When dealing with addiction, you have to learn how to cope with cravings, stomp feelings of guilt, and deal with setbacks. Some people can be confused going into addiction because of the words relapse and setbacks. A setback is a mistake or obstacle to conquer. It’s something that’s in the way of your goal. It’s frustrating, but doesn’t actually prevent you from reaching your goal. Setbacks may slow you down or make you feel like you are going backwards, but you can learn from the setbacks and develop a better recovery strategy to ultimately reach your goal.
An important detail of setbacks that can be easy to forget is that setbacks don’t take you back to the first step. If you experience a setback, talk to your psychologist and figure out how to overcome and move on from this setback. Use the setback to your advantage. Learn from it and grow. Setbacks are usually situations that are extremely stressful or emotionally taxing. If you find yourself in a situation or environment like this, you may want to seek extra guidance. The most important step of recovery is being able to talk about your mistakes and improve.
When you experience a setback, evaluate what caused it. Was it truly just a mistake or where you experiencing a lack of motivation? If you were feeling like your faith in the treatment was failing, then seek treatment and guidance from your doctor. Talk about the issue and focus on building your motivation in the future so you can prevent future circumstances like the setback.
Never give up. At times, addiction recovery can feel like you are falling instead of flying. However, your mistakes don’t have to be deadly to your recovery. Take the knowledge you gathered and grow. You may feel like you are running the wrong way, but you may be improving overall. Change does not come without learning, and learning does not come without mistakes.
Find hope in the things you do. By keeping up your motivation, you can prevent further setbacks by having the attitude and outlook needed to recover. Setbacks happen and you can deal with them as they come. However, using setbacks as an excuse to eventually fail is not a healthy habit. Setbacks are not the end of the world, and you can still conquer your addiction after experiencing them. Take each problem and solve it. You may not know what form the setback will come in. Sometimes it’s people, places, or things. Other times it may be an environmental situation, event, or internal thought. What you need to know is that you can deal with them when they come.
LEAD Recovery Center can help you through your addiction and recoveyr process. The team of trained professionals can guide you to succeed overall by helping you navigate setbacks and holes. No one has to go through addiction alone. Call (800) 380-0012 for more information.
