How to Stay Sober

Lasting recoveryrequires lasting effort, but relapse is not failure or weakness; it takes more thanwillpowerto maintain sobriety. This article discusses the meaning of sobriety and arms you with information and strategies to smooth—and stay on—your path to wellness.

How common is relapse?Total abstinence may be the goal, but the reality is that setbacks are common: Research has shown that relapse rates for those recovering from alcohol abuse disorder run up to 62% in the first year—and about 90% over a lifetime. Likewise, for those with opioid use disorder, there’s an up to 91% chance of relapse.

How common is relapse?

Total abstinence may be the goal, but the reality is that setbacks are common: Research has shown that relapse rates for those recovering from alcohol abuse disorder run up to 62% in the first year—and about 90% over a lifetime. Likewise, for those with opioid use disorder, there’s an up to 91% chance of relapse.

Staying Sober: 13 Strategies

The more tools you have for identifying triggers, coping with stress, and managing your newsober life, the easier you’llprevent relapse. Here are some tips that experts recommend often.

Identify Your Personal Triggers

A big part of preventing relapse is understanding your external triggers: the people, places, things, and situations that elicit thoughts or cravings associated with substance use, as well as internal triggers such as feelings, thoughts, and emotions.

Once you identify your biggest risks, you can create a plan to prepare for or avoid them. Some common triggers may include:

5 Relapse Triggers and How to Prepare for Them

Recognize Relapse Warning Signs

A relapse can sneak up on you, usually because you don’t recognize the warning signs. A relapse begins long before you actually pick up a drink or a drug and involves three phases: emotional relapse, mental relapse, and physical relapse.

Warning signs of relapse include:

Warning Signs of an Alcohol or Drug Relapse

Prepare for PAWS

Post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) involveswithdrawal symptomsthat persist past the detox period. Such symptoms are often related to mood and may include irritability, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and fatigue.

Depending on the type of dependency, PAWS can last from six months to two years after you stop using drugs or alcohol.

The symptoms involved in PAWS can be a barrier to recovery if you’re not careful. In addition to being able to recognize them, it’s important to know when to seek help.

If PAWS is severe or if you’re experiencing prolonged symptoms, a medical professional can help you work through them and remain in recovery without relapse.

Avoid Old Routines and Habits

It stands to reason that if you quit your drug of choice but continue with your same routine, hanging around the same people and places, and not making any changes in your circumstances, it will be much easier to slip back into your old behaviors and habits.

Some of the immediate changes you will need to make will be obvious—like not hanging around the people that you used with or obtained drugs from. After all, you can’t hang around your drug dealer or old drinking buddies and expect to remain sober for very long.

You may also need to change your route to work or home in order to avoid any triggers, or people, places, or things that make you want to use drugs or drink again.

Press Play for Advice On Self-Discipline

Build Healthy Relationships

Now that you are sober, you may have discovered that some of your past relationships were not only unhealthy but downright toxic. It’s not just your drinking buddies and drug dealers who can get you into trouble—sometimes those who are closest to you can contribute to a relapse.

For example, you may have developed a co-dependent relationship, or a family member, friend, or employer may have beenenabling youwithout even knowing it.

Research shows that if you maintain these types of toxic relationships, your chances of relapsing are greater.To avoid relapse and remain sober, it’s important todevelop healthy relationships.

Get Support

If you find it difficult to make new, sober friends, tryjoining a support group. Spending more time with supportive loved ones and planning activities for the entire family can also help you develop a healthier lifestyle and avoid situations in which you would normally drink or use drugs.

Seeking help from a therapist is important. A mental health professional can help you cope with some of the challenges you’ll face on your path to sobriety.

A therapist can help you learn new coping skills, develop new thinking patterns, and address any co-occurring mental health conditions that may make recovery more difficult.

You may also experience what is commonly calledsobriety fatigue,which refers to the overall exhaustion that may occur as a result of the emotional and physical stress of staying sober. So, it’s extra helpful to have a support network available to you when you need it.

If you or a loved one are struggling with substance use or addiction, contact theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helplineat1-800-662-4357for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

Best Online Addiction Support Groups

Develop a Structured Schedule

Having a chaotic or disorganized lifestyle can also hinder your recovery. It’s important to develop a structured daily and weekly schedule and stick to it.

Astructured routinewill help you achieve other goals in your life, whether they are short-term (like being on time for work) or long-term (like going back to school and changing careers).

Staying sober is a high priority, but developing and pursuing other goals can help you maintain that sobriety.

How to Make Your Health Goals S.M.A.R.T.

Practice Healthy Living

Chronically misusing drugs and/or alcohol can take a major toll on your physical and emotional health, and now that you’re in recovery, you’ll want to prioritize self-care and ensure you have the fortitude to remain sober. Keys to a healthy lifestyle include:

The Mental Health Benefits of Physical Exercise

Focus on Your Finances

People in recovery from a substance use disorder frequently have problems meeting work-related responsibilities, maintaining employment, and managing money. If you were active in your addiction for a period of time, you may have developed financial problems.

