Staying Sober During Family Events
Staying sober during family events can be a special kind of challenge when you are an alcoholic, especially if your family doesn’t really understand the nature of the disease. Whether you went to a high end treatment center, or one of the more affordable alcohol treatment centers, they hopefully made it clear to you that alcoholism really is a disease and not a personality issue. Use the following tips to help stay sober during family events.
Plan Ahead
Sometimes you are better off to bring your own drink. This can help you in a variety of situations. For one thing, people won’t be constantly trying to hand you a drink. For another thing, if need be, you can just skip all the questions about why you are refusing drinks by saying that you are on a new trendy diet. Is it a lie? Not really, since you’re on a diet that precludes alcohol. It is, however, a great way to avoid lengthy discussions that involve defending your choices.
Host the Dinners
One of the easiest ways to manage the situation is to manage it directly. Host your own dinners and inform your family that the dinner is a sober one. While this may raise a few questions, it is your home, and you are going to have to draw this line sooner or later if you are to be successful in sobriety.
Focus on Activities
A lot of times when families get together, they either have organized activities, or there are people, usually children, who really need someone to organize an activity for them. By putting yourself in the position to direct or at least participate in these activities, you keep your mind busy while still enjoying family time.
Limit Your Time
This isn’t your first time with the family. You know about how long it takes for things to get overly stressful, or for people to switch into party mode. Keep a time in mind, and perhaps even let people know that you have to leave by a certain time, so no one is asking questions when you get ready to go. Stress, and especially personal, family-related stress, can be a significant trigger, and it’s important to plan ahead for that.
Much of what you do to deal with your situation depends on your own personal triggers and issues. For example, getting together with the family might be a trigger for you because of the stress in general, or it might be a trigger for you because you belong to a family that loves to party. For more insight into how you can manage these situations, contact Yellowstone Recovery by calling 1-888-897-1455 today.
