When in recovery, there are some things we begin to question for ourselves, for the sake of our sobriety, for our well-being, and for our happiness in life. One of these questions revolves around whether or not we’ll be able to maintain friendships with other addicts, especially when they themselves are not yet in recovery. We have friends we don’t want to give up on, who we’ve cared about for too long to simply cut off. They are people we feel compelled to help. We want to see them in recovery, reaping the benefits of sobriety just as we are. When we love and care for people, we want to be able to keep them in our lives and be there for them when they’re struggling, but what happens when their addictions create issues for our sobriety? Can we stay friends with other addicts?
Inventory of Our Sobriety Status
The answer to this question is not a definitive one, nor is it something we can come to objectively. It has to be a personal decision, based on both how we’re feeling about our sobriety and how our friend’s addiction might be impacting us. How grounded do you feel in your sobriety? Are you newly sober, or have you been sober awhile? Do you feel easily swayed by the actions of others? Do you find other people’s substance use upsetting or bothersome to you? Is it tempting for you? Do you feel unable to withstand the addictive urges that come up? Do other people’s struggles with addiction trigger you to want to pick up your drug of choice again? These are all questions we have to ask ourselves and answer as honestly as we can. Hiding behind denial, suppressing how we feel, and lying to ourselves about where we stand in our sobriety do us a huge disservice. If we want to be successful in our sobriety, we have to take an honest, ongoing, personal inventory of the status of our sobriety and what our triggers and sources of temptation are.
Risk Assessment
If our friendships are problematic for us in any way, we’ll want to consider taking healthy distance from them until they’re in recovery as well. We don’t necessarily have to cut them off, but we can encourage them to get help from afar, without jeopardizing our sobriety and chipping away at the progress we’ve made. If the relationship is too toxic for us to continue, we’ll know instinctively, and we can respond accordingly and end the friendship if need be. We want to assess the risks, to our health and to our sobriety, that the friendship presents. Our recovery teaches us that our well-being and peace of mind have to be our top priority. When we are unwell, we can’t possibly be good friends to the people we care about, and even more importantly, we can’t maintain our sobriety, and we’ve worked too hard to get sober to give up ourselves.
The caring, compassionate staff of The Guest House
is here to support you on your journey to recovery and healing.
Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.
theguesthouseocala.com
3230 Northeast 55th Avenue Silver Springs, FL 34488