5 Effective Strategies to Stay Sober During the Holidays
The holidays are here again. It’s the season of gift-giving and toasting with champagne as you come together to celebrate with family and friends. Your schedule will likely be jam-packed with occasions where you can make merry as you eat and drink — family dinners, brunches, and even parties at work. Alcohol and other drugs are likely to be prominent at most of these events. Notably, a survey involving 2,000 Americans found that adults consume twice as many alcoholic drinks from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day than at any other time of year.
While the boozy beverages and addictive “party favors” are meant to create a celebratory mood, they can be challenging for recovering individuals trying to maintain their sobriety. As you see your family and friends have fun as they drink alcohol or use other drugs, you feel alone, which may easily lead to relapse. If you are trying to stay sober during the festivities, you aren’t alone. And although the risk of relapse is high, taking the right steps will keep you healthy and safe. Read on to learn the most common triggers and ways to safeguard your sobriety during the holiday season.
What Are the Common Alcohol and Drug Abuse Triggers?
Increased Stress
During the holiday season, people spend time together with family and friends. If you are recovering from a substance use disorder (SUD), you may feel ashamed or guilty about the effects of your previous addictive behavior. Also, if you have a strained relationship with those close to you, spending more time with them may be stressful or even lead to depression or anxiety. These conditions can trigger you to drink or use drugs again to help you cope with the unwelcome feelings.
Feeling Left Out
Human beings have a sense of connection and belonging. This connection is under immense threat if you are the only sober person as others celebrate the festive season. You may also feel weak and different because you have a problem with drinking alcohol or using another drug. As other family members enjoy the holidays, the sense of missing out on all the fun can hurt so much, forcing you to reach out for something to comfort your feelings and stress. Since there is a perfect opportunity to use a drug, you can easily find yourself relapsing.
More Social Gatherings
You will notice a significant increase in social gatherings and celebrations throughout the holiday season. To uphold your sobriety, you’ll generally try as much as possible to limit how often you attend these festivities and whom you socialize with. However, you may feel guilty about declining to attend some gatherings, such as those involving close family members. Unfortunately, this may be stressful because you may be the only one not partaking, or someone you try to avoid may be attending the party. Also, the number of alcoholic beverages available at these parties can easily overwhelm you, especially if you are in the early stages of recovery.
Tips to Safeguard Your Sobriety During the Holiday Season
1. Have a Plan for Holiday Parties and Events
The celebrations surrounding the holiday season are full of temptations for anyone recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. Before you attend any parties, create a plan to remain sober. Have your own transportation for arriving and leaving the event. This gives you the liberty to leave whenever you are ready, so you won’t be tempted to make a bad decision.
Also, have a response ready when someone offers you a drink. A simple “No, thank you” can be an excellent drink refusal skill. If you feel the need, you can give a simple explanation such as, “I have to run errands tomorrow morning.” If someone persists in offering you a drink, tell them you would really like water with lemon, cranberry juice, or whatever healthy beverage you like to drink. Alternatively, you can bring a nonalcoholic drink to the event. When someone offers you alcohol, hold up your beverage, so they know you don’t want to drink anything else.
2. Recognize Your Triggers and Identify Your Coping Skills
As people get together to celebrate the holiday season, you may run into old friends who remind you of substance abuse. You can also find yourself in places where you used to go to get high. Typically, anyone with substance use disorder has triggers, and it’s vital to know how to cope with them.
An essential part of your recovery plan is managing any triggers so that you don’t relapse. If you encounter a tempting situation, walk away. Avoiding triggers is the best way to manage them, especially for individuals in early recovery. You can also call or text a specific person you trust who can help you stay on track in your sobriety journey.
3. Stay in Good Company
As they say, bad company ruins good morals. You don’t want anyone ruining your recovery journey, but some of those you interact with during the holidays might try to compromise your sobriety. As a result, you may have to avoid some relatives or friends who may want to pressure you into using drugs or alcohol.
Limit your inner circle to those who are ready to offer support in your recovery. Also, build healthy relationships with those who offer much-needed care and those who understand and are ready to be part of your support network.
4. Communicate With Loved Ones Beforehand
Your family and friends are great assets in your recovery journey. Therefore, discuss with your loved ones to know if there will be any drugs or alcohol at the holiday gatherings. Tell them what you are most comfortable with beforehand. For instance, if there will be alcoholic beverages, you can say you prefer not to attend because it’s too triggering. This way, you increase your chances of maintaining sobriety, and you won’t feel anxious because you forced your family not to include some drinks.
You can consult a counselor on the best strategies to decline drinks at these gatherings. This helps you have a firm response and reduce anxiety when you are around people who are unaware of your situation. Again, you can also have a nonalcoholic drink with you.
5. Consider Going to Rehab
If you find it challenging to manage drug cravings during the holidays, you can check into a substance abuse treatment facility. Some people may feel that they need to wait until the holiday season is over to seek help. There is never a more convenient time to seek addiction treatment than as early as possible. Early intervention helps to prevent severe substance use disorder.
