Getting sober and staying that way can be a scary prospect. It means changing behaviors and lifestyles and learning new ways of coping with life stressors. However, being sober will improve one’s life more than they may realize. Keep reading to see how people’s lives improve once they stop drinking or doing drugs.
Benefits of Staying Sober
There are many benefits to staying sober, ones you might feel right away, with others gradually showing up. Here are eight reasons sobriety makes your life healthier, more fulfilling, and more enjoyable.
1. You avoid alcohol or drug-related health problems.
No one wants to think they could contract liver disease, cancer, or other substance-related health problems; however, people are diagnosed with these health problems every day. If you abuse drugs and alcohol, it increases your risk of developing one of them. When you’re sober, those worries can be reduced dramatically.
2. You enjoy better sleep.
Getting good restful sleep is integral to your health and well-being. When you’re sleep-deprived, you feel irritable, foggy, and your health suffers. Being on drugs or alcohol can keep you up late at night or may make you sleep more than usual. When you’re clean, you can establish a healthy sleep schedule to help you wake up feeling refreshed every day.
3. Your diet improves.
Drugs and alcohol can cause you to eat haphazardly, which includes sweet, salty, or greasy foods. When you’re sober, you can eat much better and have fewer cravings, particularly after a night of smoking marijuana.
4. You lose weight.
Alcohol has a lot of calories; couple that with the foods mentioned above and you have a recipe for disaster with weight gain. The infamous “beer belly” is synonymous with drinking alcohol, which carries its own health issues. Once you’re sober, you probably lose weight without even trying.
5. You keep more of your paycheck.
To keep up with an addiction, people have to buy expensive alcohol and drugs, and to keep up with their habit may even turn to criminal activities to get the money to continue getting their fix. Besides saving money when they become sober, they also are in a better position to make sound financial decisions. It allows them to do things they couldn’t do before, such as go on vacation or finish a degree.
6. You have better relationships.
Being drunk or high alters the way you connect with others, especially when you can’t remember events after a night of binge drinking. When you’re clean, your mind is clear, and you can be physically and mentally present with friends and loved ones. You also see the importance of preserving those relationships.
7. You find healthy ways of coping.
Since drugs and alcohol dulls your senses, it becomes a crutch to coping with life’s stresses. When you stop those substances, you find more healthy ways of dealing with life, instead of medicating them away. Addicts think taking drugs will make all their problems disappear, but it’s an illusion. Commitment to sobriety enables people to solve their problems instead of just ignoring them via drugs and alcohol.
8. Your self-image improves.
If someone needs drugs and alcohol to cope with life, it usually means they have low self-esteem and self-worth. When an addict gets clean and stays that way, they start to rebuild their self-image. The commitment and determination to stay sober and succeeding at it is a huge boost to people’s morale.
Need help? Contact Ardu Recovery Center
Getting clean is not easy, but the rewards are well worth it. If you or a loved one is ready to take back their life and their health, contact us. We offer customized programs that include a holistic approach to addiction treatment and support that allows an individual to detox from drugs and alcohol and develop the skills to stay sober.
