Tips For Self-Acceptance In Recovery From Addiction

When it comes to mental health, including behavioral health, the way that you view yourself and treat yourself as a person has an impact, for better or for worse. If you see yourself in a more negative light, you may be less able to cope with stress and anxiety and less likely to give yourself the self-love and self-care you need to be happy and healthy. However, if you see yourself more fairly and positively, you will be more likely to behave in positive, healthy, and uplifting ways even in the midst of challenging circumstances.

This is self-acceptance, and developing it is often a major hurdle for those who develop substance use disorders (SUDs), also known as drug or alcohol abuse and addiction. Additionally, about 38% of people with SUDs also experience co-occurring mental health disorders like depression or an anxiety disorder, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which could increase feelings of brokenness, guilt, shame, and loneliness. In some cases, people facing these diagnoses may develop an even more distorted view of themselves, using denial as a defense mechanism and avoiding their need for change as long as possible. 

Promoting self-acceptance in recovery from addiction can help people to better understand both the good and the bad facets of themselves, and their capacity to grow and improve. 

What Is Self-Acceptance?

Self-acceptance is the ability for a person to unconditionally recognize and accept their own attributes, including those things about themselves that they believe are bad, and those that they see as good and valued. It means embracing the fact that you are a person and, just like everyone else, you have flaws, you have made mistakes, and you will make mistakes in the future. But you also have your own unique and beautiful skills and talents, including the ability to learn, grow, and become a better version of yourself when you choose to do so. 

Developing a healthy sense of self-acceptance can and will change the way that you view yourself, allowing you to be authentic and calm, highlighting areas of yourself that can be improved, and allowing you to take satisfaction in your life as you make the most of your best qualities. For people in recovery, self-acceptance is critical because it allows you to accept that your SUD exists and is harmful, and to shed feelings of shame and self-hatred in favor of self-love and nurturing. 

It’s important to note here that self-acceptance is not the same as self-esteem. Self-esteem is externally focused, understanding that others should treat you as valuable and worthy of respect. Self-acceptance, in contrast, is focused on your own internal self-awareness of your particular strengths and weaknesses, and on showing yourself kindness and grace even when you are imperfect.

Tips For Building Self-Acceptance

Self-acceptance may seem simple, but it can be hard to accomplish even with professional help. Some tips you can use to get started on your journey towards self-acceptance include the following.

Talking It Out

People tend to be their own worst critics. So, sometimes the best way to accept yourself is to talk with someone you trust and love about your doubts and what you are thinking and feeling about yourself.

This can be an emotional or awkward process, and it’s usually best to use a close loved one or a professional therapist to speak with. But it can also be a great way to verbalize and shape your own troubled thoughts and feelings and receive reassurance and perspective in return. 

Stop The Comparisons

Social media has proven that comparing yourself to others not only is a bummer, but also actively harms your mental and emotional health. 

The fact is, each and every human being on the planet has their own unique life journey, and none of us are in competition with one another. There will always be someone “better” out there, and comparing and contrasting your own appearance, income, milestones, and mistakes simply won’t make you any better. In the end, we are all finding our own way, and what matters is that we each find opportunities to improve ourselves and show love to others. 

Forgive Yourself

We tend to remember the mistakes we make, hoarding them up and keeping them in the back of our mind. The times we hurt others, lied, or made a stupid mistake … 

These experiences are part of who we are. But holding on to them and allowing these failures to have power over us is not healthy or helpful. After all, you can’t go back in time and change what you did or what harm those actions caused. So, you have to learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes and to accept and learn from them without continuing to self-inflict guilt and shame. 

Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is about more than simply being thankful when someone goes out of their way to help out. It is, rather, the practice of intentionally considering and recognizing all the positive things in your life, no matter how small they might be, and humbly considering how these small things all fit into your overall life journey. 

This is often accomplished using different forms of meditation and daily journaling, and can help people recognize just how much in their life is good, positive, and valuable. Gratitude may encompass your own talents, relationships with loved ones, your living conditions, opportunities to interact with others, daily beauty, and anything else that contributes to feelings of ease and happiness. 

Be Mindful

Mindfulness is the practice of dwelling fully in the present moment, recognizing and processing the different sensations, thoughts, and emotions that your body and mind are experiencing as you encounter them. 

This calm, quiet process is similar to meditation and is often used in different treatment programs in order to help people intentionally identify and manage unhelpful or destructive reactions including anger, negative self-talk, anxiety, substance cravings, and more. 

Surround Yourself With Good Influences

Toxic people are those who do not respect personal emotional and physical boundaries. They are often controlling, manipulative, hostile, critical, and negative and they may even be physically abusive and threatening. And all of these characteristics and the feelings they cause can be internalized over time. 

If you can surround yourself with kind people who appreciate and respect you, you’ll find it is much easier to be kind and accepting towards yourself first, and then towards others in your life as well. After all, positivity is infectious. 

Cultivate Joy

Self-acceptance isn’t just sitting in a chair somewhere with a notepad thinking about yourself. It’s a constant stream of understanding that continues wherever you go and whatever you do. So, do things that you love with people you enjoy spending time with and allow yourself to love being alive and existing in good, happy moments whenever possible. 

