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7-Reasons Why Choosing Sobriety is the Best Choice

The simple truth is that being addicted to either drugs or alcohol is perhaps the worst experience you could ever possibly live with. It’s not surprising to hear that more than 70% of suicides are linked to addiction. Embracing sobriety is thus the best course of action you could possibly take.

The depressing reality is that many people addicted to drugs and alcohol do not know how to break free from the grip of their addiction. Many of these people are unable to seek out the required help for a variety of reasons. In the USA alone, it’s estimated that 23.5 million people are addicted to substances, both legal and illegal. That’s nearly a third of the entire UK population.

In the UK, it’s estimated that less than 5% of people affected by addiction will seek out help.

The statistics are slightly better in the USA where around 10% of addicts will access treatment. This is despite the fact that the USA lacks free-medical care that’s available in the UK through the NHS.

This means there is a massive number of people silently suffering from addiction. We feel this is an untenable state-of-affairs. Because addiction is a progressive disorder, not seeking treatment will only mean the sufferer’s health condition will continue to worsen.

Addiction negatively affects a person’s mental and physical health. Addiction is linked to a variety of diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

Below, we outline a number of benefits that can be had when you embrace sobriety.

1. Rebuild and repair relationships

If you have been addicted to drugs or alcohol in the past, then you will be acutely aware of the harm this inflicts on relationships. Your addiction will cause you to severely neglect your responsibilities. This will impact everyone around you, including your spouse, your children, your parents and your siblings.

It’s also highly likely that your addiction will also cause you to lose friends and suffer job loss. In fact, when it comes to hurt caused by your addiction, we cannot think of an area that’s more negatively impacted than interpersonal relationships.

When you embrace sobriety, you are given a chance to amend the damage caused by your addiction. Although your relationship may never be fully restored to its pre-addiction state, you can substantially improve and mend your loving and professional relationships alike. Sobriety gives you the opportunity to reach out and make the necessary amends with the people who you love.

When it comes to rebuilding relationships, it’s important to fully acknowledge the hurt your past actions have inflicted upon loved ones. Do not under any circumstances blame your loved ones for the damage inflicted on the relationship at the hands of your addiction.

Your loved ones may doubt your ability to stay sober. Rebuilding trust does take time, and you need to be honest with your loved ones. Over time, your loved ones will gain faith in your ability to stay sober. This will not happen overnight, so please be patient. You must be willing to consistently invest effort into your recovery in order to sustain it.

Some loved ones may not be responsive to your efforts to rebuild the broken relationship. Some relationships are irreparable. If this is the case, then it’s important that you respect this person’s wishes. In the vast majority of cases, it’s likely that this person just needs more time and eventually this person will be more receptive to the idea of rebuilding your mutual relationship.

2. You will gain more time and money to invest in a better lifestyle

Addiction to drugs or alcohol isn’t cheap. The average drug habit may cost in the region of £500 a week to fund. That’s around £2,000 a month. It’s not difficult to understand why so many people who suffer drug addiction turn to crime and prostitution.

When you give up drugs (including alcohol), you will have the more disposable income to spend on your lifestyle. You will be able to live in a nicer home or afford a foreign vacation. You will be able to spend your money on nice clothes and eat at nice restaurants. This is all possible because your income will not be spent on funding your addiction.

Money spent on drugs and alcohol is literately money spent ‘down the drain’ as this old saying goes!

3. You won’t be putting your own and other’s safety at risk

Addiction is often described as a downward spiral. When you are addicted, your rational abilities are impaired. You are more likely to engage in drug driving. You are also more likely to associate with dangerous people.

By embracing sobriety, you will drastically improve your ability to make rational decisions. This will mean that you do not put your own safety and the safety of others into danger.

4. Sobriety will improve your physical and mental health

Addiction takes a terrible toll on your physical and mental health. If you are addicted to a physically addictive drug such as alcohol or heroin, you could even die if you attempt to withdraw from one of these drugs.

Drug and alcohol use will make you look 10-20 years older. Your skin will look haggard. You also increase the risk of suffering from a cardiovascular or respiratory problem that could cause your death.

Addiction significantly impacts your mental health. The damage inflicted on both physical and mental health by addiction go hand in hand. When you consume drugs, endorphin and dopamine levels are boosted. These brain chemicals make you feel happy.

When drugs are broken down in your body, these feel-good chemicals plummet, meaning you will feel depressed and unhappy. You must continue to take drugs in order to avoid feeling depressed. This is one key reason why drugs are psychologically addictive.

When you embrace sobriety, your brain chemicals will begin to rebalance. Feel-good chemicals in the brain will stabilise making you feel happier and motivated naturally without the need to consume dangerous and addictive substances.

5. You improve your focus and sharpen your priorities

When you are addicted to drugs, your mind is in a constant haze. This means you neglect key responsibilities. Your life-goals will fade away and all you will worry about is where you will get the next fix from.

Once you obtain your sobriety, you will be given the opportunity to realign your priorities so that your true best interests are being served.

Over the last few decades, a number of highly effective treatments have been developed to help you in this endeavour. Drug and alcohol rehab clinics offer many of these treatments when you attend their 28-day programme.

Some of these treatments that help to improve your focus include:

• Mindfulness-based therapy
• Cognitive behavioural therapy
• Family counselling
• One-to-one therapy/counselling
• Motivational enhancement therapy

All of these therapies help you to improve your focus on building healthy habits that will allow you to sustain your recovery. We believe that an ability to focus on the things that really matter in life is key to remaining sober.

6. You will build positive character traits that will help in all areas of your life

In order to remain sober, you will need to build positive character traits such as resolve, discipline, perseverance and coping skills. All of these traits will help you not only in your sobriety but in all areas of your life.

You will begin to identify and then reduce negative character traits such as selfishness, dishonesty and being over-critical of yourself. It’s true that sobriety will allow you to become an all-rounder better human being.

7. You are now able to achieve your life goals

Before your addiction, it’s likely you held honourable life goals that now seem like a distant memory. Sobriety gives you a second chance to pursue these goals. Sobriety means the sky literally is the limit. You can pursue countless opportunities such as giving birth to children, opening your own business, learning new skills and taking part in sporting events.

Getting sober with our help

ADT Healthcare offers a free helpline for people seeking drug and alcohol rehabs in the UK. Beating addiction unaided isn’t easy, and this uphill battle is rendered significantly easier when you choose to attend a residential rehab clinic.

When you attend a rehab clinic, you will receive all the care and support you could possibly require. Meeting your recovery goals will be vastly simplified. You will learn to identify and cope with relapse triggers, meaning it is far less likely that you will relapse once you have returned home.

Contact us today on 0800 138 0722 for assistance in selecting a drug and alcohol rehab clinic that’s right for your needs.

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