Sure you’re going to feel better. Your physical health will thank you. Your mental health will thank you. Your friends and family are going to thank you. People who don’t know you or anything about your past are thanking you without even knowing it by supporting who you have become through sobriety. For some people, that isn’t always enough.
Addiction is about reward. Chemical substances which enter the brain through the bloodstream stimulate the production of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine transmit messages of pleasure to key centers of the brain including the reward center. Pleasure feels good. Pleasure is rewarding. As the brain receives wave after wave of these signals with every hit and every drink, it stores the association deeper into memory: pleasure feels good, pleasure is rewarding, pleasure comes from drugs and alcohol, drugs and alcohol are rewarding. Changing those deeply embedded neural pathways takes time and effort. Every part of the treatment and recovery process is designed around that very simple equation- rewiring the way the brain interprets pleasure. For that reason, sobriety often has to mean more than just not drinking or picking up drugs. After all, there was little more reason one needed to get intoxicated.
Here are some of the benefits (pleasurable rewards) you will receive the longer you stay sober.
- You are going to look better. Each day without drugs and alcohol is like a little detox for your body. People pay good money to do juice cleanses and detoxes all the time to achieve some of the same effects. Unfortunately, detox from drugs and alcohol is a little more severe than detoxing from cupcakes and pizza. However, your complexion will change, your bloating will go down, and you’ll get a nice healthy glow.
- You are going to feel better. Physically and mentally your brain and body is restoring itself one cell at a time. By month 6 you are going to feel a clarity and physical capability you haven’t felt in a long time. It will be as if you can feel the toxins leaving your body and your brain coming back into full communication. The longer you stay sober the more you can accomplish.
- You no longer feel helpless. In fact, you’re going to become helpful. Your experience, strength, and hope from your journey of recovery will inspire others. If you have just one day sober, that’s one day more than millions of people out there struggling. Each day that you practice using the tools for staying sober, you can encourage someone else to do the same.
Hired Power sees the miracle of transformation which takes place through recovery every single day. If you or a loved one are in need of help and don’t know where to start, call Hired Power. From interventions to post-treatment monitoring services, we are here to help you every step of the way. For more information, call 800-910-9299.
