How to Find New Interests in Holistic Drug Rehab

Holistic drug rehab programs treat drug and alcohol addiction as conditions that arise from dysfunctions in every area of a person’s life. These programs focus on treating drug addicts and alcoholics as whole people, who require nurturance and healing physically, emotionally, psychologically, socially and spiritually.

A big part of your success in holistic drug rehab will hinge on your ability to discover things you enjoy that can fill the void drugs and alcohol have left in your life. As a recovering addict, discovering new interests and passions is a great way to learn the coping mechanisms that will stand you in good stead throughout the rest of your life. After all, a big part of coping with stress and hardship is turning to those things that bring you happiness and joy.

But if you’re like many folks who are new to recovery, finding new interests and passions may be harder than it sounds. For many newly recovered drug addicts and alcoholics, it’s hard to get interested in anything at all. Your brain is still recovering from the damage done by substance abuse, and you may be experiencing feelings of depression, accompanied by a lack of interest in things you once enjoyed. What’s to be done?

Leave Your Comfort Zone

While you’re in a holistic drug rehab, you’ll have unprecedented opportunities to try new things for perhaps the first time in years. While it might seem pointless or not worth the effort to try new things, try them anyway. If there’s nothing that seems interesting to you at the moment, just choose a few things that you haven’t tried before and try them. Most holistic drug rehab programs offer some form of art or fitness therapy. Take the opportunity to try painting, writing poetry or doing yoga. If your program offers adventure or experiential therapy, give it a shot – go kayaking, rock climbing or hiking. In this way, you’ll get to see some new places, meet some new people and maybe discover a new hobby.

Find a Buddy in Holistic Drug Rehab

Most people like to have someone with them when they’re encountering a new situation or having a new experience. You might find it easier to try new things in holistic drug rehab if you find a buddy who’s also interested in trying those things.

Finding a buddy can also help you dust off your social skills and learn to trust another person again. While many people in early recovery feel the need to be alone, this desire, if indulged too much, can lead the newly-recovered addict to isolate him or herself to an unhealthy degree. Once you leave your drug treatment program, make it a point to go beyond your normal home, work, 12-step and school environments to forge new relationships. Even casual acquaintances count. If you find someone with whom you share common interests or experiences, invite that person to attend some event or activity with you. New friends are often one of the best ways to discover new interests and hobbies.

Give Yourself Time to Develop Skills

When you do try a new activity in holistic drug rehab, you need to understand that you probably won’t be good at it right away. For the most part, there’s going to be a learning curve when you first pick up a new hobby. You’ll need to put in some time and effort to develop the skills necessary before you can do a new thing well.

As a recovering addict, you may be hung up on instant gratification, and your perfectionist streak may have you insisting that a new hobby isn’t worth it if you’re not good at it right away. Be patient, and you’ll find that your passion for new interests grows as you develop the skills necessary to succeed.

That said, you don’t have to achieve complete mastery of a hobby in order to enjoy or learn from it. You can enjoy a new hobby no matter how proficient you are at it, and you’ll gain self-confidence with each small improvement in your skills. Instead of focusing on how much work you have to do before you have an expert grasp of the activity, focus on how much better you’ve already become.

At our holistic drug rehab, we focus on treating addicts as whole people, and addiction as a condition that stems from dysfunctions in every area of life.

To get help for yourself or someone you care about, call us today at 888-699-5679.