holidays

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A Very Sober Holiday

November 26, 2019 // by ATON RECOVERY

The weather outside is frightful, but at the back of your mind, you are far more concerned about how you will survive the holidays without a drink. Whether it is your first holiday season sober, or even if you have time under your belt, it is an important time of the year to focus on recovery. You have worked so hard to make holistic life changes, and you have come so far, having a drink at the company party is not worth the setback.

Regardless of individual religious beliefs or traditions, or a lack thereof, the holidays are inundated with festivities, many of which involve alcohol and/or other drugs. It’s not so much that there is a temptation to drink, as there is an expectation. Then there are all of the stressors, including shopping, traffic, and end of the year commitments for work. As if that weren’t enough, there are typically family gatherings, which too often include family drama. Staying sober isn’t only difficult for people in recovery. It’s amazing that anyone stays sober in this stressful, emotional, and extreme sensory overloaded environment. But they do. And you can, too. The good news is that you can write your own holiday script. With increased awareness and conscious decisions made ahead of time, you can have a very sober and very wonderful holiday.

Holiday Planning

While people are making gift lists and planning meals and events, those in recovery can do another kind of planning: a plan to stay sober. This plan should include how to handle invitations to events where it is known that there will be substances involved. Most holiday parties can be politely declined, and for those that are required, perhaps a short appearance is wise. Many times executives and management are required to be at work parties. When this is the case, perhaps attending early and leaving early is an option. Or perhaps others who are sober can be recruited as a support network for the event.

When choosing where and when to go, it is important to remember that even family will appreciate a person in successful recovery more than they will need that person to risk everything to come home for the holidays. Also, a family that supports recovery is the kind of family that one might want to spend time with. Remember to practice how to say no if offered a substance in any situation. Being prepared is much better than being caught off guard.

Gifts to Yourself

One of the most important things to remember during this stressful time is self-care. While it is easy to forget the daily routines established in recovery, things such as remembering vitamins or prescribed medications, getting restful sleep, meditating, exercising and other self-care habits are the first line of defense against relapse. Self-care is how health and well-being become a priority and show yourself and others in your life that you matter. Consistency in self-care is the gift that keeps on giving, and continued sobriety is only one of the blessings.

Holiday Feasting

Food is perhaps the only thing that is consumed in greater quantities than alcohol during the holidays. Much of the food is high in sugars and fats compared to the food offered in family gatherings for the rest of the year. While it is fun to indulge in treats or foods that are only available around the holidays to a certain extent, it is also important to remember that a healthy body is part of successful recovery. The conscious choice to eat healthy foods throughout the holidays and not overindulge in the seasonal delicacies supports the conscious choices of staying sober as well.

Give of Yourself

Although it is a busy time of the year, it is also a great time to think about others. Giving time, money, and/or goods to others supports emotional well-being. While many individuals and groups increase acts of service at this time of the year, it can be fulfilling to volunteer with at-risk kids or offer charitable acts to others who may be impacted by addiction or struggling with recovery. This allows you to share your wisdom to help others and also creates a kinship that supports your new ideals.

Get Out of Town

Travel can be more stressful for some people. But others may find it helpful to change locations and get away from people and places that trigger them to abuse substances. Finding a destination that is new or unknown can help support being sober at this time of the year because there is no history with substances there. Others may enjoy traveling to visit with loving extended family and surrounding themselves with likeminded people who encourage and support them. Whatever works best for you, don’t be afraid to get out of town if that will help you to stay strong.

It is important to prepare for the many pitfalls of this time of the year that could impact your recovery. The festivities of the holidays should bring you warmth and happiness, even if it can be a very stressful time of the year. AToN Center can help you kick off the season with health and wellness. Their experienced team of professionals can help bring new meaning to your holidays and to your life. Despite the social pressures to indulge, you can create a very happy and very sober holiday season and have an empowered new year.

Give yourself the greatest gift possible this year by calling AToN Center at (888) 813-5928 today.

Tips for Staying Sober During the Holidays

November 28, 2017 // by Aton Center

One of the joyous aspects about recovery is that you get to redesign your life in a way that beings you the most peace and happiness. The holiday season can throw a lot of wrenches into the works and we want you to be as prepared as possible!

