Tips for Recovery-Boosting Sleep

You can’t be your best in recovery unless you care for your mind, body and spirit – and quality sleep can strengthen those connections. Regular, restorative sleep will allow you to feel present, energetic, focused and emotionally balanced. Sleep will also enable you to adopt a more positive mindset to overcome any challenges or setbacks along the way. 

Unfortunately, it’s pretty common for people in recovery to struggle with sleep. This is mainly because addiction as well as co-occurring mental illnesses can disrupt your body’s circadian rhythms. Plus, a long history of abusing drugs or alcohol often leads to poor sleep hygiene. Luckily, these steps you can help enhance your recovery and improve your shut-eye. 

• Avoid long, late-day naps. While a short nap (20 minutes or less) can help you feel revitalized and refreshed, a longer nap can cause you to feel groggy and disrupt your sleep cycle. It’s also wise to avoid naps after 3 pm, which will do more harm than good.  
• Stick to a regular sleep schedule. This means doing your best to wake up and turn in the same time each night – even on weekends. 
• Create a ritual for bedtime. Whether you do gentle yoga poses, stretch, meditate, read, listen to calming music or soak in a bath, that half hour prior to bedtime should consist of something that relaxes your mind and body. 
• Watch what you eat or drink. Eating too much or too little before bedtime can interfere with your sleep. If you’re looking for a bedtime snack, choose a healthy food combo that will fill you up and help you feel energized in the morning. Some examples: apple with nut butter, cottage cheese and peaches, whole-grain toast with avocado or a banana and a handful of sunflower seeds. Also, avoid nicotine and caffeine, which disrupt sleep cycles. 
• Exercise every day. A regular exercise routine has been study-proven to help you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly through the night. Just be careful not to work out too close to bedtime, as you may be too amped up to fall asleep. 
• Eliminate light and sound. This means shutting off smartphones, computers, laptops and other electronics. To block outside light and noise, consider using blackout curtains, eyeshades, earplugs, “white noise” machines, humidifiers, fans and other devices. 

Healing the Mind, Body and Spirit

At Complete Harmony, we use traditional and holistic therapies to help clients rediscover their mind body connection and address  the secondary health challenges that complicate substance abuse. To learn more about our cutting-edge treatments, call 866-930-4673.

Low Self-Esteem and Stress Linked to Opioid Use

Is there a link between life stressors – health, money, work, family and romance – low self-esteem and opioid use? This is what researchers from Binghamton University set out to discover when they surveyed 1,000-plus adults.

The results: Researchers found that high life stressors plus poor self-esteem does increase the chances for opioid use. This is partly because opioids increase the effects of dopamine and serotonin in the brain – and people with low self-esteem are attracted to the drugs because they have the ability to change how they feel about themselves, noted Binghamton University graduate student and researcher Damla Aksen, in a statement.

“In other words, opioids may serve as self-medication in response to social stressors and its cascade of negative consequences,” Aksen said.

The researchers hope these findings will urge addiction professionals to be mindful of the risk factors that contribute to opioid abuse and work to educate individuals about the particular life stressors that increase an individual’s risk for opioid abuse.

More About Stress

What might be a stressor for one person may not be a trigger for you. Stress is individual and so is the way in which you best cope with it. In addition to caring for your mental health – getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, making time for yourself, taking breaks – you might need to experiment with a few stress-reducing activities to find out what work best for you. 

Some ideas:

• Exercising
• Listening to music
• Reading a book
• Writing
• Meditation
• Massage
• Sober socialization or spending time with a friend or relative
• Talking with a trained mental health professional

Holistic Therapies for Recovery & Stress ManagementIf stress and low self-esteem has contributed to your opioid abuse, Complete Harmony has a recovery path to help your physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Our model for hybrid addiction treatment includes comfortable detox and holistic therapies like massage, meditation and yoga. To learn more, call today: 866-930-4673.