Cocaine is one of the most addictive illegal drugs sold today. Because of this, many people who were introduced to it at a young age struggle to remove themselves from the drug. They continue to use it for many years, even if they don’t want to and often can’t stop until they hit rock bottom.
Aside from alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, cocaine is one of the biggest drug problems that causes financial, emotional and health problems in Canada. If you’re thinking about getting help for cocaine addiction, below is some valuable advice which can greatly help during the recovery process.
Recovering from cocaine addiction
As with any drug addiction, it’s crucial to remember that you don’t recover by simply not using anymore. People who get clean and stay clean are those who create a new, healthier life where it’s easier not to participate in drug taking.
If you don’t create a new life for yourself, all the factors that brought you to your addiction will eventually catch up with you and chances are that you will relapse.
Here are some great ways you can change your life for the better to help you on your path out of cocaine addiction.
Learn to identify and manage your emotions
If you’re already in recovery for drug addiction, chances are that you’ve come across the acronym, HALT. Whenever you feel the urge to use, ask yourself if you’re:
- Hungry
- Angry
- Lonely
- Tired
All of the above can be triggers. Perhaps you’ve had a really bad day at work or you think that taking drugs will help you to overcome the painful feelings of loneliness. In order to avoid these feelings in the first place, it’s important to take care of yourself.
Ensure you’re eating regularly and that your choices are healthy, attend counselling sessions and group meetings, build up a strong support network and try to get a good night’s sleep every evening.
Avoid high-risk situations
There are certain people and places that are going to make you feel the urge to use. Whether it’s people you used to take drugs with, colleagues you have conflicts with or places you used to engage in drug taking, temptation is unfortunately around every corner.
While you can’t always avoid these situations, simply being aware of them means they’re less likely to catch you off-guard and trigger negative emotions that could lead you to relapse.
Don’t go to the places you used to go to, only associate yourself with people who don’t take drugs and learn how to at least tolerate people you have to. Recovery isn’t about one big change – it’s lots of little changes which when put together create a life where it’s easier not to use.
Learn to relax
Most people take drugs to escape, relax and reward themselves. While absolutely everybody needs to do all of these things for a happy life, once you’re in recovery, it’s important to find ways of doing the above without taking drugs.
If you manage to stop using for a while but don’t learn how to relax, your tension will build until you’ll have to relapse just to escape again.
Think back to how much time you currently are or used to spend on your addiction. From the time it takes to get your drug, use it, deal with the consequences and plan your next fix, you’ll realize that taking half an hour out of your day to be mindful about relaxing is no big deal.
Whether you go for a walk, meditate, read a book, exercise or see friends, relaxation is a key part of successful recovery.
Be aware of common relapse triggers
Make yourself aware of the most common triggers of substance abuse relapse so you know how to avoid them. Also develop a relapse prevention strategy with your counsellor so that you have the correct steps in place should you feel your willpower weakening.
Common relapse triggers:
- Withdrawal (anxiety, nausea, physical weakness, irritability, mood swings, poor sleep)
- Poor self-care (bad stress management, not eating or sleeping)
- People (old using friends)
- Places (where you used or where you used to buy drugs)
- Things that were part of your using or that remind you of using
- Uncomfortable emotions
- Relationships (can be stressful if anything goes wrong)
- Isolation (gives you too much time to be with your own thoughts)
- Pride and overconfidence (thinking you don’t have a drug or alcohol problem, or that it is behind you)
If you would like to speak to someone about addiction counselling in Toronto, please feel free to contact us and we will be more than happy to help.
