Tips For Living Sober When Your Family Are Testing Your Patience

Nicholas Conn

Nicholas Conn is a leading industry addiction expert who runs the UK’s largest addiction advisory service and is regularly featured in the national press, radio and TV.

Tips For Living Sober When Your Family Are Testing Your Patience

The festive period is a time for family and togetherness. For some, this can be too much to cope with.

We don't all have that perfect family. Some of us don't have anybody at all. Some of us will be spending our Christmas and New Year in a rehab centre because we feel like we are failing to keep it together. However, for those of us who are doing the traditional Christmas, spending it with every relative at once, then we understand that it's not easy. Christmas is a holiday that has been commercialised to the full force of the law. As such, there are parts of it specifically designed to tug at our heartstrings to make us spend money. That is a lot of pressure. Especially if you don't have money, time, or someone to spend your Christmas with. When you have 40 relatives crammed into your granny's house, it's even worse. Especially for those who are lacking funds. Mix all this up with recovery from addiction and you have a serious recipe for disaster. Here at Help4Addiction, we are always ready to support you and your recovery. Here are some tips for living sober while your family are testing your patience this holiday season.

Tips for Staying Sober No Matter How Little Patience You Have Left

The longer the festive season wears on, the worse it's going to get. Here are some top tips for staying sober, no matter how little patience you have left.

1 – Remember, rehab is an option

You don't have to go to rehab for a full 28 day intensive period every time you go. You can go to rehab for as little as a few days at a time. You can go for an overnight if you want to, and if you can find a rehab clinic with space. Rehab is always an option if you want to top up your toolkit for dealing with recovery. If you really are stuck in a house with 40 relatives then going for an overnight stay? You won't even be missed. Contact the Help4Addiction team to find the nearest or best rehab clinic for you. Our team are online and happy to help.

2 – Remove yourself from the situation

You don't have to stay. Don't let ancient relatives guilt trip you into something you really don't enjoy. Something that is putting pressure on you and making you feel like you might relapse. Just don't do it. Just go home. Unless, of course, they've come to invade your home, in which case go somewhere else. Check yourself into a nice hotel. Enjoy some spa time while they bicker over the turkey. You don't need to stay.

3 – Refer the offenders to us

If you are feeling heavily weighed upon and it is making you want to pick up a bottle or use a drug, then refer the person who's making you feel this way to the Help4Addiction pages. We have a specific section on how you can help others to stay sober during this difficult season. Send them to our pages based around how to help loved ones trapped in addiction. This may remind them of their obligations and duty of care to you. It also reminds them that you're not able to cope with the specific pressures of the holiday season in the same way that they are. That could be all it takes to change how they treat you.

4 – Check on yourself

Remind yourself of what your triggers are. Check on yourself to see if any of these triggers are being pulled. If they are. You must find a way to make sure that this doesn't happen moving forward. Perhaps you must avoid a certain person or certain situations where drugs or alcohol are involved? Do what you have to do to protect yourself based on the results of checking in with yourself.

5 – Watch your health

Focusing on your health can be a good way to ignore most of the things which are affecting you. Listen to your body and how it feels in any given situation and respond in a way that best suits you, not in a way that best suits other people. Watching your health means getting enough sleep, ensuring you are eating the correct amount of vegetables and fruit and taking enough exercise everyday. The holidays can encourage us to become sedentary, which can have a negative impact on our health. Get out for a walk, a jog, or get to the gym and it might make you feel better.

Call Us If You Need Us

As ever you can contact the help for addiction team at any point throughout the holidays should you feel you need extra support. We are here to listen.

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