We all recognize that friends and family can be one of the most important reasons for your recovery from addiction. Their support can mean everything, but they don’t always understand sober living and how it effects your decisions on a daily basis.
This can be especially difficult if you need to rebuild trust and confidence due to past behavior. It will take some time and patience. There are things you can do to not only help rebuild, but strengthen ties to your friends and family by helping them understand some things about your recovery from addiction.
Be open About Your Recovery from Addiction
During your active addiction you often disappeared, didn’t show up, and broke promises. You can create a new reputation by continuously keeping in contact. Call to let your family know how you’re doing and let them see how you’ve changed. This doesn’t mean you can’t be late, it means you call to let your friends and family know why and when you’re going to show. That’s just easier on everyone.
Know Your Triggers, and Avoid Them
We all have them, and frankly, family and friends can be one of them, but that’s something they may not know. These behaviors, smells, places, and more aren’t always clear to everyone. For example, your family recognizes not to keep alcohol in the house, but do they know that cooking your favorite meal is probably not the best idea because what you really loved about it was how it tasted with a cold beer? Maybe not.
Take Friends or Family to an Open Meeting
It’s possible that people in your life don’t know much about addiction rehab and how it helps. Show them you didn’t join a cult. Bringing people to a meeting gives them a look into others’ stories and perspectives. This can help loved ones manage the expectations they put on you and your recovery. It exposes them to the system you’re working, can open doors to questions, and maybe most importantly, it can show them your commitment to recovery.
Whether people come around to your new sober life or not, here are a few things you can do to help them understand as much as they can about it. You must remember that these steps might not make a difference with some, but that doesn’t matter because you’re doing what’s best for you and there’s nothing more important than that.