People who have seriously considered becoming sober may have noticed something odd: patients who successfully recover from addiction often become religious either during their treatment or immediately afterward. This experience leads these individuals to ask themselves if religious undertones and connotations are taught by staff located at rehabilitation facilities or if it’s a random coincidence. If you’re the type of person who wants to enter a facility and sort out your addictive habits but find yourself unsure of religious practices, here’s what you need to know in the upcoming weeks.
Religion Is Not Required for Successful Recovery
For readers who want to know if religion is a requirement for beating addiction, the answer is, without a doubt, ‘no.’ People from all walks of life — religious, atheistic and agnostic — have entered rehab and overcome their addictions through behavior modification and counseling. Luckily for us, addiction requires specific habits in order to thrive and destroy a patient’s life. When a person enters a rehabilitation center, their day-to-day interactions change drastically, and as a result, the ability to fulfill their addiction becomes impossible to manage.
However, some individuals within the treatment center find themselves drawn to religion during their stay. For these patients, the idea of organized religion provides a framework to rebuild their lives and maintain a sense of purpose in their waking hours. Put bluntly: regardless if you’re a religious or non-religious individual, you can overcome your routine use of drugs and alcohol with the right tools and individuals in your corner.
Why Some Individuals Become Religious During Recovery
The individuals who utilize the teachings of religion to overcome their addictions find newfound power and motivation to conquer their goals. As patients who’ve struggled to stay sober in the past, we know how challenging and demanding remaining substance-free can be in today’s modern age. With religion, some individuals find a power they never knew they had.
To understand why religion is impactful for certain patients, we must first explore the nature of recovery. One of the most powerful tools in a patient’s arsenal during their stay at a treatment center is the ability to remain optimistic for the following day. As recovering addicts, all we have is the upcoming 24 hours. If we can maintain motivation and focus on our sobriety for the day, we’re better suited to put addiction behind us. With religion, followers receive unique tools and strategies to deal with temptations and negative behaviors. Although the need to use their substance of choice seems overwhelming, their underlying faith and spiritual practices keep usage and consumption at bay.
The Pillars of Change
Regardless of a patient’s religious background, there are fundamental truths that increase the odds of overcoming substance abuse once and for all. Although each of these domains has numerous underlying topics, the core tenants of recovery are productive habits, a healthy home environment, elimination of abuse-inducing stimuli and a helpful social circle. If these sound a bit confusing, let’s clear some things up.
First and foremost, alcohol and drugs will always be a part of a patient’s life if they don’t have productive habits. Tasks such as waking up at the same time each day, maintaining a fitness schedule, utilizing time-sensitive to-do lists and getting quality sleep are essential for a patient in recovery.
From here, we branch out to improving our living environment. If patients find themselves in chaotic, stress-inducing living situations, kicking addiction becomes an afterthought. Although each patient has unique circumstances to navigate, improving their relationships, listening more than speaking, becoming reliable and trustworthy are critical for achieving lifelong sobriety.
And when things become challenging, and we don’t know where to turn, having a social circle of individuals who understand recovery is essential. If we don’t have immediate friends who understand our circumstances, relying on sponsors and therapists familiar with addiction can help us in our time of need and when we feel close to relapse.
Reclaim Your Life Today
As you can see, rehabilitation is different for each patient. Whether you’re a religious individual or prefer dancing to the beat of your own drum, we’re ready and willing to help. What differentiates our rehabilitation process from other facilities is our belief that through hard work and positive habit formation, anything is possible. If you’re ready to overcome addiction and begin writing the new chapters of your life’s story, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for help! Remember this: inch by inch, day by day, you can loosen the debilitating grip that addiction has on your lifestyle. Call us at 844-639-8371.