What Can You Do When You're Trying to Find Your Identity Outside of Treatment?

Addiction can consume our lives to such an extent that it becomes difficult to recognize ourselves. That's in addition to the numerous negative effects that addiction has on us and our loved ones, both physically and mentally. Addiction becomes personified through our actions and decisions, and as we get sober, it may be challenging to find our identities outside of recovery. Though it may be hard to find your identity outside of treatment, doing so can help you grow, stay sober, and enjoy your newfound life of recovery. 

West Coast Recovery Centers is a nationally accredited drug, alcohol, and behavioral health rehabilitation in Southern California. We understand the process of mental health and addiction recovery can be strenuous and overwhelming. The journey after treatment can be strenuous too, but finding your identity post-treatment can help. We can help you determine your recovery path, connect you with the community, and start a new life with your newfound identity of sobriety today. 

The Isolating Nature of Addiction

Addiction is, by nature, an isolating disease. Unfortunately, it can be isolating before and after treatment. When someone is dependent on a substance, it becomes their world. If left untreated, people will very likely choose it over their friends, family, loved ones, careers, responsibilities, and almost every other area of their lives. The lack of connection we begin to experience with the people in our lives causes us to fall deeper into addiction. Before we know it, everything in our lives is connected to that addiction. The things we do, the places we go, and the people we spend time with all further our dependency. 

So, how do we pull ourselves out of the isolating pit of addiction? How can we pull ourselves out when we can barely recognize ourselves in the mirror? These are the struggles most of us face throughout the treatment and recovery process. 

How Might You Lose Sight of Your Identity in Active Addiction?

Living a life free from active addiction requires your full commitment. For a while, especially in early recovery, it's everything you live and breathe day in and day out. There will be times when your entire world revolves around your sobriety, making it difficult to find a balance. It can be even more challenging to find a balance when struggling with co-occurring disorders. 

Unfortunately, addiction is always a part of us. However, that doesn't mean it has to define you. Upon entering treatment, you may not even recognize yourself. Further, people sometimes continue questioning themselves when leaving treatment. This is normal. Finding your identity will take time, and that's okay. 

Seeking Addiction Treatment

Deciding to seek addiction treatment is only the first step in a longer process. First, we must recognize and accept it. Once we do, the treatment process can begin. Meanwhile, treatment is most effective when it's tailored to the individual client. For that reason, we at West Coast Recovery Centers offer clients a wide variety of traditional and holistic treatment methods to help them recover from addiction. These methods help clients recover from substance use disorder (SUD) as well as a variety of co-occurring mental health conditions. 

Some of the treatment methods you may experience during your time at West Coast Recovery include: 

• Individual and group therapy sessions 
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) 
• Case management services 
• Substance abuse psychoeducational 

Taking Time to Reflect on Your Journey During Treatment

Along with these treatment services and evidence-based modalities, we also incorporate a number of holistic practices into our treatment programs. That includes mindfulness, meditation, and yoga. One of the most significant benefits these holistic practices will provide is the opportunity to reflect on your journey. 

Healing from addiction requires one to go through and process a variety of complex emotions. Remembering past traumas and getting to the root cause of addiction can be challenging. Reflection allows you to reconnect with things that were once important to you, especially before addiction took over. Reflecting on your life, family, career, healing, and growth are some of the first critical steps to take when finding your identity post-treatment. 

Separating Your Identity From Your Treatment

Now, it may be difficult, but it's critical to separate your identity from your treatment. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can do this. This may include taking up a hobby you once had before addiction. Taking the time for creative expression, self-reflection, mindfulness, and self-care can help you focus on your personhood while tackling your struggle with addiction. 

Finding Your Identity in Sobriety

Sobriety is about so much more than abstaining from substance use. Being sober is also about making a variety of healthy life changes that improve your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. As you become more comfortable in your newfound life of sobriety, you'll slowly start to recognize yourself again. You'll rediscover your interests and passions and be able to reconnect with the people in your life. 

To learn more about that possibility of recovery and the excitement of finding your identity in sobriety, consider treatment today. 

Addiction is an isolating condition that can completely flip someone's life upside down. We lose touch with our loved ones, our lives, and ourselves. Over time, we begin being unable to recognize ourselves in the mirror, but treatment is a restorative journey. It gets to the root cause of one's struggle with addiction and heals our wounds. However, to achieve sobriety, we have to live and breathe the recovery program. Doing so can make it challenging for us to separate ourselves from the program, but sober life will reintroduce you to yourself and will help you find your identity post-treatment. Call (760) 492-6509 to start finding the person you were before addiction took over your life today.