You probably began drinking and doing drugs to help you cope with your low self-esteem or to be more social. Although you might have felt good for a fleeting moment, as soon as the buzz or high wore off, you were even lower than before. Alcohol and drugs takes a toll on self-esteem. The more you use, the worse you feel about yourself. Now that you are in recovery, you realize you don’t have alcohol and drugs as a crutch and must address your low self-esteem.

5 Tips to Improving your Self-Esteem

You learn in rehab that self-esteem is important to maintain your mental health and well-being. Improving your self-esteem helps your recovery and reduces the chances of relapsing. Knowing how to how to raise your self-esteem is a useful tool in recovery.

1. Think positive – Using thought stopping (literally saying “stop!” when a negative thought comes into your head) and reframing (flipping it to the positive) helps you break the habit of thinking negatively and helps you see the bright side of things.
2. Embrace your strengths – List all the good qualities you have, whether you are a good listener, kind to others, a good cook; they’re all important!
3. Set realistic goals and work toward them – When you set a goal and achieve it, you feel accomplished. Set goals you know you can achieve and work hard to achieve them. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
4. Volunteer – Helping others gives you a sense of fulfillment, which in turns raises your self-esteem.
5. Don’t compare – Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Some people might be at a different point in their recovery or in their life. Comparing yourself and your progress to others hurts you. Embrace and celebrate your progress and don’t worry about other people.

Lakeview understands the difficulty you will have when going to your first social outings in recovery without using drugs or alcohol.  That is why our drug rehab center teaches you how to deal with life’s situations without using.  We know the importance of understanding addiction from experience. Our admission counselors all have personal experience with addiction and recovery so we can understand you better. Call admissions 24/7 at 866.704.7692 for questions about addiction, detox and rehab services we offer.