The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care. It doesn’t have to be a grandiose feeling of appreciation every day. You can simply feel grateful that you made it through or that you didn’t take your bad day out on anyone else.

You can be grateful for minor occurrences as long as they make you happy. Once you start paying more attention to the small details of your life and how they make you feel, gratitude will come more naturally and in abundance. Researchers find that gratitude is especially important for individuals in SUD recovery with the goal of being abstinent.

The Importance of Gratitude in Addiction Recovery

Perhaps most importantly, from a medical perspective, they also had lower levels of inflammation markers. Inflammation is a major risk factor in the progression of heart disease and keeping it low is crucial for heart health as well as other dimensions of physical and mental health. Once your mind starts associating these objects with gratitude, you will naturally begin to feel more positive every time you see them.

• Taking the first step toward sobriety can be very difficult, especially when you do not know what to expect.
• Gratitude can be a powerful tool for alleviating stress and anxiety.
• This suggests that being grateful not only improves our mental health but also has positive effects on our bodies.
• Millions of people face the same challenge every day, but there is hope.

They then asked another group to write about the daily irritations or things that had displeased them. The third group was asked to write about the negative and positive events that affected them. After 10 weeks of study, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives.

Benefits of Gratitude in Sobriety (and life in general!)

In addition to receiving regular counseling, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group wrote gratitude letters–which are discussed below–one group wrote about their thoughts and feelings, and the last group didn’t write anything. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ The group that wrote gratitude letters reported better mental health at four weeks and 12 weeks after the writing assignment ended, compared to the other two groups. This suggests that a gratitude practice can be a valuable addition to your treatment plan.

• It has been proven to be beneficial in addiction recovery, but it can benefit anyone seeking a more fulfilled life.
• You will notice that you can sleep better after this gratitude exercise before bed.
• You can learn to be grateful for the healing journey and all the progress you make.
• Gratitude is a muscle that develops with training and practice, and when we make a habit of appreciating the better qualities in life, we strengthen that muscle in our mind.
• You can start your recovery journey with Design for Recovery, a sober living home for men that offers a supportive environment and a holistic approach to recovery.

Taking a moment to think about something good you have now can serve as a reminder of how far you’ve come since your addiction. Remembering the way your life was when you were addicted doesn’t have to drudge up feelings of regret or sadness. Instead, it can improve your gratitude and remind you that the fight to stay sober is worth the effort. Sadly, people in recovery are often notorious for being grumpy, but that stereotype doesn’t have to be true for you. Being kind to loved ones, friends, and strangers, regardless of the type of day you’re having, is an honorable way to live.

Recovery Symbols to Celebrate Your Sobriety

In active addiction, we struggled with the concept of having enough. Moments of quiet contentment were few and far between because our brain was often demanding alcohol or other drugs, and our addiction gave us little choice in the matter. While you may have regrets about your addiction and past, use the power of words to help you move on to a place of acceptance.

It’s important to understand that the relationship you have with yourself will often be reflected in your relationships with others. Many in recovery, particularly early recovery, feel guilty for past mistakes and beat themselves up. While acknowledging mistakes and making amends is vital for importance of gratitude in recovery long-term recovery learning to love yourself is too. Volunteering or being in service is one of the best ways to begin to get grateful. Not only does volunteering help us get out of our heads and inot the present moment. This helps us to see and appreciate the good things in our lives now.