Tips to Stay Sober During The Holidays

If you want, you can talk to the host before the party. Give them a heads-up that you’re practicing sobriety so they can plan to have a variety of non-alcoholic drinks on hand. When you get there, remember to serve yourself so someone doesn’t accidentally give you a spiked drink that you didn’t intend on taking. Have a plan of what to say if someone does offer you an alcoholic drink, and don’t be afraid to be assertive. Don’t worry about hurting other people’s feelings.

Doing what you used to do is going to trigger a desire to use. Alcohol consumption can be common in many areas of life.

Exercise Regularly

You need to investigate and challenge the internal monologue about what you are owed and what you are lacking—some of which might be a carryover from addiction. Then you can break down those defensive walls and forgive other people, and you can approach the holiday season with a stronger sense of gratitude. Coping with the loneliness imposed by social distancing was a tough pill to swallow for many people in 2020. Levels of mental illness skyrocketed during this time, and so did addiction and relapse.

Holding onto grudges can hold us back from making true progress and enjoying what’s supposed to be a time of love and selfless tips to stay sober giving. When you take the opportunity to connect with others—to see, value and honor their experience—you exercise empathy.

Create a new routine and avoid old habits

Getting used to traveling sober can be difficult at times, but it is definitely worth it. As an addiction psychiatrist, I work with patients in all stages of recovery. For those in early recovery, staying sober can be hard. Former drinking buddies , old haunts and old habits like using alcohol and/or drugs to escape, cope or provide reward are hard to shake. These people, places and things are often also the triggers that lead to relapse and so they must be addressed in treatment and aftercare.

In this process, we commit to giving people the benefit of the doubt, to setting boundaries, and to using discernment. We may decide to trust people until they give us a reason not to.

Identify Triggers and Avoid Them

You can try to avoid the conversation, but it’s good to have a response ready in case that’s not possible. If the question comes from someone you know well, you may want to say that drugs or alcohol became a problem for you, so you’re staying away from them. If you don’t know the person well, simply saying you have to get up early the next morning or you quit for health reasons should be enough. If you have already completed a multi-staged recovery program, there is a good chance you already have a range of relapse prevention techniques in your personal toolkit. Hopefully you have had the opportunity to exercise several of these techniques, and you have a firm grasp of what works for you. Some examples include going to a meeting and sharing about where you are at, calling a friend, playing the tape through, or going on a long walk outdoors. If you are in need of additional advice, we are available to offer some at any point in time.