Remember why you decided you wanted to make this change – and focus how you can make your holidays even better now with this new life of yours. Here are some tips to help you through:

Remember that you are creating new traditions! Scour the internet for local sober events and get some supportive friends and family to go with you. Make enjoyable sober plans and focus on what you can do. You may be surprised at how much fun you will have!
Limit stress as much as possible! This includes not only maintaining a healthy routine, but also taking care of yourself by saying “no” to stressful friends and family.
You don’t have to attend every event that you are invited to. Be careful in deciding which events you will attend – often the barrage of invitations is stressful enough. Be choosy and go to the events that you will be sorry you missed out on! It’s also important to have the means to get home and an exit plan if you find yourself in a sticky situation.
If you are attending an event where there will be drinking, you may consider having a sober buddy come along with you. It also helps to have a non-alcoholic drink in your hand already so people don’t continuously offer you a drink. Have nonjudgmental, but firm “refusal statements” ready to go as to why you are not drinking (if someone is pushing it). It may also help to “bookend” events, meaning you can go to a meeting before and after an event if you feel you need the extra support.
Speaking of drinks – find a new favorite nonalcoholic drink – there are so many to choose from! Feel free to bring your own beverage to events.
Get into the habit of checking in with yourself about your relapse warning signs on a daily basis. We all know that there is a point of no return, the goal is to catch yourself before you get there. Don’t feel like you are “failing” or “weak” if you are having relapse warning signs. Be honest with yourself and use them as feedback to help you make healthy changes and get back on the right track.
If you are traveling, know what meetings are available in the area beforehand and make plans to attend, regardless of whether you feel you need it or not. The extra support when you are out of your comfort zone can make all the difference!
Finally, think about how you will feel when you’ve navigated such a hazardous time of year!

Happy Holidays from all of us at AToN Center!

Cassandra Cannon, Ph.D.
Clinical Director
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Sobriety Through the Holiday Season

November 10, 2017 // by Aton Center

The holiday season can be fraught with pitfalls and anxiety for the newly sober person. Suddenly holidays may seem depressing or even frightening. “How do I go to my holiday work party and stay sober?” “How do I spend time with my family??” “What do I do on New Years???” Suddenly it becomes much more clear that the majority of holidays cater to the non-sober crowd. Suddenly the way you celebrate holidays has to change drastically (and in many cases – it must – if you want to live to see more holidays).

At first, this can seem like a major “con” on your “pros/cons” list for sobriety. But remember this. A night without drinking and using may mean that you can wake up the next day without a hangover, without shame or guilt, without trying to piece together what happened the night before. Over time, you will realize that you are actually not “missing out” by choosing a sober lifestyle.

Develop your own sober strategies, but here are a few to get you started: have a glass of something non-alcoholic in your hand, bring a sober friend with you, and remind yourself how good you will feel the next day. Begin creating new holiday traditions that bring you joy, and you will find that you will no longer wonder how to manage the holidays sober – you will look forward to them!

Cassandra Cannon, Ph.D
Licensed Clinical Psychologist – Clinical Director
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Independence Day and Sobriety

June 22, 2017 // by Aton Center

Planning for the 4th of July…

We all know how many freedoms were lost in the past due to drinking alcohol and using drugs. Just as our Nation fought for our individual freedoms, you have fought to win your freedom from alcohol and drugs. You have rights today. You can choose to live your life to its fullest without the burden of depending on a substance.

Today you can develop your own Declaration of Independence. You can decide what freedoms are important and take actions that empower you and your newly earned rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

How are you accomplishing this today? If you had to write your own declaration what would it say? What other rights have you won as the result of remaining sober? We look forward to hearing from you and hearing how you plan to spend this coming holiday…SOBER!

Have a Happy & Sober 4th of July from all of us here at AToN. 888-535-1516

The Holidays and Reacting to Your Emotions

November 10, 2016 // by Aton Center

It is November, and that means the holidays are coming! This time of year is often associated with celebration and family, but for many ‘tis the season for emotions. These emotions can range from joy and anticipation to anxiety, grief, anger, and so many others. And so now is also the time to ask yourself: how do you typically react when you have emotions?

