During addiction treatment or recovery, a person is likely to experience times of high stress. With or without addiction, most people deal with stress of some type at various times of their lives. When people with addiction lack proper stress management skills, they may be at a higher risk of developing complications, including relapse. At Atlanta Detox Center, we encourage you to embrace addiction recovery one step at a time, which may include learning about the importance of stress management.
What Is Stress Management?
The truth is that many people struggle with stress management. When stress occurs, they don’t know how to react or handle it. Instead, they shut down, exhibit intense anxiety, or may lash out. These reactions don’t help the situation, and it creates stress on a person’s mental health. In a healthy situation, stress causes a person to have heightened senses, but they can use those emotions to help them work through the challenging situation.
When stress goes on for too long with no improvement, a person may turn to drugs or alcohol to numb some of the symptoms that they have. The goal of stress management education at Atlanta Detox Center is to teach specific steps to reduce the negative impact of addiction.
How Can You Properly Manage Stress?
There is no method or technique to eliminate all forms of stress from your life. Yet, there are steps you can take to improve the way you handle stress. Some of the most common ways people can learn to properly manage stress include:
- Understanding addiction triggers – Addiction triggers are high-stress situations that impact a person’s desire to use drugs or alcohol. Recognize these triggers, avoid them when you can, and learn how to deal with them when you are unable to avoid them.
- Developing coping mechanisms for high stress – By using therapies learned in addiction treatment at Atlanta Detox Center, people can learn to recognize inaccurate or negative thoughts, so they have the opportunity to change them before negative outcomes occur.
- Living in the moment – For those battling stress, it’s often easy to focus on the “what if” situations. Living in the moment helps to reduce that sense of fear and doom.
- Having a mentor or professional to help – When life seems difficult, having a professional, a friend, or even a recovery group to turn to can help.
- Learning methods for defeating stress – When you cannot eliminate stress, use exercise, laughter, and other enjoyable activities to break through the damage it causes.
Stress management is about recognizing that the stressor is present and finding a way to continue living a sober lifestyle even through it. During treatment at Atlanta Detox Center, you’ll learn about stress triggers, which are the specific people, places, experiences, memories, or feelings that you have that trigger the desire to use. Learning to avoid these stress triggers will be some of the most essential components of stress management.
How Does Stress Management Fit into Addiction Recovery?
At Atlanta Detox Center, you will work with a team of professionals to help rid your body of drugs and alcohol. Once that happens, the goal becomes keeping you healthy long-term. For that to occur, it is necessary to develop strong stress management skills. That is why this is often a component of the therapy you’ll receive in our program. You gain access to a range of therapies, including:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Individual therapy program
- Group therapy program
- Family therapy program
Each of these therapies helps you learn how to manage stress and overcome threats of relapse. It’s an empowering way to continue to heal.
Find Your Way Forward with Help from Atlanta Detox Center
Stress management is a significant part of managing a healthy lifestyle. For those with addiction, stress management is a key skill for your recovery. Depending on the severity of your addiction, your treatment may begin with detox. No matter your treatment needs, start on the path towards addiction recovery today by contacting Atlanta Detox Center at 844-658-0927 or reaching out to us online.
