How to Use Gratitude as a Strategy for Recovery FHE Health
Happy people arguably have one thing in common — they are grateful for what they have on any given day. As a recovering addict, developing a sense of gratitude about the things you appreciate may help you break free from the darkness of addiction. No matter what your religious or spiritual beliefs, taking some time each day to say thank you to your Higher Power is a great way to cultivate more things to be grateful for in your life. Being thankful brings more to be thankful for into your life.
What Are Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude Every Day?
- The first-line treatment in the CRISM national guideline is now buprenorphine, a medication for which we have new rapid induction methods and monthly injectable treatment options.
- Generating gratitude is a process similar to recovery – it can be threatened by negativity, resentment, and self-pity.
- If you’ve noticed your appearance starting to improve, or loved ones responding to you better, take that moment to appreciate yourself.
- Recovery allows you to explore new opportunities and make new connections without the distraction of drugs or alcohol.
- After 10 weeks of study, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives.
Recovery from opioid addiction is a long journey, and just like diabetes and blood-pressure medications, OAT is often a long-term maintenance treatment. Until 2018, physicians required a special federal “exemption” to prescribe methadone, a https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/total-alcohol-abstinence-vs-moderation/ situation with no parallel in Canadian medicine. Strict audits around adherence to guidelines that mandated frequent visits could result in a doctor losing their exemption and their ability to both care for their patients and earn a living.
- It can lead to seeing the land surrounding us as our home, not as property we own.
- Mindfulness is a practice that is increasingly used in holistic addiction treatment, but also something that can help you to be grateful separately from recovering from an addiction.
- Finding things to be grateful for in recovery helps an individual keep their mind in a positive place.
- As a child I remember the golden finches, redwing blackbirds, Baltimore orioles, and bobwhites that sang through the woods.
- It can be hard to feel grateful every day, especially as you’re going through all the ups and downs of recovery.
Focus on What you Have
In fact, many people who abuse substances to fight these feelings also suffer from co-occurring mental health disorders such as depression, which creates its own set of symptoms. Research confirms what those in recovery have long known – gratitude leads to a greater sense of well-being, happiness, and life satisfaction1. It is easy to understand why these traits would be important in long-term recovery. While the benefits of gratitude are clear, learning how to cultivate and practice gratitude can be tricky, especially early in recovery. Research shows that being thankful has tremendous benefits on your quality of life.
Four Tips to Cultivate Gratitude in Recovery
However, a substance use disorder is a disease, it’s often the result of choices you made, but choices you made without the intention to become addicted. You may have made mistakes, but you are trying and you are in recovery and getting better. Recognizing that and working to forgive yourself is an important step. At the same time, you should work to both forgive others who may have made things worse for you or said harsh things while you were addicted and work to reach closure with them. While there are many things that you can be grateful for, many people spend a considerable amount of time looking for big or important things that have meaning. It’s important to keep in mind that things don’t have to have any significance for you to be grateful for them.
Positive psychology not only impacts your mental health, but physical, spiritual and social health too. Gratitude and being grateful are terms heard often in recovery. Developing an attitude of gratitude comes easily why is gratitude important in recovery for some and for others takes some practice and habit-building. However, no matter how you come by it, practicing gratitude in your daily life can transform it from one of doom and gloom to one of peace and joy.
- For those who are recovering from substance abuse, gratitude for the things that addiction recovery brings can make it easier to stay focused on building a new life free of addictions.
- Researchers find that gratitude is especially important for individuals in SUD recovery with the goal of being abstinent.
- Taking the time to recognize what others are doing for you, no matter how small, and expressing gratitude to them, will help you to recognize their efforts and how much you are appreciated and cared for.
- Gratitude begins with becoming fully aware of our dependence on these gifts.
At its core, gratitude is about developing a state of openness and vulnerability. It allows you to appreciate what you have instead of dwelling on your difficulties. According to studies, gratitude and happiness are always strongly correlated. In one study, researchers asked one group to note the things they were grateful for.
Each day is a gift and each day sober is a new chance to appreciate those things and people in our lives that bless us. Be thankful for your sobriety and be proud of yourself for obtaining it. Your life is on the up and up and there is no turning back! If we are grateful for being sober, it is more likely we will stay that way. We will focus more on being thankful for those that helped us and less on the negatives. One of the biggest threats to being happy with what you have and being grateful for what you have is consistently trying to measure yourself against a standard of perfection.
