25 Powerful Affirmations to Combat Depression and Anxiety in Your Fight for Recovery

Anxiety and depression may be present as you battle sex addiction. Therefore, working with a therapist who can address and treat co-occurring issues is crucial to your success. Likewise, an important part of recovery will be identifying a variety of tools you can easily turn to. Of course the goal is to equip you with tools to withstand symptoms of depression and anxiety rather than turning back to your addiction.

Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are common among those with addiction. Yet symptoms can drive you back to addictive behaviors in an attempt to escape your emotions. Therefore, an important part of your treatment plan will be discovering tools to help you when you're feeling triggered. For example, practicing positive affirmations every day can be both simple and powerful.

Saying positive affirmations aloud can be a valuable tool to help you in your recovery. Feelings such as depression, anxiety, shame, guilt, and hopelessness may hold you captive in your addiction. However, daily affirmations can help you begin to connect aspirations to reality. Likewise, they can help improve your self-esteem, and help you remember why you're fighting for your recovery.

25 Affirmations to Combat Depression and Anxiety as You Fight For Recovery

You may not know what to say to yourself in moments following a trigger. Suppose you're feeling overwhelmed by depression or anxiety. In that case, you may feel a strong desire to run back to your addiction. However, affirmations may help you overcome the symptoms that often fuel compulsive reactions.

Below you may find some of these affirmations strike a chord within that empowers you. Saying these aloud may help calm your mind and quiet your thoughts in a moment of discontentment. See what you think:

  1. I am of infinite value and worth.
  2. My past does not define who I am today.
  3. I am worthy of love and respect.
  4. I'm choosing to move forward with integrity.
  5. I love myself and can also give and receive love.
  6. I am letting go of shame because it only holds me back.
  7. Happiness is a choice, and I choose happiness.
  8. I am grateful for all that life offers me.
  9. I am safe and loved.
  10. I am at peace with my past.
  11. I forgive myself.
  12. I forgive others.
  13. I am learning and growing stronger every day.
  14. I respect and honor the boundaries my loved ones have set.
  15. This moment will pass.
  16. I have compassion for others and myself.
  17. There is no shame in reaching out for help.
  18. Talking about my thoughts and feelings is healthy.
  19. My mistakes are not failures, rather opportunities for growth.
  20. I am capable of change.
  21. Today I am choosing recovery.
  22. I'm choosing healthy relationships and connections over my addiction.
  23. I deserve sobriety.
  24. I am capable of finding a healthy solution to every problem.
  25. I can trust myself, my progress, and my path to recovery.

Facing Depression and Anxiety and an Addiction, Oh My!

It's no secret that overcoming addiction, especially sex addiction, is a lifelong process. While there is no cure, the longer you maintain recovery, the stronger you become. As a result, triggers and compulsions to respond may drastically reduce or diminish altogether. If you're living with depression or anxiety, the internal struggle to stay present can be overwhelming.

Finding hope in the journey is critical and positive affirmations are one of many tools you may turn to. Depression and anxiety can leave you wanting to run back to the very behaviors you're fighting to avoid. Therefore, we work with you to identify any and all underlying issues, to help set you up for success.

At Paradise Creek Recovery Center, we treat those with addictions and co-occurring disorders such as anxiety or depression. We would love to talk to you and see how we can help you reach and maintain your recovery.

Contact us today.

Why It's a Great Idea to Process Betrayal Trauma While Your Spouse Is in Rehab

If your partner recently started a rehab program, now is that time to focus on yourself. Is it selfish to shift your focus to your own healing and recovery? The answer is no. On the contrary, now is a great time to focus on processing your betrayal trauma so you can heal and get your life back.

In the upcoming weeks or months, you may not hear from your spouse as much, and that is okay. In fact, you may be feeling a sense of relief that they're getting the help they need for their addiction. So, what can you do to prepare for life after treatment? One of the best things you can do is process your betrayal trauma. As you focus on your needs, you'll likely discover you become a better version of yourself.

In this article, we'll discuss why it's a great idea to focus on healing your betrayal trauma while your spouse is in rehab.

It's a Great Idea to Process Your Betrayal Trauma Right Now.

Living with a spouse who has an addiction can be a traumatic experience. For example, betrayal often accompanies addiction, especially if you happen to discover it on your own. As a result, you may be living with many symptoms of betrayal trauma.

When your spouse enters into a treatment center, it can leave you wondering what your relationship will look like after rehab. As you plan to move into a supportive role, it will be equally important to ensure your needs are met. Therefore, working on yourself can be vital to both you and your spouse's success. Processing your betrayal trauma can help you return to a sense of normalcy. Through therapy, you can work toward alleviating your symptoms and improving your mental health.

Focusing on your mental and physical health is a great way to prepare to welcome your spouse home from inpatient treatment. Living with someone who has an addiction is not easy, and you deserve to heal. Likewise, with help, you can acquire the knowledge and skills you'll need to help yourself and your spouse enjoy life in recovery. However, if you're living with betrayal trauma after your spouse arrives home, it may inhibit recovery success.

Shifting Your Focus to Healing Betrayal Trauma While Your Spouse Works Toward Recovery

Whether the program lasts 30 days, or a year, through treatment, your spouse will be gaining valuable skills to aid life in recovery. What about you, though?

Addiction is a disease that affects everyone in the family. However, families don't always seek treatment for their own healing. As such, they miss out on the skills, tools, and strategies they need as they transition to a new way of life. Yet, with everyone working toward improving, relationships can heal. As a result, the odds of successful recovery also increase.

By focusing on yourself and healing from betrayal trauma, you're able to work through issues that may hold you back otherwise. Likewise, processing your betrayal trauma may help you work through problems that you may be unaware of right now.

What are the symptoms of betrayal trauma?

Living with betrayal trauma can negatively impact you in many ways. For example, you could be living with symptoms such as:

Keep in mind; there are many ways to support your spouse after they enter rehab. However, self-care is the best way you'll be able to help. By taking care of yourself, you'll be able to offer the best support possible. Remember, it isn't selfish to take care of your needs. In fact, working through your betrayal trauma may be the key to setting the two of you up for success.

At the Paradise Creek Recovery Center, we believe a large part of addiction recovery success lies within the family's recovery. Therefore, we strive to help families take the necessary steps to prevent relapse. Likewise, we want to help you build a rewarding and healthy life in recovery. Working through your betrayal trauma while your partner works on their addiction is a great way to help both of you reach the goal of recovery.

Gratitude

(Post share from the IRATAD Blog)

We know that gratitude has also been shown to make people have a more powerful connection with people, increases their optimism, physical health, greater energy and people who are more productive and happy in their roles in life.  We also know that gratitude has a positive role in our mental health functioning by reducing depression levels.

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Caring for Ourselves

(Post share from the IRATAD Blog)

To better care four ourselves we need to pay attention to our physical, mental, social, and spiritual health and strive for a healthy balance amongst each of these dimensions.  Caring for our physical health involves more than just exercising.  We need to get adequate amounts of sleep, eat a healthy diet, and maintain good hygiene.  Caring for our mental health includes reducing stress, finding healthy and positive experiences in our daily life, being mindful of the present situation, and doing things that help us stay mentally sharp.  To care for our social needs we must engage in healthy activities with people who build us up and are positive influences on us; social isolation can lead to unhealthy thoughts and behaviors.  Finally, caring for our spiritual health involves being able to see beyond ourselves and see the big picture.  Spirituality involves being hopeful, recognizing our values, and doing things for the benefit of others.  People may connect with spirituality by reading religious or inspirational texts, meditation or prayer, or by being in nature.

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