Sometimes it’s tough to stay sober when everyone and everything around you is disrupting your day-to-day life with messages of anti-sobriety. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed with stimuli as a person in recovery—we totally get it here at Landmark Recovery. It can be especially hard to stay sober in Sin City.
Being exposed to triggers or behaviors you no longer find yourself participating in is part of living normal life. We want everyone who walks out of our doors to feel like they have the emotional and mental strength to fight their urges because they have the sufficient antifragility to fight the urge.
So, how do you stay sober in Las Vegas when you’ll be hanging with people who aren’t following the same lifestyle as you?
- Talk to a doctor about the Sinclair Method. The Sinclair Method isn’t for everyone dealing with alcoholism, but if that’s an addiction that you struggle with, the Sinclair Method might work very well. The principle behind the Sinclair Method is that you take a naltrexone pill before going out and participating in drinking. The naltrexone pill will essentially take away the ability for you to feel good when drinking and so it tells your brain that you get nothing out of it anymore, leading to you ramping down your habit. It’s a fondly recommended treatment by many of its adherents, but it requires talking to a doctor to see if that method is right for you.
- Explain to your friends and family that you desire greater accountability. Having friends and family around that are supportive of your efforts to get sober and stay sober is a great thing to have. If they’re at the neighborhood barbecue, you can ask them to help watch over you and make sure you don’t slide into addictive behaviors around a large amount of temptation. They don’t necessarily have to abstain from these activities in order to help you with this.
- Find a favorite non-alcoholic drink and don’t be afraid to ask for it. Sometimes it’s fun to go out with friends, and sometimes these friends want to enjoy a drink with each other. You could be in a group of people and be the only one not drinking. Why not come up with a simple non-alcoholic drink that you can ask for from a bartender or waiter/waitress?
- Spend the time you would abuse substances doing something productive or that generates endorphins, like working out. Why not get out in the sun and soak up some Vitamin D while getting the endorphins pumping through your body? Exercise is a phenomenal way to achieve that euphoric feeling in a completely healthy way.
- Consider cutting friends that pressure you out of your life. Sometimes you come to the tough decision of cutting out friends that aren’t healthy to have around. It’s deeply important that your friends and family are supportive of your recovery journey.
- Talk to a therapist to receive practical and psychological advice on staying sober. Sometimes we need someone to talk things out with. A therapist is a great option, and they can give you practical advice for staying sober in the face of temptation. Not only that, but therapists can help with root cause treatment in finding ways to treat addiction for individuals.
- Live an antifragile life. As mentioned earlier, antifragility is a great concept to understand for those in recovery. The core principle is that something that’s antifragile gains from disorder. Living an antifragile life is about learning from everything and everyone around you—you’re constantly developing new ideas and ways to stay sober while building up the strength to do it the more you refuse to participate in addictive behaviors. It’s sort of like emotional exposure therapy, but you get stronger against your past addictions every time you say no.
Learn more about staying sober in Las Vegas
Interested in getting support while staying sober in Las Vegas? Give us a call at Landmark Recovery today at 888-448-0302 for ways we can help you get your life back on track. We provide the resources you need to get sober, stay sober, and be strong in the face of temptation.
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