alcohol. We provide you with the resources and support you need for a successful recovery that helps you now and throughout your entire life.
Sobriety Fear #7: You’ll lose your friends.
- The promise of sobriety is that “the way I feel stone-cold sober, even on my worst days ever … I would never trade to feel the effects of a drug and drink again,” our alumna said.
- What you’re really afraid of is the unknown and that you may be unable to handle it.
- These are thoughts that run through every addict’s mind.
- “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black.
- When you stop using drugs or alcohol, you will experience a range of withdrawal symptoms.
- 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.
- In fact, sobriety can help you to learn new and healthier ways to deal with difficult situations.
The more you scratch it, the worse it’s going to get. Leave it alone, give it time, and it will go away on its own. Besides, allowing the fear of failure to completely influence big decisions like this is a cop-out. It’s a dysfunctional version of “playing it safe.” You deserve better than that. You will have good days, hopeless days, and every other sort of in-between day on this journey. Eventually, you will have to decide who to keep in your life and who to let go.
Stop Being Afraid to Get Sober with Northpoint Recovery
With your support network, mark milestones in your sobriety, whether they’re days, weeks, months, or years. Celebrating these achievements can boost your morale and reinforce the value of your efforts toward sobriety. Besides, judging someone for not drinking alcohol is stupid, and you don’t need to be cool with that person anyway. If your friends don’t want to hang out with you unless you’re drinking, then you know where you stand with each other.
How to Stay Sober
On the other, you’re scared to death of what sobriety will do to your world. I wish I could promise that if you don’t drink for four months or six months or twelve, then you’ll have reached some magical number where all your hopes and dreams come true. You need support, sometimes a program, and almost certainly a good counselor to help you navigate this new sober life. People who abuse alcohol get to a point in their drinking where they cannot manage any emotion in a healthy way. Drinking is the solution to boredom, frustration, sadness, and extreme happiness. If people press that response, I’ll either stare at them and hold an uncomfortable silence (this is enjoyable at some point), or just change the subject.
Withdrawal symptoms can be uncomfortable, but they are not always dangerous. With the help of a medical professional, you can safely detox from drugs and alcohol without worrying about withdrawal symptoms. According to Merriam-Webster, being sober simply means abstaining from alcohol and drugs.
These groups can give you the support and encouragement needed to overcome your fears. If you’re worried about what other people will think if you become sober, then it’s likely that you’re scared of becoming sober. However, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to please everyone. Sobriety is a personal decision, and you should do what’s best for you, not what other people think is best for you. 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. For with changes comes adjustments, which can be challenging.
- If you are afraid of being sober, the first step in overcoming that fear is stepping outside of your comfort zone and doing something that you don’t necessarily want to do.
- The idea that you don’t get to chemically check out of reality now and then is horrifying, especially when you think that reality is pretty terrible.
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. 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. On the one hand, you hate what your life has become due to drinking.
At The Ranch at Dove Tree, a key component of our process is to give you the tools you need to move forward. That includes talking about these fears, learning to understand what sobriety will mean to you, and facing what’s underneath it all. Most people who make their way into recovery have left a lot of pain and suffering in their wake.
Surprising Benefits of Sobriety That Will Transform Your Life
While making the decision to be sober was the best thing I’ve ever done, it’s also one of the hardest. Not only because not drinking is hard, but also because we live in a society where most everyone around us drinks. Take the time to work with us over the next few weeks.
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 path to using. Triggers for using drugs and alcohol typically are fear of being sober people, places, and things that remind you of your addictive behavior or encourage the use of substances you’re avoiding. Some people may find that wearable devices and smartphone apps can support their recovery from alcohol use disorder.
