Scared of Being Sober: Why Is Sobriety So Hard?

There’s not a fetishization of historic chateaux or buying futures,” says Bradford Taylor, owner of Ordinaire, a natural wine bar and shop in Oakland, California. “It appeals to people with less income, but also maybe with a little bit more skepticism” about those aspects of the traditional wine scene. So it’s unsurprising that non-alcoholic alternatives seem to be popping up everywhere. Early this year, Stacey Mann and Summer Phoenix opened Stay, a non-alcoholic cocktail bar in Los Angeles, joining a number of similar bars and bottle shops across the city. They have customers of all ages, but the average visitor is between their mid-20s and mid-30s, they say. January was nuts,” Mann says, boosted by drinkers committed to avoiding alcohol for Dry January.

Fear of Sobriety

Hoarding disorder was once considered a subtype of OCD but is now its own diagnosis. People with a hoarding disorder experience distress when they can’t collect items or have to discard them, despite the hazards that collected items might present. The intolerance of uncertainty is a known factor fear of being sober in hoarding disorder. Other studies find that this fear of the unknown is a risk factor for depression, prolonged grief disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While these may occur in specific circumstances, like the death of a loved one, they also can occur in other contexts.

• The fear of being sober is a very common fear in recovery.
• You can expect certain alcohol withdrawal symptoms such as sleep disruption to occur, though some people can experience seizures and other severe symptoms.
• Most alcoholics do feel like they have a silver tongue, and many do.

Choose a Therapy

You make it up to everyone you ever hurt by never being that person again. You’ll get significantly better at identifying the kind of people you genuinely enjoy being around, which is much harder to do when everyone is vibing off overpriced cocktails in dimly lit bars. And that’s going to turn you into a human magnet. Don’t expect to accomplish any big self-realizations in the beginning.

Feel What Sobriety Feels Like for Yourself

But you can deal with it and prevent it from hurting you any longer. Recognizing that fear is present is the first step in moving beyond it. The fear of being sober is often about dealing with your loss of a coping mechanism for “real” life. You’re afraid you don’t have the tools and resources to help you to maintain your sobriety.

For instance, if your substance use disorder is diagnosed as mild, an outpatient program might be recommended. Outpatient programs vary widely but typically provide a designated number of hours of treatment per week at a treatment center or facility. For more severe addiction issues, healthcare professionals may suggest inpatient care, which requires you to live onsite at the hospital or facility for the duration of treatment. First and foremost, find a treatment program that has a positive track record in terms of patients completing treatment and maintaining sobriety.

I lost my brother, I moved to another country, I left AA, I bought a house, and I started a new career as a writer working for myself — all incredibly stressful events and circumstances. But I coped and I feel infinitely stronger for doing it on my own without drugs and alcohol to inhibit my progress. After detox, it’s easy to come to the realization that there are people who are still standing by your side that probably should not be.

There are many more interventions that may be used to help you recover from substance misuse. As previously mentioned, no one treatment is effective for all people. Take a look at our state of the art treatment center.

Part of alcohol and drug withdrawal does involve insomnia, but this is temporary. During treatment, you will be working on achieving balance in your physical and mental well-being through nutrition, exercise, counseling, and activities. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Your treatment center will address your ability to sleep through the night along with your other fears, cravings, and physical or psychological symptoms. It is true that you may lose your old drinking and drug-using buddies.

Begin Healing at Recovery Ranch TN Today

• Feeling scared is normal when you’re making such a significant life change.
• If you haven’t felt what sobriety feels like, you can.
• People who fear the unknown may go to great lengths to seek certainty, even though this relief may only be temporary.
• Your job is to recognize the fears for what they are – little lies we tell ourselves to keep from changing.
• Many of the reports are giving recommendations to countries on what they should do.