The Importance of Showing Gratitude in Addiction Recovery

Someone who may be considering turning back to their addiction for comfort can focus on those things that they are grateful for in order to realize that that is not a path to which they wish to return. Agape Treatment Center for substance abuse embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that serves regardless of circumstances. We provide individuals all over the country with the opportunity to achieve the gift of lasting sobriety. Agape is one of the area leaders in effective, long-term recoveries that last. Unchecked negative thoughts, resentments, and self-pity are the silent killers of alcoholics, drug addicts, and family bonds. Our Addictions Content Team has been providing up to date information on substance use disorders, and co-occurring disorders for over a decade.

Gratitude is also the antidote to negative thinking that reduces hope and happiness. People who dwell on the negative aspects in their lives almost always find it difficult to reach a state of contentment. In recovery, excessive negative emotions put people at risk for relapse. This is not to say negative emotions should be overlooked or ignored, but obsessive or continuous negative thinking is hazardous to a healthy recovery.

Gratitude improves your physical health.

However we choose to express gratitude, we find that we gain the most benefit when such expressions are made with great regularity. Insomnia and disturbed sleep are common withdrawal symptoms and they may last well beyond the detox phase of recovery. Some people continue to experience insomnia for the first several months after getting sober. This is a problem because poor and inadequate sleep has been linked to a number of mental health issues, including major depression and anxiety disorders.

Be grateful as you work towards your goals of sobriety or mental and emotional structure. Be grateful for the second chance at life; for another chance at opportunities. Be grateful for the chance to see yourself grow into a better person for yourself and the ones you love. Further, practicing gratitude helps you look outward, to all the wonderful things that surround you, rather than keeping you focused inward, which can lead to feelings of negativity and despair. When we show gratitude towards others we are in relationships with, they too feel better and the relationship can heal and improve.

How to Practice Gratitude in Recovery (and why it matters)

Sure, maybe you are new in recovery and keep telling yourself you’ve wasted years using and should’ve gotten sober sooner. However, if you are able to take that negative event and laugh it off or just forget about it, the day often turns around and is a good one. The key is to not let the bad days take over or become too frequent. Many times people think, sure but I can’t control what goes on around me and what others do and say. And while this is completely true, what we can control is our thoughts. When we begin thinking negative thoughts or finding something wrong with a person or situation, these thoughts grow.

The gratitude journal and gratitude letter are excellent ways to make gratitude a regular part of your recovery plan but it’s also good to express gratitude to the people you care about. As the study cited gratitude in recovery above shows, this is key for increasing your commitment to a relationship and making the other person feel appreciated. An offhand “thanks” is better than nothing but it’s not terribly meaningful.

Opens the Door to Positive Emotions

Entitlement is bred out of convenience that you fail to appreciate and start to expect instead. Gratitude should be consciously employed to battle the lack of appreciation. The researchers measured brain activity in participants while they engaged in a task to pay kindness forward to someone else. They saw that those who reported paying it forward out of gratitude had different brain activity than those who did it out of guilt or obligation. A research paper published in the Journal of Happiness Studies in 2020, it showed that being grateful regularly could diminish symptoms of anxiety and depression.

• One gets to think less of self and more of the efforts of those trying to help.
• Feeling socially connected is one of the single most important aspects of a strong recovery from addiction.
• Further, practicing gratitude helps you look outward, to all the wonderful things that surround you, rather than keeping you focused inward, which can lead to feelings of negativity and despair.

Research into the benefits of regular gratitude practices shows an increase in the body’s ability to fight illness including reducing the risk of heart failure. As one can see, there are many people who have used gratitude in their own lives and attest to how powerful and healing it can be. From Aesop to Oprah Winfrey, the power of gratitude has transformed lives and healed relationships. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Gratitude experts like researcher Robert Emmons, PhD at the University of California – Davis (UC Davis) says experiencing gratitude is a two-step process. Calls to numbers on a specific treatment center listing will be routed to that treatment center. Calls to any general helpline (non-facility specific 1-8XX numbers) could be forwarded to SAMHSA or a verified treatment provider.

Things to Be Grateful for in Recovery

If you are recovering from a substance use disorder, here’s what gratitude can do for you. Recovery from addiction isn’t only a matter of abstaining from drugs and alcohol; it’s about feeling good about your life without drugs and alcohol. Recovery is a holistic process that involves mind, body, and spirit. Psychotherapy plays a major role in recovery, as do healthy lifestyle changes such as getting plenty of quality sleep, eating a healthy whole-food diet, and exercising regularly.

In this respect, practicing gratitude helps an individual maintain a calibrated moral compass, and is one way of ensuring that effort and good intent are given back to those who put themselves out there. The important thing is that you learn how to focus on what’s important in the now rather than stressing about the past or future. Here, some people choose to keep a gratitude journal or to note down things they’re grateful for in other ways. You can choose to do this if you need a structured way to consistently notice what you are thankful for. Happy people arguably have one thing in common — they are grateful for what they have on any given day. As a recovering addict, developing a sense of gratitude about the things you appreciate may help you break free from the darkness of addiction.

Gratitude is Good for Your Body, Mind, and Spirit

Research confirms what those in recovery have long known – gratitude leads to a greater sense of well-being, happiness, and life satisfaction1. It is easy to understand why these traits would be important in long-term recovery. While the benefits of gratitude are clear, learning how to cultivate and practice gratitude can be tricky, especially early in recovery. The benefits of gratitude might sound very nice but what if you don’t feel very grateful? People typically seek help for addiction at a low point in their lives. No one decides that life is going so great that they want to put everything on hold to get treatment for a substance use issue.

Being grateful for the opportunity to recover and improve one’s station in life can be a critical first step in maintaining a more positive outlook. Rather than viewing problems as a challenge, a positive outlook will encourage people to focus on the opportunity it presents for growth. There are a number of ways to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep, including keeping a regular sleep schedule and practicing good sleep hygiene. If sleep problems persist, it’s worth discussing with your doctor or therapist. However, one way of improving the quality of your sleep is to practice gratitude. One study of more than 400 people between the ages of 18 and 68 found that people who felt more gratitude experienced better sleep quality and they slept longer.

Why Is Gratitude Important in Addiction Recovery?

Rather than asking for any payment for anything in return, you’re simply reminding them of their inherent value, and that you are grateful for their existence in general. Mindfulness is a practice that is increasingly used in holistic addiction treatment, but also something that can help you to be grateful separately from recovering from an addiction. Mindfulness is the simple practice of living in the present, paying attention to the present moment, and letting thoughts go rather than focusing on them.