What Holds Us Back In Recovery

As we're working to recover, there are some impediments that often get in our way, certain things that block our forward progress, and that slow down our momentum. Many of us find that most of our limitations are self-imposed – we are the ones holding ourselves back the most in our recovery. We postpone our healing, stall on making important changes, and procrastinate on shedding unhealthy habits. What are some of the ways in which we hold ourselves back in recovery? How do we block ourselves from achieving the sobriety we want for ourselves?

Our Negative Outlook and Self-Sabotage

For many of us, our negative outlook on sobriety and recovery can be a majorly destructive force when it comes to our healing. We don't believe we can achieve sobriety. We don't believe recovery is possible for us. Many of us feel we don't deserve to be happy. These limiting beliefs are usually subconscious. Consciously we tell ourselves we want to be sober, and that we deserve happiness and good health. Subconsciously, though, we're consumed by fears that tell us otherwise. Our subconscious thoughts are the ones driving our actions, our behaviors, and our choices, so for many of us struggling with addiction, these limiting beliefs cause us to be self-sabotaging in how we operate in our daily lives. Our self-sabotage shows up in all kinds of ways as we're working to recover. We might postpone inquiring about aftercare services once we leave a treatment program, leaving ourselves susceptible to relapse during that particularly vulnerable time when we've just finished treatment. We might procrastinate on booking sessions with our therapists. We might convince ourselves not to go to our support group meetings. We might become complacent in our recovery, telling ourselves that we're doing fine, and that we can ease up on ourselves. We might tell ourselves that, unlike other addicts, we can actually use in moderation. Some of these habits become our behavioral patterns. We routinely sacrifice our health and well-being. We use our drug of choice again. We don't take as much initiative in our recovery. We don't prioritize our recovery programs. We don't make as much progress in our healing and personal development as we could.

Manifesting Relapse by Focusing On It Energetically

Changing our outlook on recovery, therefore, is fundamental to improving our chances of being successful. When we believe we can recover, we enable and empower ourselves to be able to. What can hold us back most in our recovery is the self-doubt we have, along with the pessimism and cynicism we feel around being able to recover. Many of us are also over-worriers, and our negative thinking can serve as a block in our recovery. We think negatively much of the time, and we drown ourselves in fear. Rather than having positive anticipation around staying sober, we worry excessively, and we dread relapsing. We might obsess about relapse and dwell so much on the possibility of it happening that we manifest it. We cause it to happen by worrying about it so much. We focus on relapse energetically so much so that we create it in our realities.

Making Unhealthy Relationship Choices

Another way we block our recovery is in the series of choices we make. Many of us return to the relationships we were in before getting sober, and understandably so – we miss and love them. We want to share our success with them. We want to feel supported by them. The problem with many of our relationships, though, is that the other person is often not ready to take on their own recovery at the same time we are. They might be addicts themselves and still actively using. They might pressure us to use, or seeing them using might be a source of temptation for us. They might still be struggling with intense mental health issues and projecting their painful problems onto us. Any of these can bring us down, make us feel depressed and anxious, or trigger us into relapsing. We might be tempted to use our drugs of choice as a coping mechanism again, because that's what we see our loved ones doing. We might fall back into our addictions because we're surrounded by other addicts in our families, homes, and communities. We often feel a huge sense of obligation to these people, and our allegiance to them can end up blocking us in our recovery. We might still be in codependent relationships with them, and our unhealthy relationship dynamics can bring us down, causing major setbacks in our recovery.

Perpetuating Unhealthy Habits

One of our biggest blocks as we're working to recover is our inability to shed our unhealthy habits. We feel tied to doing things a certain way after years of dependence, and for many of us, our habits are linked to our drugs of choice. We create mental and emotional associations between our daily routines and our drugs of choice. For example, many of us feel the need to get high when we first wake up, before we go to sleep, or before we eat a meal. We might feel we need it to cope with the stress of work, or to soothe us when we're anxious. We've created this habitual pattern of linking an activity with using our drug of choice, and this habit can be hard for us to break. We develop patterns of unhealthy habits that we aren't quite ready to shed, even after finishing a treatment program, and sometimes these habits can become what impedes our recovery the most.

WinGate Wilderness Therapy is a premier wilderness therapy program for troubled teens and young adults. We are dedicated to helping you achieve sobriety and live up to your full potential. We offer hope and healing, in a welcoming setting that embraces you and helps you to grow into a healthy, well-adjusted adult.

Contact us today!