The earliest phases of mental health and substance abuse recovery are critical. During treatment, you may have learned several coping strategies to manage symptoms and triggers and maintain focus on long-term goals. One of those tactics is staying busy in recovery. But it’s easy to accidentally replace one unhealthy mechanism with another one.
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How Staying Busy in Recovery Helps
They say old habits die hard. But they don’t tell you that when they do die, it’s not a once-and-done process. Overcoming old habits, especially regarding mental health and substance abuse, is a daily and constant investment in today and your future.
People in recovery are learning new habits and setting new routines daily. Some familiar patterns and triggers reappear in our minds when there’s nothing to do and nowhere to go. Your brain chemistry still remembers old habits and begins to recall what it was like before you committed to recovery.
By staying busy and connected to a supportive community, you create fewer opportunities to quietly focus on unhealthy habits and expose yourself to potentially dangerous triggers.
The Wrong Way to Stay Busy
Overworking your mind and your body can be detrimental. What you don’t want to do is replace one unhealthy habit with another. You cannot drive yourself to exhaustion and overwhelm just to run from past troubles.
Take intentional steps to avoid burnout and becoming overwhelmed. These circumstances can lead to increased mental health symptoms related to anxiety and depression, thus potentially triggering another cycle of unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Learn to balance what you must do to maintain recovery and what is too much for your body and mental well-being.
Tips For Staying Busy for People In Recovery
Meditation
Relapse begins in the mind. It’s essential to keep your mind as busy as your physical body. Engaging in mental health exercises like meditation can renew your inner peace and calm your mind.
Maintain 12-Step Program Routines
Stay connected and involved with your group therapy peers and 12-step support meetings. Official studies report that long-term recovery success is supported by continual and active participation in 12-step recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).[1]
Physical Exercise
Humans have a built-in pleasure system in the mind when endorphins are released. People in recovery may have experienced this system at work due to substances, but physical exercise can also have positive effects, sometimes described as “the runner’s high.”
An official medical study implemented an exercise program for substance abuse sufferers thrice weekly for several months. After a one-year assessment, it was reported that 25% of those who completed the intervention were now abstinent, and 50% reported less substance use.[2]
Get Creative
Revisits treasured hobbies and activities like musical instruments, crafts, and artistic pursuits to not only occupy the mind and the body simultaneously but develop a more profound sense of purpose and improve quality of life.
Be Grateful
Keep a gratitude journal to log everything you are grateful for and track your progress over time. Here you can mention material things, health, safety, relationships, spiritual progress, and anything you must be grateful for.
Self Care
A critical piece of staying busy in recovery is ensuring that your mental, emotional, and spiritual needs are being met in addition to your physical needs.
Trouble Staying Busy In Recovery? We Can Help.
If you are a loved one who needs an extra helping hand and maintaining safe and sober activities, contact our team for more ideas or professional support.
Sources:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1852519/ [2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20529968/
