Although popular music and literature once hailed the mind-expanding virtues of the drug culture, alcohol and addictive drugs actually act as a shut-off valve to a person’s self-awareness. The inhibitions overcome by these substances provide emotional information for sober individuals, allowing them to grow and mature into self-directed adulthood.Emotional Knowledge Gives Direction
When you use drugs and alcohol to shut off uncomfortable feelings and pain, you also block the emotional feedback that tells you what is good about your life. Without that feedback, you lose interest, ambition, and connection with the things that allow humans to enjoy life and look forward to new experiences.
Drugs and alcohol alter your brain and actually affect your thinking. As a cover for your lack of feeling, you may have created a narrative of excuses and false realities to explain why your career and personal relationships have never progressed.
Detox, Then Get to Know Yourself
For a successful recovery, you must first rid your body of drugs and alcohol and allow your mind to sort through the narratives you have created for yourself. You need a professional to guide you in this task. Then, you must learn how to access your authentic thoughts and emotions. Here are some tips that will help you develop self-awareness:
• Ask yourself what you are feeling. Instead of trying to shut down uncomfortable emotions, try to understand why you feel that way and the impact that such feelings have on the choices you make.
• Listen and interact with others with empathy. Apply insights from such interaction to your own life.
• Identify stressful situations that may be mistaken for cravings or act as relapse triggers. Learn techniques like meditation and mindfulness to relieve them.
• Set realistic goals for yourself and recognize the small steps you take toward them. Hold yourself accountable for decisions that lead you away from your goals. This will help you construct a personal reward system for paying attention to your emotional feedback.
Developing self-awareness gives you insight into what motivates you and understanding of what intimidates and frightens you. With this knowledge, you will be able to direct your life in recovery.
Holistic Modalities That Put You in Touch With Yourself
If traditional 12-step programs have failed you in your search for self-awareness and freedom from drug and alcohol addiction, Complete Harmony’s non-traditional approach may be the treatment you need. We use evidence-based methods and holistic modalities to put you in control of your impulses, choices, and actions. Call 866-930-4673 to verify insurance coverage and begin the admissions process at our beautiful southern CA facility.
