Why do people get sober? The reasons vary on a person-to-person basis, but most people get sober because their lives have become completely unmanageable, and because if they continue to use as they have been, they face one of three unavoidable fates – jail, institutionalization or death. Some people choose to get sober so they can save tarnished romantic relationships. Others choose to get sober to salvage what is left of their professional lives. Still others get sober because their primary doctor looked them square in the face and said, “If you don’t stop drinking, your liver is going to give out and you are going to die.” Regardless of why, many people who enter into a program of recovery do so because they feel they have no other options left.
Of course, for those who are still active in their addictions, making the decision is far from easy. Addiction is a disease of denial after all, one that eradicates all semblance of rhyme and reason, replacing the ability to make good judgement calls with unrelenting justifications and rationalizations. Those who are in the throes of active addiction are convinced that without continuing to use their substance of choice, they will be in a far worse off place. To the loved ones of the addict or alcoholic – the observers – this way of thinking seems nothing short of insane. But for the one experiencing the disease firsthand, this is reality.
If you have personally been suffering at the hands of a substance abuse disorder of any severity, and you have been considering seeking the professional treatment you know deep down that you need, you are probably still searching for reasons why you should avoid committing to recovery. you won’t be able to drink or use drugs recreationally for the remainder of your life. What kind of life is that? You will become a boring, stoic version of your former fun self. People won’t want to spend time with you, and you won’t have any time to spend anyways, because you’ll spend all of your free time in dismal Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, brewing stale coffee and chain-smoking cigarettes. If you find yourself contemplating thoughts like these, quit it. We have compiled a list of 6 not-so-common reasons why you should probably get sober sooner rather than later.
6 Unique Reasons to Get Sober
- You’ll be able to experience your pain. Off the back, this might not seem ideal. Pain is uncomfortable, and because of this many people tend to shy away from it whenever possible. if you have been abusing chemical substances, there is a good chance that you have grown accustomed to self-medicating your issues rather than facing them head-on. Self-medicating is easier (until it isn’t). Rather than deal with uncomfortable emotions, you can simply numb them out by throwing back a few or getting high. The thing is, anesthetizing your feelings doesn’t resolve them or make them go away. It simply buries them deeper inside of you, where they grow and evolve and mutate into something far more insidious. Feeling your pain might seem undesirable now, but it will greatly improve your emotional health in the long run.
- You won’t wake up feeling like everyone in the world hates you. If you’ve experienced substance abuse firsthand, you are probably all too familiar with that feeling. You wake up early in the morning, unsure of what exactly happened the night before (pretty sure, however, that whatever took place made you look like a complete and total idiot). You call your friends to check in – maybe they pick up the phone, maybe they don’t. If they don’t, you start to viciously overthink and dig yourself into a deep and insurmountable hole of victimization and self-pity. When you get sober, you grant yourself the newfound ability to wake up like a normal person. Believe it or not, normal people wake up feeling fine, drink a cup of coffee and carry on with their day.
- You will once again experience what it’s like to laugh at something authentically. Just because you are struggling with a substance abuse disorder, it doesn’t mean that your sense of humor has vacated the premises. Surely you find things funny from time to time. But there’s also a good chance that your laugh is hollow and joyless; void of authentic happiness and really just kind of sad. When you get sober, there will be a time where you experience your first true belly laugh in recovery. There are few things as rewarding.
- Sober sex is really where it’s at. Excuse us for being crass but engaging in sexual activity while you are heavily intoxicated is probably not very fun for either involved party. While it is recommended that men and women who are new to recovery remain abstinent as they work through the 12-steps (so as to avoid unnecessary complications and potential relapse triggers), once you do get to a place of healthy emotional function and you engage in sober sex for what might be the first time in years, you will quickly understand what you have been missing.
- Your parents will finally be able to get a good night’s sleep. Or your spouse, or your son and/or daughter, or whoever it is that you are keeping up at night – because it’s definitely someone. Because substance abuse and dependency are so unpredictable, those who are in the throes of active addiction often behave completely erratically. Maybe you stay out all night, slithering in the door at 3am and hoping no one will notice. Maybe you head to the local dive bar as soon as they open their doors, and decide to drive home only when you have been cut off by the same concerned bartender that cut you off yesterday at around noon. Once you make the decision to get sober, you will be immensely reducing the amount of time your loved ones spend worrying about you and your safety.
- Your weight will actually stabilize. Depending on what substance you are abusing, there is a good chance that you have either lost a significant amount of weight or gained a significant amount of weight. Not only the substance abuse seriously mess with your appetite and your metabolism, but the unavoidable lifestyle changes that go hand in hand with active addiction probably mean that you are either spending the majority of your time nodding out on the couch or frantically running around your apartment, cleaning every nook and cranny for the 40th time that day. When you get sober, you will be surprised by how quickly this happens. Your body will return to a normal state of functioning, and over time it will work to mend and repair itself from the inside out.
Intrepid Detox Residential – Begin Your Personal Journey of Recovery
If you are still on the fence about beginning your own personal journey of addiction recovery, feel free to reach out to Intrepid Detox Residential at any point in time. Seeing as the majority of our support staff members have been exactly where you are now, we can collectively think of hundreds of reasons why sobriety is always the better option. Our medical detox program is geared towards helping men and women of all ages overcome the devastation that goes hand in hand with substance abuse and going on to live the rewarding and fulfilled lives they deserve. We look forward to speaking with you soon and answering any additional questions you may have.