Consider reaching out to a vocational rehabilitation counselor or career coach to help you update your resume, practice job interview skills, and locate jobs that match your skills and experience.

Once you do return to work, it’s important to create a budget and take steps to safeguard yourself as work stress can be a relapse trigger.

How to Stay Sober

Stay Cool and Calm

Many people who misuse alcohol or drugs have trouble dealing with anger. If left unchecked,angercan have a negative impact on your health and your lasting sobriety.

Anger is a normal and natural emotion, but how you deal with it will make a difference in maintaining your recovery.

For many people with a substance use disorder, it’s simply a matter of never having learned the appropriate way tomanage anger. Talk to your therapist, other healthcare provider, or sponsor about how to deal with your anger in ways that won’t cause you to harm yourself or others or turn to alcohol or drugs.

Deal With Mistakes

Most people who make their way into recovery have left a lot of pain and suffering in their wake. Feeling guilty or ashamed of past behavior or actions during active addiction is natural and healthy.

Shame is having negative beliefs about yourself and your self-worth. Guilt is having negative feelings about your past behavior. People in recovery can experience a lot of shame simply for having become addicted in the first place.

If these emotions become excessive, they can hold you back from recovery. If you are trying to maintain a sober lifestyle, those feelings can become toxic and contribute to relapse if you don’t deal with them properly.

Most who find recovery also find that they have emotionally damaged friends and loved ones and have many regrets about their past decisions. To avoid relapse and stay sober, it’s important that you take the necessary steps to learn from your past mistakes and begin to live life more responsibly.

Step 9 in A.A. Is Making Amends

Find Balance

One common mistake for those who are new to alcohol and drug recovery is substituting a new compulsive behavior for their old one.People new to recovery can find themselves approaching their new diet, exercise program, job, and even participation in support groups with a compulsion that echoes addiction.

Learn that you have choices and that you can maintain control. If any area of your life is out of control, it will not help you maintain lasting sobriety.

How to Sober Up: What Actually Works?

Celebrate Milestones

If you’re involved in a 12-step program, you likely already know the importance of milestones. In these programs, it’s customary to receive plastic chips as you progress to the one-year mark, at which time you receive a bronze coin.

Acknowledging and celebrating the hard work of recovery is helpful for keeping you motivated and reminding you why you took this brave step toward sobriety in the first place. Just be sure that your rewards don’t involve drugs or alcohol. Instead, focus on things, experiences, and activities that will support your new, healthy lifestyle.

What Is Sobriety, Anyway?

Strictly speaking, sobriety is the state of being sober—not being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. However, the word is often used in different ways in different contexts. Many 12-step programs suggest that sobriety means total abstinence, which means never using the substance again. Other definitions, however, focus on the process of recovery and coping habits that support health and wellness over the long term.

The Takeaway

Sobriety is a process, and setbacks are common. The best way forward for your recovery from alcohol or substance use is to incorporate a wide variety of strategies that will help foster success. Remember to care for yourself, seek supportive relationships, and consider seeking help from a therapist.

Frequently Asked Questions

The 12 steps are:Admitting you are powerless over addictionBelieving in a higher powerSurrendering to a higher powerTaking a moral inventoryAdmitting wrongsBeing ready to have a higher power remove your wrongsAsking a higher power for helpMaking a list of people you’ve wrongedMaking amendsTaking personal inventoryEngaging in prayer or meditationPracticing these principles and service to the communityLearn More:What Are the Twelve Steps?

The 12 steps are:

Learn More:What Are the Twelve Steps?

It depends on what substance you are recovering from, how long you’ve been using it, and how much you used. Sobriety fatigue can last a few weeks to a few months. However, in severe cases of post-acute withdrawal, symptoms can last up to two years.Learn More:Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal

Learn More:Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal

A sobriety date is the date that you stop using a substance—for instance, the day you quit drinking or quit using drugs.

Learn More:Communicating With Someone Who Has an Addiction

Long-term sobriety is a relative term—it means different things to different people. But many people consider long-term sobriety to be sobriety that has lasted at least one year.

9 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institute on Drug Abuse.Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction. Treatment and Recovery. National Institute on Drug Abuse. .Hendershot CS, Witkiewitz K, George WH, Marlatt GA.Relapse prevention for addictive behaviors.Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2011;6:17. doi:10.1186/1747-597X-6-17Brown S, Tracy EM, Jun M, Park H, Min MO.Personal network recovery enablers and relapse risks for women with substance dependence.Qual Health Res. 2015;25(3):371-385. doi:10.1177/1049732314551055Brown RA, Abrantes AM, Minami H, et al.A preliminary, randomized trial of aerobic exercise for alcohol dependence.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2014;47(1):1-9. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2014.02.004Melemis SM.Relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery.Yale J Biol Med. 2015;88(3):325-332.Dearing RL, Stuewig J, Tangney JP.On the importance of distinguishing shame from guilt: Relations to problematic alcohol and drug use.Addict Behav. 2005;30(7):1392-1404. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.02.002Sussman S, Black DS.Substitute addiction: A concern for researchers and practitioners.J Drug Educ. 2008;38(2):167-180. doi:10.2190/DE.38.2.eTwelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing.Melemis SM.Relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery.Yale J Biol Med. 2015;88(3):325-332.

