In Addiction and Recovery, a New Year Can Mean New Pressures

Here’s what to know about getting healthy — and staying healthy!

We hope the start of 2020 has brought you a sense of calm and promise after a hectic holiday season.

The beginning of a new year often creates feelings of excitement as people consider their plans and goals for the days ahead. For others, a new year can evoke confusion and frustration. Many people struggling with addiction might see this as the year they will finally make changes and leave behind their substance abuse; others might feel a sense of hopelessness as they enter another year stuck in a destructive lifestyle. Those who are early in their recovery journey often feel pressure not to “mess up” again.

Goal-setting in addiction or early recovery is often difficult. Individuals can feel so overjoyed at finally approaching sobriety that they think too big too fast and set unrealistic expectations for themselves and others; or, they might feel upset or depressed because the things they want in life seem impossible.

Many of these feelings often come from dangerous comparisons — they believe they should have certain things in life based on what others have. The feelings also could come from wearing a mask and people pleasing — they want to be the person their family and loved ones want them to be, not the person they truly are. Perhaps it’s even a lack of trust in the process — how can they be sure they’re really on the right path? Recovery is a process with many challenges.

For those starting from the beginning, the first questions are often if they even have a problem and/or how to receive help for their problems. For this, we highly recommend reaching out to a treatment facility and scheduling an assessment. Through that process, they can gain insight from a professional about which route could be best for them given their individual situation and needs.