True loneliness is feeling isolated or unconnected to those around us. Loneliness is a complex emotion — often we can’t connect with others because deep down we do not believe we deserve to. The connection between isolation and addiction is one with strong ties. It is extremely common for someone who is abusing drugs to isolate themselves. As their disease progresses, they may become increasingly lonely as they try to hide their addiction. 12-step meetings are a great place to connect with people who are in recovery.

These support groups are ideal chances to re-learn social skills while providing opportunities to make new friends in a safe environment, so participate fully. Feeling isolated — particularly early in recovery — can lead to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, or shame, any of which can cause relapse. Loneliness can make people question the value of recovery, making the path to sobriety quite slippery. Some people are lonely because of their addiction, and some become addicted because of loneliness. Find a Support GroupAttending a weekly 12-step group will allow you to meet others who are going through a similar experience.

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Learning how to deal with it, and in a healthy manner, is important if you want to stay clean and sober. Exercise releases endorphins and dopamine to flood your brain and body with positive feelings. Loneliness is typically described as a negative feeling that brings you down. Exercise is a feel-good distraction that also improves your health. Getting regular exercise during the day is one of the best ways to keep your mood up. When we’re very young, our parents or primary caregivers handle our loneliness for us.

Additionally, addiction often causes changes in a person’s behavior, such as secrecy or lying. Neither of which are conducive to forming and maintaining healthy relationships. This creates a sustained cycle of isolation and drug use that can continue to get worse over time. There are a number of reasons why isolation is such a significant part of the addict’s experience. These reasons often go beyond personality type and are caused by the unique experiences that come with addiction.

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Loneliness can lead to worsening symptoms of mental health disorders, which in turn can lead to a temptation to “self-medicate” with drugs or alcohol. And it can be tempting, if a person is feeling isolated, to reconnect with people who were a negative part of their life before they got sober. There’s a reason the 12 steps require making amends to people you hurt while you were in active addiction. Repairing damaged relationships can help you rebuild the healthy support network you squandered when you were in thrall to drugs or alcohol. NuView Treatment Center can offer you the support and guidance you need to relieve loneliness in sobriety. NuView provides compassionate individualized treatment plans to help people develop the skills they need to get sober and stay sober.

This will not only help you keep busy but will also help you avoid feeling alone. Experiencing loneliness after rehab is often the natural result of making a significant lifestyle change. Toxic relationships must be shed in recovery, which can result in a lack of social interaction. This loneliness can have real consequences for your recovery, your mental health, and even your physical health. Feeling both bored and sad is a bad combination for recovery. Bridges of Hope is a Joint Commission-accredited dual-diagnosis substance abuse treatment program.

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Strike up some conversations and see if there’s anyone you might be friends with. Also keep in mind you aren’t limited to your regular meeting. If you’re climbing the walls, you can probably find another meeting happening soon. Part of the recovery process is rebuilding your life in a way that will not jeopardize your sobriety.

Going cold turkey may prove to be extremely difficult as alcohol withdrawal symptoms like cravings, nausea, vomiting, and hallucinations can encourage prolonged drinking. Get professional Top 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing Sober House help from an online addiction and mental health counselor from BetterHelp. It’s important not to invest all of your time and energy into a social life and into people.

Go One Step at a Time

Often, the decisions that some have made in active addiction are usually not their smartest, safest, or proudest moments to reflect on. Therefore, one of the first emotions to pop up in sobriety is usually guilt. Whether your guilt stems from a specific incident or a continued pattern of behavior, feeling guilty is often a natural emotion that plays into recovery – especially early on. Recognizing that mostly all your choices in active recovery was not who you are as a person, is step one.