By Candice Harding
One of the best reasons for overcoming a drug addiction—or any addiction, for that matter—is yourself. The recovery process is difficult, of course, and very humbling. But as you work through it, you find that your sense of self-worth increases. Here are just a few ways how.
1. You’re More Independent
An addiction to drugs and other substances implies a dependence on them to feel good. Without them, you can’t fully function. Both your mind and body are distracted until you feed the addiction once more.
So when you recover from an addiction, you gain back your independence—a sense of self-sufficiency. No longer are you anxious about not being able to use in order to feel right. You’re in control of how you feel again, and you can look to other, healthy resources for entertainment and comfort.
2. You Feel Healthier
With an addiction, your body suffers without the substances you depend on. But when you push through withdrawal symptoms and gain back your independence, your body can rely on healthier alternatives to feel well. Without the addiction, a healthy diet, exercise, and proper medications are enough to keep you feeling healthy. And feeling healthy increases your self-esteem because you’ll be confident in how you look and feel.
But overcoming an addiction benefits more than just physical health. Your mind will feel better too. It’s not uncommon for drug addicts to experience a level of depression, anxiety, or other disorders. But the rehabilitation process can help you overcome these side effects. Drug rehab centers like Next Level Recovery and others spend time diagnosing these disorders and helping you work through them.
With support like this, you can feel better both inside and out. You can have a sense of clarity again and, in turn, feel better about yourself.
3. You Won’t Feel So Secretive
Much of the time, an addiction is something people hide. After all, it’s often socially frowned upon and can lead to disruptions in your relationships and professional life. But did you know that holding onto heavy secrets affects your health and self-esteem? When you keep a secret bottled up inside, you don’t feel as confident in sharing things with others, and you might be afraid of getting caught.
Overcoming your addiction helps you let go of this. You no longer feel like you need to hide what you’re doing or how you feel. You can feel confident in what you do each day and share those things with the people in your life.
4. You Gain More Self-Respect
Overcoming an addiction is, again, hard work. But when you put forth the effort to do it, you should feel proud of yourself. You can respect both your efforts and the person you’re becoming. The more you respect yourself, the more you recognize your self-worth—and the more motivation you have to stay clean from your addiction.
5. You Recognize Your Progress
Difficult as it is to overcome a drug addiction, it’s important to recognize small triumphs along the way. You won’t overcome it overnight; it may even take months or years. But small triumphs can mean staying sober for just a day or an afternoon. As you congratulate yourself on those feats, you watch yourself improve. In the end, you will see the person you’ve become post-addiction.
Seeing that progress—seeing that person—is perhaps the greatest reward for overcoming your addiction. And knowing that you accomplished that and conquered your weaknesses will do more for your self-esteem than perhaps anything else.
Recovering from an addiction is a process, but it’s worth it. With proper rehabilitation, you can once again enjoy your independence and develop more confidence and love for yourself.