9 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institute on Drug Abuse.Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction. Treatment and Recovery. National Institute on Drug Abuse. .Hendershot CS, Witkiewitz K, George WH, Marlatt GA.Relapse prevention for addictive behaviors.Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2011;6:17. doi:10.1186/1747-597X-6-17Brown S, Tracy EM, Jun M, Park H, Min MO.Personal network recovery enablers and relapse risks for women with substance dependence.Qual Health Res. 2015;25(3):371-385. doi:10.1177/1049732314551055Brown RA, Abrantes AM, Minami H, et al.A preliminary, randomized trial of aerobic exercise for alcohol dependence.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2014;47(1):1-9. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2014.02.004Melemis SM.Relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery.Yale J Biol Med. 2015;88(3):325-332.Dearing RL, Stuewig J, Tangney JP.On the importance of distinguishing shame from guilt: Relations to problematic alcohol and drug use.Addict Behav. 2005;30(7):1392-1404. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.02.002Sussman S, Black DS.Substitute addiction: A concern for researchers and practitioners.J Drug Educ. 2008;38(2):167-180. doi:10.2190/DE.38.2.eTwelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing.Melemis SM.Relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery.Yale J Biol Med. 2015;88(3):325-332.

National Institute on Drug Abuse.Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction. Treatment and Recovery. National Institute on Drug Abuse. .Hendershot CS, Witkiewitz K, George WH, Marlatt GA.Relapse prevention for addictive behaviors.Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2011;6:17. doi:10.1186/1747-597X-6-17Brown S, Tracy EM, Jun M, Park H, Min MO.Personal network recovery enablers and relapse risks for women with substance dependence.Qual Health Res. 2015;25(3):371-385. doi:10.1177/1049732314551055Brown RA, Abrantes AM, Minami H, et al.A preliminary, randomized trial of aerobic exercise for alcohol dependence.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2014;47(1):1-9. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2014.02.004Melemis SM.Relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery.Yale J Biol Med. 2015;88(3):325-332.Dearing RL, Stuewig J, Tangney JP.On the importance of distinguishing shame from guilt: Relations to problematic alcohol and drug use.Addict Behav. 2005;30(7):1392-1404. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.02.002Sussman S, Black DS.Substitute addiction: A concern for researchers and practitioners.J Drug Educ. 2008;38(2):167-180. doi:10.2190/DE.38.2.eTwelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing.Melemis SM.Relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery.Yale J Biol Med. 2015;88(3):325-332.

National Institute on Drug Abuse.Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction. Treatment and Recovery. National Institute on Drug Abuse. .

Hendershot CS, Witkiewitz K, George WH, Marlatt GA.Relapse prevention for addictive behaviors.Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2011;6:17. doi:10.1186/1747-597X-6-17

Brown S, Tracy EM, Jun M, Park H, Min MO.Personal network recovery enablers and relapse risks for women with substance dependence.Qual Health Res. 2015;25(3):371-385. doi:10.1177/1049732314551055

Brown RA, Abrantes AM, Minami H, et al.A preliminary, randomized trial of aerobic exercise for alcohol dependence.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2014;47(1):1-9. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2014.02.004

Melemis SM.Relapse prevention and the five rules of recovery.Yale J Biol Med. 2015;88(3):325-332.

Dearing RL, Stuewig J, Tangney JP.On the importance of distinguishing shame from guilt: Relations to problematic alcohol and drug use.Addict Behav. 2005;30(7):1392-1404. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.02.002

Sussman S, Black DS.Substitute addiction: A concern for researchers and practitioners.J Drug Educ. 2008;38(2):167-180. doi:10.2190/DE.38.2.e

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing.

Meet Our Review Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

What is your feedback?

How common is relapse?#

Staying Sober: 13 Strategies#

Identify Your Personal Triggers#

Recognize Relapse Warning Signs#

Prepare for PAWS#

Avoid Old Routines and Habits#

Press Play for Advice On Self-Discipline#

Build Healthy Relationships#

Get Support#

Develop a Structured Schedule#

Practice Healthy Living#

Focus on Your Finances#

Stay Cool and Calm#

Deal With Mistakes#

Find Balance#

Celebrate Milestones#

What Is Sobriety, Anyway?#

The Takeaway#

Frequently Asked Questions#