For the men who are recovering from alcohol or drug addiction, always finding a stable and sober environment to live can sometimes be a challenging test. You realize that the lack of a stable and sober living environment often makes even the strongest men in the recovery process relapse. Men’s sober living becomes a more difficult challenge, as if the recovery process alone isn’t enough. Having to deal with the many challenges that it comes with makes the whole process become a lot harder. Men’s sober living is not an easy process. So, having the courage to want to push through shows extreme determination.
Most studies have also revealed that the major challenges that men face in sober living always revolve around the different rules and the continued need for treatment. Many social, emotional, and physical problems can occur. Most of which will weigh down a lot on the men in sober living. This is why it is not surprising that most of the men’s sober living programs and houses don’t always seem to help. When in a real sense, they are a necessity.
Challenges to men’s sober living
Nobody ups and starts abusing drugs or alcohol for no reason. There will always be some reason behind such decisions. You may never know what someone is going through or what may have driven him to get into such habits. At the end of the day, these simple habits end up becoming addictions. There are many different life stresses, social pressures, or poor mechanisms that can lead a person into alcohol or drug abuse. And while detox and therapy are some of the useful first steps to overcoming these substance abuse habits, other factors must also be put into play. For example, what environment is the person going to be exposed to when he goes back home from the sober living home?
The affected person needs to be accepting and willing to give up drug and alcohol abuse for there to be any chance of success with these therapies. This is the very first step towards facing these challenges present in men’s sober living. This is, in most cases, easier said than done, especially for the victims who have built lives around drugs and alcohol to the point that they need to cut those parts of their lives to stand any chance. The list of challenges faced by men in sober living is tremendously long and varies from one victim to another.
Here are some of the most common challenges faced by men in sober living.
- Relapse as a result of being unable to challenges in recovery
In most cases, the relapse process starts when the victim becomes stuck in their recovery. The victim is faced with a particular challenge but is unwilling to confront it. Or maybe they are not able to. But to successfully recover from drug and alcohol addiction, you have to face these problems head-on. This point in the victim’s life is usually very shaky and increasingly stressful, and it is easy for the victim to turn to other inappropriate coping mechanisms as the best way to deal with his dissatisfaction. Most times, this path only always leads them back to where they started from, alcohol and drugs.
- Developing new coping strategies
As mentioned earlier, victims tend to develop new coping strategies to try and deal with their inner turmoil. This is usually the first challenge that most addicts face. Doing things the old way does not seem to be getting them anywhere with regards to coping with this challenge in men’s sober living. So, they feel it is up to them to figure out a new way. This is how the coping strategy begins to take hold.
- Stress
Transitioning from rehab to home is another challenge that can quickly overwhelm a recovering addict. So, unless the victim has been adequately prepared, leaving the protected environment of the sober living home may not be such a good idea. And that is why most rehabs and men’s sober living homes prefer to keep their patients in a while longer to assess their capabilities to face any stresses that they may face once they leave without reverting to their old ways. Otherwise, all the work will have been for nothing.
- Finding purpose in recovery
An essential part of an addicts’ life usually revolves around drugs. And the moment this focus point is no longer there, the victim has no purpose. And it is crucial that the recovery procedures guide him to find a new purpose in recovery and life in general. The victim needs to find a purpose of wanting to recover. Otherwise, the whole recovery process can be a big challenge, and possibly fail.
- Boredom
If most of the victim’s time was revolved around drugs, then it is crucial that he find another way of spending his spare time. Any potential feelings of boredom can easily make the victim relapse back to his old ways. The best way to combat this challenge in men’s sober living is to rekindle the victim’s old interests or possibly find new ones.
- Inadequate time in sober housing
The lack of available time that is available for the victims to spend in their sober environment can also pose a significant challenge. There is typically always a limit to the amount of time residents can stay in the sober housing. This period is usually several months. Thus, the lack of enough time to expose a victim to the sober environment can easily leave the victim relapsing back to his older drug and alcohol abuse habits.
- Social troubles
Here, social insecurities and other problems may arise as a result of differences in attitudes, beliefs, and even goals in the sober houses. And that can easily make the victims irritated or unhappy with the other roommates. This will, in turn, interfere with the victims’ ability to grasp the treatment processes being offered.
- Avoiding treatments
Failure of the men to continually take active roles in the treatments like continued therapy and counseling is another challenge in men’s sober living that many drug and alcohol abuse victims face. Some victims may choose to avoid treatment poses, and this can become a challenge in that it can also be viewed by the rehab as an unacceptable action and lead to the victim being evicted from the sober house.
Final thoughts
Being fully healed and treated for drug and alcohol addiction is not an easy process, and the challenges that accompany it are just as hard-pressing. It requires a lot of will, determination, and drive to get through the process and come out of it victorious. For the ones that do, seeing the true value and meaning of life without drugs and alcohol feels like starting a new life. The trick is to never give up no matter how complicated the processes and stages are, face the challenges head-on and see to it that you come out victorious.
