Making the decision to stop using substances can be an extremely difficult thing to do but can mark a major transitional period in your life and start you on the path to recovery. No matter what gets you started; an intervention, jail, or just being tired of living the life of active addiction, deciding you want to get sober and accepting help are the first steps to begin leading a successful substance-free life.

How to Avoid a Common Set-Back in Recovery

There is research that suggests that only 1 in 10 people overcome their addiction. This is a pretty small number considering the number of people that struggle with substance use. One of the main reasons for this occurring is due to people going into recovery with no game plan except to just avoid their substance of choice. This has proven over and over to not be a very reliable plan. If an individual stops using substances but continues to hang out with the same people in the same places, their sobriety is going to continuously be at risk. (Improvement Pill, 2021).

Substance abuse is commonly a side effect of a greater issue. When someone stops using substances there are a lot of things that follow, including but not limited to, past trauma resurfacing, mental health concerns, and having to face the damage they have caused while in active addiction. The emotional burden of having all of those things resurface often leads to relapse, but it is important to remember that learning new ways to cope with and heal from those events is a crucial part of recovery (Improvement Pill, 2021).

A helpful tool for individuals in recovery is to rewrite their old habits by building new ones. There is a limitless number of things that can potentially trigger something to use again and when this happens instead of falling into the old habit of using substances, people in recovery can turn to these newly formed healthy habits to cope. This is not an easy task to learn but by repeating this over time the brain will form new pathways subsequently making using substances or engaging in compulsive behaviour a less desireable/suitable option (Improvement Pill, 2021).

Resources to Begin Your Recovery

The approach explained above on how to avoid common setbacks in recovery stems from a course accessible through YouTube. The “Tamed Course” is a series of 13 free videos to help guide you and give you meaningful tools for recovery. The videos discuss strategies such as building habits, self-discipline, willpower, and the impact of a person’s environment. This content is significant and impactful for individuals going through addiction and/or substance use.

Tamed Course : YouTube

If a person struggling with substance use is interested in pursuing recovery, or just starting a substance-free life, it can be very overwhelming. Thankfully there are a ton of resources available out there. There are 12-step meetings such as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, and other non-12-step-based recovery methods such as Dharma, SMART Recovery, LifeRing, and Wellbriety. If an individual is looking at accessing treatment there are treatment centers all across Canada that range from 12-step based, land-based, or evidence-based as well as many other options. The majority of these centers are relatively low barriers and can be funded through the government or social service agencies. (Canada, 2022).

There are also resources available for family members that are affected by an individual’s substance use. There are 12 step-based groups such as Al-Anon and Nar-Anon as well as support groups provided by non-profits such as Moms Stop the Harm and Families for Addiction Recovery. There are also several agencies available across Canada that provide one-on-one and group therapy or counseling for families. (Canada, 2022)

Get help with substance use – Canada.ca

Government of Canada. (2022, November 15). Get Help With Substance Use. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/get-help-problematic-substance-use.html

Improvement Pill. (2021, November 15). Tamed course : Season 1 [Videos]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE_vQWWxgaiH1Xcri6_WJDZnC_XezkyAO