How Self-Awareness Supports Addiction Recovery

The concept of “first, know thyself,” is attributed to the Greeks. It is a concept that means you must first understand the complex thoughts and feelings that make up your internal emotional and physical state. Knowing and understanding what is going on in your head and heart is an important part of addiction recovery.

How does self-awareness help those with substance use disorders to understand the root causes of their addictions and identify relapse triggers?

Addiction Recovery and Self-Awareness

There are millions of people struggling every day to achieve addiction recovery, so you are not alone. To start your journey, you should have an internal awareness of your problem and understand that you need help. Self-awareness prompts change that can lead you down a new path toward healing and understanding of why addiction occurred and how addiction recovery can help.

Self-awareness is the first step toward discarding the denial that potentially led you into a substance use disorder. Denial requires ignoring what is really bothering you. Self-awareness is the opposite, instead focusing on:

• Learning to recognize emotion instead of tamping it down with drugs or alcohol – or both.
• Recognizing the patterns of emotion that repeat. What keeps coming up deep inside that drives you to use substances? What is behind these patterns?
• Even taking time to recognize sensations. Are you in pain? Are you sad? What are your body and mind feeling right now?
• Also understanding destructive thought patterns such as “One drink won’t hurt.” What is that inner voice saying that somehow justifies substance use?

These are hard concepts to grasp and harder to practice every day. Washington State addiction treatment resources often include therapies that can help you become more self-aware.

Addiction Treatment

Addiction recovery teaches a series of steps that lead to self-awareness. No healing can begin without a healthy awareness of your internal emotions and motivations. The personal process of self-awareness is a critical factor in the active practice of addiction recovery.

By understanding the roots of problems and the pain behind substance use, you will also learn what environmental and emotional triggers set off your desire to use. Accepting your vulnerabilities and being strong enough to control these desires is the only way to move forward past substance use disorder and find true addiction recovery.

Addiction recovery starts with a small step. Just recognizing the problem gets you started toward addiction recovery. Substance use disorder is incurable but highly treatable with the right support, but you must be an active, willing participant in your own journey. Contact The Recovery Village Ridgefield to learn more about treatment options today.