Addiction can impact every area of your life. The toxins in drugs will weaken your body, your mind will be clouded by the chemicals and your social and emotional abilities will be affected by symptoms like irritability and pain from withdrawal.

Recovery is all about reversing the negative effects of substance use and preventing relapse. In treatment and after completing inpatient care, you’ll focus on building life skills that set you up (mind and body) for success and prevent stress that could trigger a relapse.

In this article we’ll cover the importance of a variety of life skills including self-care related skills (like balanced nutrition) and social-emotional wellbeing skills (like stress management and communication). You’ll find these life skills in addiction recovery are life-long habits that will help you become the best version of yourself.

The importance of life skills for recovery

Life skills in addiction recovery are not only tools to assist with overcoming substance use, but skills to hone that will propel you into a successful future. Life skills that you developing as part of your treatment you can carry over into your daily life to experience the following benefits.

• Improved physical health
• Less stress
• Fewer mental health issues
• Better interpersonal communication
• Healthier relationships
• Fewer conflicts with family, friends and coworkers
• Career success
• Easier time achieving sobriety and personal goals
• Intrinsic change that puts you in charge of your life

Many people who struggle with substance use disorders feel that they are a slave to drugs or alcohol. This is due to the addictive nature of the chemicals themselves and drug-use habits. Breaking free from an addiction puts you back in charge and fostering life skills gives you personal agency over your decisions. When you become the master of your actions, you can create the life you want instead of letting life happen to you.

Essential life skills in addiction recovery

There are numerous life skills in recovery that are of importance. The list below will offer the basic life skills for adults to improve their daily routines and actionable steps to do so.

Balancing nutrition

Addiction depletes the body of important nutrients and feeling unwell due to a poor diet can easily contribute to relapse. When you are nourishing your body will natural, whole foods you’re able to take care of the body that takes care of you and avoid any diet-induced fatigue, sluggishness, aggravation, bloating, headaches and the like.

You may find that meeting with a nutritionists as part of your treatment is beneficial to healing and long-term sobriety maintenance.

Regulating sleep

In the journal Medical Hypotheses, it was found that sleep disturbances are a universal trigger for relapse to psychoactive drugs. Additionally, the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews found that insomnia and alcohol addiction were closely related, and each exacerbated the other.

Working to improve sleep habits is well worth your time during recovery. Aim to get around eight hours of sleep every night and fall asleep and wake up on a consistent schedule. The quality of your sleep also matters, so focus on a calming space with a comfortable temperature and avoid phones before bed.

Exercise

According to the Harvard Medical School, exercise can assist those in recovery for numerous reasons. The endorphins relapsed while working out can offer a natural mood boost, your body will rebuild muscle that was lost during drug use, and exercising with others also offers some serious social perks.

Budgeting

Many of those who have faced addictions are left with their finances in shambles. As you reclaim your body, it’s also important to reclaim your bank account and mitigate the damage done by the expense of substance abuse. 

Creating a monthly budget based on your income and expenses gives you control over how you spend and save. You’ll have a clear picture of how you’re prioritizing your expenses and the freedom to use any expendable income how you wish. 

Stress management

Stress management is a broad category of life skills for addiction recovery and can include anything from positive self-affirming talk to gardening. Anything that promotes self-care and wellbeing without imposing additional demands on your time and energy can decrease your stress levels and your risk of relapse.

Communication

One of the most commonly mentioned life skills for adults is communication, and communication includes a broad range of behaviors such as body language, tone of voice, verbal and written communication, active listening and so forth.

Effective communication can improve relationships, career opportunities and outcomes and the ease of daily life. You can work on communication with self-reflection, role playing scenarios with a therapist or counselor and assessing real-life conversations. 

Problem-solving

If you’ve recently interviewed for a job you’re likely to have been asked about a time you made a decision or came up with a creative solution to a problem. Problem solving isn’t just an important career skill, but one of the most necessary life skills for adults. 

Recovery requires daily problem solving. For example, you may find yourself trapped at an event where alcohol is being served because your car won’t start and you need to wait for a ride. You may run into an old friend who invites you out to a bar and quickly brainstorm a way to connect without entering a place that will tempt you to relapse.

Time management

An essential skills for recovery that will spill over and benefit the rest of your life is time management. You’re likely to feel stretched by the intensity of treatment and the effort it takes to reorder the rest of your life. Practicing time management can keep recovery itself from turning into a stressor.

Get the help you need with these life skills and more through Silvermist Recovery. Contact us today to learn how to improve yourself and your life.