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A mental health professional or addiction counselor will help you identify the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are contributing to your loneliness and help you overcome them. If an individual has friends or family members that are supportive and encouraging, they should embrace those people in their life. Many times, loneliness in sobriety can lead a person to isolate themselves from others who are acting in their best interest. They may feel that certain individuals cannot understand their situation or are judgmental. Staying actively involved in support groups can help combat the loneliness in sobriety by interacting with others who are facing similar challenges. While avoiding social media altogether may be incredibly difficult, it’s important to limit the amount of time you spend on social media.
If you’re feeling sad and lonely, look up a meeting and go. Even if you don’t know anyone there, it’s better than risking going to the bar or drowning your lonely and depressed feelings with booze. P.S. If you need help navigating your journey to recovery, contact me for help. I’m here to help you or your loved one find the right addiction treatment program for your unique needs. Often, as the person tries to hide substance use from loved ones or minimize the way it has affected their life, they can fall deeper into substance use. People suffering from substance use disorder, or SUD, can eventually cause serious damage to their relationships, potentially losing them altogether.
Alone & Lonely Are Not the Same
You can help people who are affected by alcoholism by making a donation to the Cleveland District Office. You can find all kinds of local classes, clubs, meetings and groups with varying purposes at MeetUp.com. MeetUp.com is just a place where live and local groups/meetings/clubs, etc. can post meetings.
Recognising and harnessing the transformative power of connection becomes not just a strategy but a fundamental cornerstone for individuals seeking lasting recovery. In the 1970s, Daniel Russell, a researcher at UCLA, discovered the importance of studying causes of loneliness and methods by which people could work through this emotion successfully. If your score is above 20, it might be helpful to consider what’s making you feel lonely and in what ways you can make connections that matter. Even people with the most reserved personalities come to life when they feel seen, heard, and valued by someone else. “Loneliness is unwanted mental or physical isolation that can negatively impact mental and physical health, sleep, and cognitive abilities,” according to PsychCentral.
Alleviating Loneliness
This vital support network continually reinforces the individual commitment to sobriety. Loneliness can be a difficult emotion to manage and can have an adverse effect on our mental health if we start to isolate. But there are ways to combat loneliness in recovery and make sure that we don’t feel isolated and alone. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Being around positive people can have a huge impact on our overall wellbeing. It can make you feel more energized and motivated, and can help keep negative thoughts at bay. The idea of HALT is a great way to remember the signs needed to take a break or reach out for support from someone positive in your life.
However, there are other healthier ways to cope with difficult emotions. Most people need a certain amount of human contact to feel good, and strong social support is necessary to maintain sobriety. It requires effort and patience to develop new relationships or rebuild damaged ones. Realize that feelings of isolation are a part of the process of addiction recovery, and remember that being alone is different from being lonely.
Join The Echo Community
It would be far better, then, for a person who has regrets about the past to try to mend relationships and move forward rather than ruminating about things that can’t be changed. Speaking more broadly, taking steps to avoid loneliness is always a good idea when it comes to protecting your sobriety. Maybe they are embarrassed about things they may have said or done while they were using drugs or alcohol. Maybe they just need some time to themselves to clear their heads and prepare to return to their daily routine. Maybe drugs or alcohol made them more extroverted than they naturally are and so sobriety has led them to be more introverted again. Connection, especially within support groups, provides an invaluable space where individuals share their stories, struggles, and triumphs.
If you’re looking to meet someone, there are dozens, if not hundreds of online dating sites you can join. It’s not social in the sense that you join discussions … but it’s a place you can meet someone. I strongly suggest you loneliness in sobriety discuss looking to get into a relationship with your sponsor or a recovery mentor/therapist/counselor first. Often it’s good to wait a little while before taking on the stress and effort of getting into a new relationship.
Personal Narratives: How Joining a Support Group Changes Lives
Here are 5 things to try when you are feeling lonely during your recovery. Perhaps the most important way to help yourself deal with loneliness is sobriety is to allow yourself to grieve your old, substance-dependent self. Recognizing that you’ve gone through a major change and letting yourself feel all of the emotions triggered by that change can help you begin to address your situation honestly.
The following includes what I did, but also includes suggestions that I didn’t do, but should have. An AA sponsor will provide one-on-one support as you work through the 12 Steps. They’ll also keep in touch with you daily and help you develop essential tools and strategies you can use to deal with challenging emotions.