What about ones that seem to wash over you like a ten foot wave, tumble you around and carry you out to sea? It is human nature to try to put up some kind of barrier to help calm those tides – and it works, for a time. Addiction, whether we are talking substances, food, or any other compulsive behavior, many times feeds into what could be called “emotion phobia.”

Feelings and urges/cravings are so big that they can feel intolerable, and as if they need to be escaped. This is a natural part of the human condition on steroids. And the more that those feelings are successfully postponed, the more this reinforces the habit of postponing them further, as if proving to oneself that they can’t be managed. But that emotional energy doesn’t go away. It’s stored up so that it can come back even stronger. Or else in ulcers. So, the next time that a feeling comes up, try exploring a new relationship with these feelings.

Can you observe them? Maybe even allow them to be? Can you have those feelings without acting on them? Rather than getting caught up in the story around the emotion, or trying to compulsively change it, what would it mean to practice compassion toward that emotion and toward yourself?

Kirsten Helgager, PsyD

Psychologist

AToN Center 888-535-1516

Sugar Abuse and Addiction

February 12, 2016 // by Aton Center

Year-in and year-out, millions of Americans binge on candies over the two months in between the Holiday Season and Valentine’s Day. Sugar abuse across this festive time of the year usually reaches pandemic levels, with bellies bulging, emotions swinging and regrets rising over this sappy season.

In this, the drug capital of the world, Americans indulging in the holiday spirit often mimic behaviors commonly ascribed to the so-called addict. Does this sound familiar?

First, as you drive to your parents’ house on Christmas Eve, you promise yourself not to binge on Mom’s ginger bread like in years past, with those promises abandoned as soon as you park the car, your best intentions smothered to death in the bread’s frosting. As that first sugary delight crosses the blood brain barrier, bursts of emotional and physiological excitement cascade over your body, with loved-ones shocked at the abrupt change in your personality. Your excitement, though, fades after only a few minutes, leaving you with feelings of emptiness, tiredness, and confusion. Before long, you seek out another treat, maybe a brownie, maybe ice cream. Before you know it, you’re comatose on a couch somewhere, covered in Skittles.

As sugar withdrawals kick in, you pull yourself off the couch to start the cycle over again, first with a handful of Hershey Kisses, then a large slice of heavenly cake. By February, with your shame rising like cake batter prepped with too much yeast, you hastily join both a 24 Hour Fitness and the nearest yoga studio. “How did this happen?”, you mutter to yourself, while entering your credit card information on the Core Power

The average American consumes 130 lbs. of sugar annually. That’s more than a third of a pound every day, and more than four times the recommended daily amount of 40 gm. As startling as those numbers might sound, an increasingly health-conscious country has limited its sugar intake in recent years; in 1999, as a comparison, the average American consumed 152 lbs. of sugar in the year. Still, the current rates of intake are excessive, and highlight how the most abused substance in this country each year is sugar – not alcohol, marijuana or cocaine. This country’s heavy consumption of sugar is predictable, if you consider the candy carb a type of drug. Highly sugary foods activate a surge in the release of dopamine – the neurotransmitter critically linked to virtually all addictive disorders.

Research associates addiction to the appetitive centers of the brain, with a hunger for heroin, cocaine, Roxicet, etc. eventually overpowering the basic instinct to down proteins and carbs. Essentially, severe addiction reflects the survival instincts run amok, with addicts treating their next high as a matter of life or death. While not as potent in physiological effect as heroin, densely sugared foods like Oreo cookies, See’s chocolate, or thousands of other junk foods sold at any supermarket in this country mimic the same neurobiological effect as the more elicit products aforementioned. It’s mainly due to the addictive potential of junk foods that the incidence of diabetes has spiked in this country over the last 25 years. Sugar abuse is also linked to coronary disease, high blood pressure and a litany of other medical conditions, and represents the primary transfer addiction that many exiting rehabs pick up in the early days of recovery. We are simply too sweet of tooth in this country.

So, as St. Valentine’s Day approaches, remember, what starts with a Whitman Sampler, might end with a fist full of Tiramisu, and a belly full of sadness.

Dr. Murphy
Licensed Psychologist
AToN Center 888-535-1516

A Recovery Christmas Carol

December 20, 2015 // by Aton Center

During the holidays I will often access my inner Charles Dickens and ask residents to reflect on their recovery from an Ebenezer Scrooge perspective.

