Everyone that has ever lived has experienced bad days. However, bad days can sometimes lead to more bad days for individuals in recovery, putting one’s sobriety at risk. For this reason, knowing how to manage bad days in recovery is crucial so you can protect your sobriety and prevent relapse. You may feel lost when it comes to bad days because they can make you feel hopeless, but there is always something you can do to make a bad day better. By adequately managing bad days in recovery, you can continue progressing on the road to lifetime sobriety.
There is no sense in trying to ignore or avoid a bad day when you are experiencing it. Your brain knows what’s happening, and living in denial will only make things worse. By taking the time to identify, acknowledge, and accept a bad day, you can learn to relinquish control. There will be things in life that you can’t control, and you shouldn’t fret over them. By acknowledging a bad day, you admit you are human and learning to sit with your struggles. Acknowledge the bad day and move on rather than dwelling on it.
You may feel inclined to beat yourself up for having a bad day, but this will only serve to make yourself feel worse. Everyone has bad days, and you will have more bad days ahead of you. It’s a part of the human experience. You can cope with a bad day by being gentle and showing compassion towards yourself. Being gentle and showing compassion will help you get through bad days with a neutral or even positive attitude rather than feeling even worse. Ask yourself what you need and do so, as this will teach you to practice self-love and trust yourself.
Getting stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts can make you feel hopeless and as if you will never feel happiness again. Talking out your feelings with another person, whether it be a friend, family member, or fellow sober buddy, can help you release tension inside you and see things from a different perspective. Saying things out loud can shed new light on what you are going through, and hearing advice from someone you love and trust can also help you escape the cloudiness of a bad day. Don’t be scared to reach out for help, as your loved ones want you to heal too.
Your environment can play a significant role in how you feel on any given day. Being stuck in your house all day can do more harm to your well-being than good. Going to a support group meeting can change your environment and allow you to be surrounded by other individuals who have gone through addiction and can empathize with you. By going to a meeting, you can receive sound advice about dealing with bad days in recovery because the other individuals there understand what you are going through.
Feeling down can make it challenging to get up and moving, but physical activity can help lift your mood, relieve stress, and remove pain. You don’t have to do anything too strenuous. You can go for a quick 20-minute walk outside; even just participating in this small activity can help you feel better. If you aren’t up for walking, consider swimming, dancing around your room, or riding your bike. Whatever gets you moving will help manage a bad day, so get up and get out.
Bad days can make you lose perspective of who you are and how far you’ve come. Bad days can even make you feel like you’re moving backward in recovery, but this is not the case. You did not put in all the work into recovery just to let one bad day drag you back down into the depths of addiction. Until now, you have survived 100% of the bad days in your life, and you will continue to survive the ones ahead of you. You faced addiction head-on and have been in recovery for some time; you should be proud of these accomplishments. You are strong, and you will get through this bad day. Don’t lose sight of what’s ahead and what you have overcome. You got this, and you will keep going.
Bad days can be distressing for anyone, but bad days can threaten sobriety for those in recovery. Learning how to manage bad days in addiction recovery takes time and persistence, but it does get easier over time. As you continue navigating your recovery journey, it is crucial to have tools in your mind to help you overcome any bad days you face. If you are struggling with this, NorthStar Transitions has your back. Even after our patients have left our facility, we still want to see them be successful in recovery. We provide support through numerous resources and programs for those that need them. If you require further guidance regarding recovery, consider enrolling in one of our aftercare programs, such as day treatment, sober living, or intensive outpatient treatment. Your recovery should be your number one priority, and we can assure you that at NorthStar Transitions, we will treat it as ours too. To learn more about the programs we have to offer, call us today at (303) 558-6400.
