How To Get Sober Quickly?

Yes, it is possible to get sober quickly. But getting sober and staying sober are two different things. This article explains how to get sober quickly, and then to stay sober for as long as you want. Warning. It may not be what you want to hear.

Admit You Have A Problem

You may be reading this article with a mild drug or alcohol problem - say you are drinking once or twice a week and you feel it is negatively affecting your life, or you may be deep in the hell of heroin or meth addiction. Whatever your situation, the first step you must take is the same for everyone. You have to admit that you have a problem and decide that you want to do something about it. If you don’t make this decision yourself, nothing meaningful can happen after.

How Do I Know If I Have A Problem?

But how do you know if you have a problem? It may be that your family is trying to force you to go to rehab, or your work is taking disciplinary action against you - do you agree with them? If not, ask yourself one question: Can I stop my behaviour, just to prove to them that I’m okay? If you can’t, for whatever reason, you have a problem. Because, why can’t you take a break to put the minds of those that care about you at ease?

Stop The Cycle

Now that you have admitted you have a problem, the next thing to recognise is that the cycle of your using has to have a break, so that you can make intelligent plans for the future.

The cycle of addiction is relentless, one session has the next built into it. You have to stop the cycle so that you can get time to think, and feel. You see, addiction is difficult to handle because your own mind tells you that your drugs or alcohol are good for you, when in fact they are making everything worse.

For 10 years, I believed that drugs were the solution to my emotional problems, because every time I used them, in that moment, they helped me. I couldn’t see that the damage they were causing was much more than the benefit of numbing myself for a little while.

How To Stop The Cycle?

There are various ways. Which one do you think could work for you?

• Ask someone to help you. A family member could hold your credit cards or money so that you have no access, or lock you in your room for a time, or set up a system of checking in with them.
• You may be the type of person that is able to do it on your own for a little while. Perhaps you can take a week in the country, or simply your situation is so bad that you will be happy to stop for a while. If you can find a break on your own, take it. If you are physically dependent on your substance, like severe alcohol abuse or opiates, you will need to withdraw with advice from a doctor.
• Go to a rehab facility, where everything you need to begin a journey in sobriety will be given you.

Get Information

Now that you have stopped the cycle of your using, even if only for a day, you are going to need to fill the gap that is left. You need information. You need to know what causes drug addiction or alcohol abuse, so that you can do something about it. 

For years you have been operating on a belief system that using drugs or alcohol was the best that you could do. Addicst understand this. We know that in fact you have been doing your best, because of your own feeling inside. The purpose of information is to show you that there is another way. You have to challenge your ideas with new ones.

Addictive use of drugs or alcohol is caused by three things, either on their own or a mix of them together:

• The Disease of Addiction - The first reason you have been using for so long is because you have a condition that is exactly like a disease - it is a force inside you that you cannot control on your own, just like cancer or Alzheimer’s. There is a treatment for this, and you must take it.
• Buried Pain - The second reason is that you have unresolved pain that fuels your desire to escape reality. This too can be dealt with.
• A Lack Of Meaning - The third reason is a lack of meaning in your life, a lack of a feeling that you belong, that you have a place in the world that is satisfying to you. This too can be changed.

Reach Out

You’ve come this far! If you have followed these steps you have been sober for anywhere from five minutes to 1 month! Now you have a choice. Do you continue on this path of self-discovery, stay where you are and white knuckle it (by sheer force of will stay sober, often without joy), or go forward? If you want to go forward, it’s time to reach out.

The main cause of addiction is disconnection - feeling like you do not belong or are not comfortable in your own skin, around others, and in the world. It is now time to connect with others, to begin to build the feeling of home that you need in order to live with purpose and joy.

You must find some sort of community or at the very least person with whom you can share meaningfully and honestly, and grow alongside. Here as some options:

• Join a 12 step fellowship - There you will be able to connect with others who have faced the same struggles you have faced, who understand you, and have overcome. They will welcome you with open arms and advise you on how to live. If you take the brave step to connect with them, you will find that you are not alone.
• Join an out patient program - These are offered by public and private institutions and offer a program and space for weekly check ins with others who are walking the same path.
• Do an extended stay in a rehab - Here you can immerse yourself in a new culture and information, and take your time in safety to figure out how to approach life sober, with the support of friends and professionals alike.
• Design your own program with a therapist - If this is the only option you feel suits you, it is possible, as long as you choose a therapist who has good knowledge of the practical process of recovery.
• Join online groups - This option can work very well too, and offer the same benefits as the above.

A New Life Ahead

The way to change your life is, in fact, to discover yourself. Your drug or alcohol use has pushed you away from yourself for so long, that you do not know who you are, or could be, without the use of substances. Getting to know yourself sober is an amazing journey, but it is not easy.

It is like hiking up a mountain. The climb is hard, sometimes you want to give up, but when you reach a look out point, and see how far you have come, and how beautiful the world out there is, you understand that the journey is worth it.

Getting to know yourself takes work. It is the work of therapy, or taking the twelve steps, or some other system of belief that is focused on you confronting your own inner fears, and turning them into your greatest strengths.

Good luck on your journey.

Further Reading: How To Quit Drug Addiction