When facilitating groups on Christmas or other holidays I will ask residents how they spent their Christmas last year. They will often recall missing family events and holiday festivities because they were too consumed and obsessed with their drinking or using. When considering the present Christmas most residents wish they could be celebrating with their loved ones outside of treatment but typically are grateful that they are in a safe, sober environment.

Residents and then encouraged to think about what the next Christmas could be like if they put in the efforts and energy to focus on maintaining their recovery. They are typically able to imagine being more present, connected and engaged in their own traditions and community. They can see how they could get away from going through the motions so they can get back to use but instead truly being able to celebrate and rejoice in the meaning of the season.

Dr. Chad K. Cox PsyD
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Safe and Sober for Halloween – Tips from All About Interventions

October 23, 2015 // by Aton Center

Halloween is a fun day of the year. Here are some tips from Louise Stanger ED.D at “All About Interventions” to make sure you have a safe and sober Halloween:

How can you do yourself (and everyone else) a favor and avoid a Halloween DUI? Here are a few suggestions:

Watch your drinking. The most common form of DUI is an alcohol-related DUI. Any time you drive with a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit of 0.08 (or in certain cases, even when your BAC is below that limit) you are at risk of being cited for DUI, even if you don’t necessarily feel “drunk.” If you are at a Halloween party, be sure to moderate your drinking, especially if you are planning on driving home afterwards.
Don’t do drugs (prescriptions count too). Drugged driving may also result in a DUI arrest. Even when the drugs are prescription drugs prescribed to you by a physician, any time your ability to operate a vehicle is impaired by the effects of a drug, you are at risk for a DUI arrest.
Don’t wear a mask while driving. Police typically need a good reason to pull you over, such as observing you breaking a traffic law or driving recklessly. Wearing a mask that obscures your vision while driving may provide an officer the reason he needs to conduct a traffic stop and assess your sobriety.
Get a ride instead of driving. If you do decide to drink on Halloween, the easiest and most surefire way to avoid a DUI is to simply avoid driving at all. Instead, consider calling a taxi, using a rideshare service, walking, or taking public transit. Although not being behind the wheel is certainly not license to overindulge on alcohol or drugs, it does ensure that you won’t have to worry about being arrested for DUI.

Be Joyful

December 24, 2014 // by Aton Center

Sometimes we need a little help learning how to embrace joy in where we are at. Being in treatment over the holidays can be challenging. Finding gratitude in the midst of a trying time is something that may not come natural. Some would say we who are afflicted with substance misuse disorders are looking for any reason to drink and use again, well the Holidays are a great one! If we can learn to be joyful in all we have we may have a better chance at staying sober over the holidays.

Some of the thoughts we can embrace are:

“This is one holiday I will remember”

“I get to spend this time with people I am really enjoying getting to know”

“This is my new family and I am creating new sober traditions”

“I am safe for the holiday and will not have to regret my actions this year! “

“My family will be so happy to have me as a sober member, this is the best gift I could give them.”

Some of these statements might be difficult to grasp but in creating joy we need to learn new patterns of thinking that work for our new sober life.

So Joy to the world and to all who dwell in it!

Sincerely,

Kristin Colton CATC II

Chemical Dependency Counselor

Preparing for the Holidays

November 22, 2013 // by Aton Center

Preparing for the Holidays

There’s always a lot to do in preparing for the holidays. It might be the shopping list of ingredients for the Thanksgiving Day turkey or it could also be an extensive list of what others have made requests for from “Santa.” In either case, the holidays are a time where many of us experience increased stress. Preparing your own ingredients for a fabulous sober holiday can be a great gift for both yourself and family members. Plenty of rest, realistic goals, and regular attendance at peer-recovery support groups are a great start.

Make a list, like any other project, of what you plan to do this holiday to support your health, happiness and recovery. See if you can’t include someone to keep you accountable for achieving your goal of a balanced self this holiday season.

Happy Holidays from all of here at AToN Center! 888-535-1516

Holiday Planning

Gifts to Yourself

Holiday Feasting

Give of Yourself

Get Out of Town

Planning for the 4th of July…

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