While you may think that the holiday season is a bad time to get your loved one to a rehab facility, it’s the best gift you can give anyone struggling with addiction. Job responsibilities often deter people from seeking treatment, but during holidays many people get paid leave, which can lessen the impact of recovery on work hours. By seeking treatment during the holiday season, you can start the year with a new mission to live a sober life. Start by educating yourself on the treatment process to eliminate confusion and anxiety. Here are the stages and options involved.
Intake
Once you enroll in a rehab facility, a professional will receive and assist you through the intake process. They will check your belongings to ensure you don’t bring forbidden items that may inhibit recovery. You then undergo a series of medical and physical examinations to determine your addiction’s severity. The information you give will help your doctor create a personalized treatment plan that addresses your individual needs to increase the chances of recovery.
Detoxification
Detoxification helps remove the drug’s toxic substances from your body to stabilize it and prepare it for subsequent treatment. The detox process may last three days to two weeks based on the type of drugs, the amount taken, the duration of addiction, and underlying medical conditions. Drugs change the brain’s chemical balance, and once you stop taking the substance or reduce the quantity, it throws your system off balance, causing unpleasant withdrawal symptoms that include:
- Nausea
- Poor sleep
- Mood swings
- Difficulty concentrating
- Runny nose
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Tremors
- Vomiting
- Headaches
- Muscle pain
- Seizures
- Delirium
- Hallucinations
Some of these withdrawal symptoms are potentially hazardous, so you should detox with the help of a professional. During withdrawal, your doctor can prescribe medication like methadone, Valium, and Ativan to ease the withdrawal symptoms and prevent complications. You will receive around-the-clock support and monitoring for the duration of treatment. The detoxification process also entails preparing the client for substance abuse treatment. Your doctor may recommend any of the following treatment programs based on the severity of your condition.
Inpatient Treatment
An inpatient treatment program requires that you reside within the rehab center for intensive care. For people struggling with severe addiction, rehab might be the best place to be during the holiday season. Between November and early January, the many celebrations may lead to excessive drinking. This is dangerous for anyone working on recovery.
Enrolling in an inpatient program will help you avoid triggers and harmful situations like an overdose. Although you might feel like you are missing out, after treatment, you will be able to celebrate and enjoy better holiday time with friends and family for years to come.
Outpatient Treatment
Those who want to spend time with their loved ones during holidays while still working on recovery can opt for outpatient treatment. This is a part-time program where you visit the rehab center for a set number of hours a day and then head home. Outpatient treatment best work for people with mild addiction cases.
Partial Hospitalization
If you need more intensive care but want to join your family for Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, partial hospitalization is an excellent option. The main difference between this and regular outpatient treatment is the number of hours required each day. You spend most of your day in the treatment facility working on recovery, but you can spend your nights at home.
Individual Therapy
Most individuals struggling with addiction have a co-occurring mental health disorder. These mental health issues affect your behaviors, emotions, and ability to control drug use. Counseling can help address the psychological and social factors that trigger drug use, like stress or social networks. Expect one-on-one sessions and group therapy based on your individual needs. Other therapy approaches are described below.
Family Therapy
Family therapy allows your parents, spouse, siblings, and children to participate actively in your recovery journey. This intervention improves communication and relationships and addresses emotional burdens within a family, improving the overall functioning of the family unit.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps you understand your emotions and feelings better to address self-defeating actions and thoughts that trigger drug use.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing therapy strengthens a person’s motivation to achieve goals like maintaining long-term sobriety. This therapy benefits anyone battling between quitting or continuing to use drugs. It becomes easier to successfully treat addiction once you overcome denial about substance misuse.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
DBT strengthens a person’s ability to cope with difficult situations and change unhealthy behaviors. It’s very helpful for people struggling with rapid mood shifts, anger, aggression, and suicidal thoughts.
Contingency Management Therapy
For the contingency management approach, clients receive incentives like vouchers for achieving positive outcomes like a negative drug test. The reward for positive behaviors can increase a person’s motivation to continue practicing those behaviors.
Aftercare
Unfortunately, 40% to 60% of people relapse after completing addiction treatment. Your doctor should help create a solid aftercare plan to prevent relapse. Most rehab facilities organize alumni programs to give their former clients a chance to connect with their peers and treatment team. Attend such meetings to get the motivation and accountability needed to maintain sobriety.
You can also join support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA), 12-step programs with guiding principles that all members live by to help them in recovery. People who are more vulnerable to relapse should move into sober living homes. These residences help people in recovery safely transition back into the community.
Reclaim Your Life From Addiction Today
Addiction is a very destructive disease that affects not only you but also your family and friends. Overcoming addiction is the best gift you can give your loved ones this holiday. This is a life-changing gift they will remember for years to come. Your next Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays will be much more fun and memorable when you are sober. Looking back, you may not remember the holiday you missed, but you’ll never forget the moment you got sober and changed your life for the better. Start your recovery journey today, and regain control over your life.
