6 Common Fears in Addiction Recovery and How to Face Them


Trump is an expert on leveraging everyday people’s pain points and personal fear. Thankfully, there have only been a few times when someone at the table hasn’t pointed it out on my behalf and adjusted accordingly. However, when it has happened, I have to speak up to point out that I didn’t drink and I’m not subsidizing their drinking.

  • But the following insights may ease your journey and improve your outlook.
  • Making friends through a 12-step or recovery program is also common.
  • They should be in prison.” At that point, a burly man in a giant black cowboy hat sitting next to me leaned over conspiratorially and proclaimed, “I think we should hang them all!
  • Maybe you’re afraid you won’t be able to make new friends.
  • You will learn how to deal with painful situations as part of your overall treatment so that pain will not be a scary thing in the future.
  • That is expected, and a sponsor or close friend in your program is a great source of support for you in doing so.

“It’s about choosing to have something fun and enjoyable, which is a really cool experience to have.” Most importantly, don’t get caught up in trying to exactly replicate the alcoholic drinks you used to love. Being sober means finding new favorites and enjoying fresh options, like kombucha sparkling wine or a creative N/A spritz. Making friends through a 12-step or recovery program is also common. You may even form a personal support system outside your group with the connections you make.

Can support groups replace 12-step programs?

On the other, you’re scared to death of what sobriety will do to your world. Our hopes and dreams may have gotten stuffed down along the way during our descent into drugs or alcohol, too. It can be scary to confront ourselves and our dreams, and putting them off or procrastinating on them is a way to avoid putting the work in or fear of failure. When we’re sober, we may find those desires and dreams come to the surface again, prompting us to pay attention to them once again. Withdrawal symptoms can be uncomfortable, but they are not always dangerous.

fear of being sober

Any big life change naturally brings a sense of fear or unease. According to Merriam-Webster, being sober simply means abstaining from alcohol and drugs. Though some people are sober for their entire lives, others may have sober episodes of a few years, months, or even days. With friends, if they aren’t on board with your sobriety, you’ll have some tough choices ahead. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about it until you’ve got some solid, sober days under your belt.

You’re Afraid of Withdrawal Symptoms.

However, if you don’t learn to manage those fears and put them into perspective, they will drive you right back to the bottle. The fear of getting sober is more common than we may think. Of course, on the surface, asking if there is such a thing as a fear of being sober might seem like a rhetorical question. Non-addicts may proclaim, “Of course addicts should want to get sober—why wouldn’t they?

For example, severe alcohol withdrawal can be deadly without medical treatment. But even if it’s not medically necessary, it can make a difference on getting you through the detox successfully. In a medical detox, a specialized drug team will be with you all of the way.

Recovery apps

You should embrace the possibility of again being able to feel strong emotions like love, joy, pride in yourself, hope for the future, and belief in your inner goodness. It has probably been such a long time since you did that you are afraid you are not capable of it. In fact, one of the many benefits of being clean and sober in recovery is that you are able to both feel and express your emotions.

fear of being sober