Addiction Recovery: Top 5 Reasons Why You Need an Aftercare Plan

Addiction Recovery: Top 5 Reasons Why You Need an Aftercare Plan
By Larry Smith

If you have a desire to recover from the disease of addiction, you must take certain steps to increase your chances of long-term recovery. Residential treatment is a great place to start you on your road to recovery. Program lengths may vary from 30 days to several months. If you have just returned home from a treatment centre, it is imperative that you have an after care plan and follow it 100%. Below are the top 5 reasons why you must follow your after care plan:

1. You are 100% responsible for your own recovery -- Nobody else can do it for you!

You have the ultimate responsibility of staying clean and sober. Since it is your responsibility, the best way to ensure long-term success is to have an after care plan. An after care plan is a series of tasks you must complete each day to increase your chances of long term sobriety. Some examples of aftercare tasks include going to meetings, calling your sponsor and performing exercise regularly.

2. New behaviors, attitudes and skills require practice

The skills, knowledge and attitudes learned at your residential treatment program are still somewhat new to you. If have learned how to share your feeling with others and ask for help, it is important for you to keep on practicing these skills. Do you know of any professional athletes who do not practice skills in between games and in the off season? Keep practicing the skills, attitudes and knowledge you acquired at the treatment centre and make that part of your after care plan.

3. Old behaviors will quickly return unless you have new behaviors to replace them

Have you been visiting the local bar or liquor store after work on a regular basis for the past 30 years? If so, it is an excellent idea to plan another healthy activity to take its place. Try walking in the park, going to the gym or visiting a friend in recovery instead. Old habits do not die easily or quickly. Draw up a list of the rituals you had when you were actively addicted. Replace the unhealthy old behaviors with healthier new behaviors. Be creative, have fun and ask for help from your recovery friends.

4. You are setting a good example for your peers and for society

It is an absolute gift to be able to recover from the life threatening illness of addiction. If your peers see you working hard on your recovery program, they can use that as an example to work hard on their recovery programs. If the people in your community see you as an active healthy person, it demonstrates that there is plenty of hope for those still suffering! If you want to set a good example for your peers and for society, you must follow a regimented and thoughtful aftercare plan.

5. Your disease will always be waiting for you

The only possible chance you have of remaining clean and sober is through consistent practice of healthy habits. Don’t be tempted to check out your former bar to see how the old gang is doing. Do you really think that anybody who walks into a brothel in the red light district is remotely interested in learning how to dance? Do most people who go to the bar sip on a soft drink all night? Remember that your disease is always waiting for you. Don’t let the door open even a crack.

Although there are countless other reasons that can be added, those are my top 5 reasons why you need an aftercare plan. If you honestly follow your after care plan to the best of your ability, your chances of recovery will increase dramatically. It has often been said that “the worst day in sobriety is still much better than the best day of addiction.”