Barriers To Self-Acceptance

Developing a greater sense of self-acceptance can sometimes take more effort for some people than others. When this is the case, it may be necessary to identify and then break specific barriers to self-acceptance that have been developed. 

These barriers usually fall into one of 10 categories, which have been described as:

• beliefs of defectiveness, which are often revealed through negative self-talk
• fear of being vulnerable, either with others or with oneself
• poor coping styles, often including various forms of addiction and self-harm or self-gratification
• disconnection from one’s inner child, referring to your innermost feelings and needs
• poor emotional regulation, being overly affected or consumed by one’s current feelings
• unrealistic expectations, which often set you up for failure rather than progress and success
• unprocessed trauma, including difficult childhood experiences like bullying or loneliness
• extrinsic motivation, trying to develop self-acceptance for someone else rather than for yourself
• self-criticism and judgment, the preconceptions through which you view yourself
• social comparison, unfair and unhelpful comparisons between you and others in your life 

Fortunately, each of these barriers can be overcome. A therapist can help you learn more. 

The Benefits Of Self-Acceptance In Addiction Recovery

Self-acceptance can be beneficial for anyone, whether or not they have a history with substance abuse. However, self-acceptance in recovery from addiction is particularly important and can provide a wide variety of benefits.

Countering Denial

Denial is a psychological defense mechanism that prevents people from recognising or admitting that they have an SUD, or some other form of major life problem, or that they need to ask for help to treat and manage it. Self-acceptance, however, is freeing and allows one to view themselves and their problems authentically, and to seek real solutions. 

Building Stronger Relationships

People who feel good about themselves and who understand themselves more completely are better able to reach out to others, building stronger relationships and supporting optimism and good mental health. 

Enhanced Emotional Intelligence

Self-acceptance allows people to stand back and understand their emotional states and reactions without being swept away by them. This is important, as emotional dysregulation is a common experience associated with substance abuse and SUDs and can contribute to the choice to leave treatment early, or return to drug or alcohol use. 

Improved Coping Skills

The better you know yourself, the better you can care for yourself. Understanding your own needs and flaws is a great starting point for recovery, as it can help you set important personal boundaries, minimize triggers and cravings, and resist former bad habits. 

Improved Physical And Psychological Health

By letting go and accepting and appreciating yourself as you are, you can reduce the harmful stress in your life. Shame, guilt, insecurity, and dissatisfaction with yourself are all exhausting, and living with them long-term can contribute to the development of body-mind conditions like high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, chronic pain and illness, and more, according to Mayo Clinic.

Addiction Treatment Services That Enhance Self-Acceptance

Self-acceptance, while important, is just one recovery aspect that can be developed through a comprehensive, personalized addiction treatment program. Specific treatment options that can help you enhance self-acceptance include the following.

Behavioral Psychotherapy

A wide variety of different forms of psychotherapy put emphasis on self-acceptance and its components. These include:

• acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a mindfulness-based therapy that encourages people to embrace their thoughts and feelings and to let them go without guilt or other negative responses
• cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which focuses on identifying unhelpful or harmful patterns of thought or behavior and intentionally challenging or changing them
• dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a variation on CBT that is particularly focused on managing intense emotional reactions

Peer Support Groups

AA, NA, and other 12-step self-help organizations have, since their inception, invited participants to accept that they are powerless to overcome the bondage of addiction on their own. But this acceptance is paired with an invitation to submit to a higher power for help in recovery, whether they believe that higher power to be God, the love they have for a spouse or children, an abstract concept like truth or joy, or something else. 

With this higher power supporting them, recovery and overcoming one’s shortcomings is more than simply possible. 

Likewise, secular groups like SMART Recovery promote the principle of unconditional self-acceptance. This principle argues that, in order to create a safe space to grow, change, and heal, people in recovery must first love themselves unconditionally and entirely, including those parts of themselves that they are working on changing. 

This is followed by unconditional other-acceptance (loving and connecting with others without conditions) and unconditional life-acceptance (accepting the good and bad in life, and rising to meet its challenges).

Other Treatment Programming

Oftentimes, treatment centers will feature alternative treatment options like animal therapy, art therapy, exercise classes, cooking, nature therapy, and more. These services can accomplish a variety of different goals, but they are also about helping people in treatment see a different side of themselves and understand that they have the ability to learn new skills and to try new, enjoyable, meaningful activities. 

This can help them better see themselves as a complete person, one who has had struggles but who also has what it takes to grow and develop beyond them. 

Your Recovery At Ohio Recovery Center

At Ohio Recovery Center, we understand just how complex and personal the addiction recovery process can be, especially for people with co-occurring mental health concerns. That’s why we offer comprehensive, individualized residential addiction treatment services for all forms of substance use disorder, including dual diagnosis treatment, medication-assisted treatment, medical detoxification, and more. 

To learn more about our treatment programming or how we encourage self-acceptance in recovery from addiction, please reach out today.