New Friendships in Recovery

Many people come to recovery feeling like they have few friends. When you decide to clean and sober, your old using friends will probably stop calling you. Or worse, they call you although you’re ready to turn over a new leaf and tempt you. (That’s not friendship!) Your using friends may have cared about you, but they still care about getting high. You want to stop living that way, and your recovery comes first. This means that it’s time for you to meet new people and try new things.

Friends in the Same Lifeboat

For many people new to treatment or recovery, the 12-steps and the people who are in the rooms are a lifeboat. When you first get clean and sober, life can seem stormy and scary. In a life boat, you’re traveling only with the essentials. There’s little time for fun and games. Recovery can be a lot of work! Once you’ve detoxed and begun working your recovery program, it’s time to learn to socialize without the use of alcohol or drugs.

Fortunately, you’ll soon learn that the 12-step meetings are more than just a means of survival.

Making friends in the rooms is essential. You may make friends with people because they support your newfound sobriety. That’s one thing you have in common with everyone in recovery – your sobriety itself. Now it’s time to find out what else you have in common!

Get phone numbers, hang out when people go out after meetings, and try to learn to relax and enjoy yourself.

Learning to Have Fun

Recovery friendships may have staying clean and sober as a commonality, but once you’ve started to put some clean and sober together, it’s time to have fun. (Boredom, by the way, can be a big trigger to people new in recovery!)

Do you like to surf? Go to live music or play in a band? Or do you just want to go out to eat with your friends on a weekend night?

Finding other people who enjoy these activities isn’t hard. All you have to do is invite them! Life isn’t all work when you’re sober, but it isn’t all play, either.

Make sure that you’re sticking with some of “the winners” – people who have an active recovery program and seem to enjoy their lives.

Getting Help for Addiction

Don’t sit silently as addiction unravels your life. You don’t have to hit “rock bottom” to reclaim your life. Find sobriety and make peace with yourself so you can start the path to healing. Call us at 619-363-4767.