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Recovery is a transitional process as someone begins to move on from their own previous addictions or unhealthy relationships with drugs, alcohol, gambling, or any other kind of addictive substance or practice. As someone begins to work each day to eliminate the need for these substances or practices, it is easy to look for things that can help fill the void of what they are letting go of in their lives. However, this can lead to the idea of replacement as someone may eliminate their need to drink, but instead, pick up smoking or shopping in its place in order to achieve a similar effect in themselves. This can lead to its own issues in the recovery process, as well as within one’s own life balance. Yet there are ways that someone can look for signs of replacement, as well as structures that someone can use in their daily lives in order to continue prioritizing balance on a daily basis.
Identifying Replacement and its Dangers
Replacement can come about as someone looking for an answer to fill the slot in their daily routines that were previously occupied by another addiction. Whether someone is suffering from an addiction to drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, or even working, it is common for someone to want to streamline their recovery process and look for an alternative. While on the surface, the idea of going shopping all the time instead of drinking may look like profound progress, there are dangers that come with wholly replacing one act with another. Replacement can leave someone constantly thinking about their new practice at all times of the day, in much the same way that their previous addiction may have affected their mind. Shopping as a replacement may cause someone to be losing sleep in order to get to malls or to get in line for good deals, or even involve creating many financial issues as someone lacks the ability to regulate their spending. While the physical benefits of ceasing one’s use of alcohol in this instance are good, the mental aspect and feelings of desperation may still be present and need to be addressed. This over-reliance on a single solution can cause a number of imbalances in one’s life that stretch far beyond the financial aspect and can become entire addictions on their own as someone compromises sleep and physical wellbeing in order to continue practicing what should have been a therapeutic practice.
Shopping, binge eating, smoking, gambling, working, or even sugar can all be ways that someone tries to replace a previous addiction in their lives. However, these replacements often come at a one-to-one ratio and leave someone with the same imbalances in their lives and coping skills that can compromise their own goals of maintaining a healthy “normal” after recovery.
Prioritizing Balance in Daily Life
This one-to-one replacement ratio means that someone can exercise an over-reliance on one particular action, and can leave them feeling stuck in a cycle of moving between unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms. However, there are ways that someone can begin to control how much each coping mechanism is used and reinforce the therapeutic nature of an action like shopping. The first way is to maintain a schedule. By maintaining a schedule that someone lays out for themselves, they can then visualize exactly how much time they are allocating to a particular activity in their lives. Instead of constantly acting on a whim of what someone feels they should do to cope with an urge, they can plan their days ahead of time to ensure that no one part of their personal life, coping practices, or work-life is ever completely dominating the other parts of their day.
Someone can also keep close eyes on their financial situation to ensure that they aren’t compromising their own financial stability on a replacement. While finances may differ for each person, by allocating a set amount of money that they can use for any one thing, they can also moderate how much someone is relying on it as a coping mechanism. By allocating the finances for just one pack of cigarettes, or only for a shirt or two a week, someone can block themselves off from over-relying on their replacement through their recovery.
Lastly, utilizing these techniques as rewards rather than replacements can help some practices retain their therapeutic value. By using nice meals as a reward, someone can inhibit the chances of developing binge eating as a replacement, and instead, continue to view these meals as rewards to accomplishing milestones in their sobriety. Not only do they then remain infrequent, but they also help someone keep a therapeutic and sober mindset as they cope with the daily struggles, keeping recovery the top priority.
Finding and maintaining proper coping mechanisms in recovery is an important part of each and every step of recovery. Even as an alumnus, it is important to constantly evaluate the threat of replacement in one’s own life and ensure that balance can be maintained in order to prevent developing other dependencies. If you or a loved one are struggling with an addiction of any kind, or are experiencing the difficulties of dealing with a replacement for their addiction, the apartments available at START UP RECOVERY can help you begin to regain the balance and sense of community needed in all stages of recovery. With a luxurious community built around fellowship and individual exploration of identity, START UP RECOVERY encourages each person to explore the recovery path that is most beneficial to them, and helps each person create their own healthy therapeutic practices. For more information on how START UP RECOVERY can help you with your situation, or to speak to a trained professional about the various services offered through START UP, call us today at (310) 773-3809.