It’s common for people to have some harmful habits. This is for many reasons. Part of it is due to a lack of education for self-care. The other is encouraged as a response to modern society. For example, not getting enough sleep in favor of work is often seen as a positive mark of a dedicated person. However, this is harmful, as sleep is vitally important to the function of your body. Sometimes these harmful habits are normalized to the point that it’s hard to tell what’s harmful and what’s healthy. This is especially harmful to those who have never been educated about healthy habits as children.
Understanding what harmful habits are can make a big impact on a person’s addiction treatment and recovery. That is why treatment facilities such as Painted Desert Recovery work to teach clients how to identify the harmful habits that are actively hurting their recovery. With time and practice, clients learn how to change these habits sustainably. This allows them to form new and healthy habits that can keep them in recovery long after treatment is finished.
To understand how to make these essential changes, we must first examine some common harmful habits that may be affecting your mental and physical health.
Examples of Harmful Habits
Many harmful habits are seen in those struggling with addiction, but anyone can be trapped in harmful habits. Perhaps the first and most noticeable of all harmful habits is self-medicating. Self-medicating is when someone uses a substance without the oversight of a doctor to treat a negative symptom, real or perceived. This often involves someone abusing substances to mask the pain they feel from an underlying mental health disorder or as a way to manage stress. Self-medicating is not a healthy way to cope, and substance abuse can quickly become a dependence and addiction over time.
Other harmful habits have to do with the lack of maintenance we perform for our minds and bodies. Neglecting nutrition, hygiene, and sleep are all examples of harmful habits that can cause mental and physical harm. This is especially harmful for those undergoing treatment. Treatment is hard work and uses a lot of focus and energy. Without replacing the energy lost, a client can burn out quickly. You cannot pour water out of an empty cup. Without taking time to rest and refuel, there is no energy for treatment.
Other harmful habits affect people on a deep emotional level. One such habit is wanting to isolate from others when in distress. It is one thing to need some alone time to process negative emotions or events, but complete isolation is harmful. Other harmful habits include behaviors such as bottling up emotions, taking on too much work at once, and refusing help from others.
It may feel like you are stuck with these harmful habits. However, it’s possible to make healthy changes with the right type of help.
Changing Harmful Habits to Healthy Habits
Once a client has identified their harmful habits, they can begin to change them to healthy ones. It may seem overly difficult initially, but habits are established with repeated actions over time. To change a bad habit, such as not resting enough, you need a combination of tools and personal willpower. In this example, a person can use a tool, such as their phone, to set alarms for rest breaks. Then, they use their willpower to make themselves sit and rest for a set amount of time. It takes repeating this action repeatedly until it “sticks” as a new habit.
Of course, many harmful habits are born from outside influence. Trauma can be the source of some harmful habits, such as a person refusing to sleep due to fear. In these cases, it takes the help of a mental health care professional to assist clients in making these changes. It’s always okay to seek help in changing harmful habits, as it gives the individual the best chance at success.
Finding Help for Making Sustainable Life Changes
Painted Desert Recovery offers a safe place to deconstruct a person’s harmful habits. Clients learn why they keep engaging in harmful habits, either because of a lack of education, underlying conditions, or self-sabotage. They can then lean on the support of compassionate staff to make serious and sustainable life changes.
This is done by offering a supportive place to practice these changes. As mentioned before, a habit must be repeated over time to be ingrained. Having staff members who can remind and help clients stick with their goals can go a long way in changing harmful habits to healthy ones.
Some therapies are useful in teaching clients how to make sustainable changes to their lives. Nutritional therapy teaches clients how to create healthy nutritional habits that keep them properly nourished and energized. Group therapy is also helpful by allowing clients to draw from a pool of shared experiences and wisdom. Most likely, a peer is seeking to make the same changes you are. Making changes is easier when you have someone cheering you on. Trauma-based therapy is used to help clients understand why they keep engaging in harmful habits and let go of the pain that keeps them trapped.
Everyone can change their harmful habits with the right help. Sustainable change is what recovery is all about, and Painted Desert Recovery allows clients to find the inner strength they need to accomplish it. So, if you or a loved one feels trapped in their harmful habits, make the change and start your recovery journey today.
There are many things a person can do that sabotage their mental and physical health. These are known as harmful habits. Over time, these harmful habits can have a serious impact on a person’s health. That’s why it’s important to identify these harmful habits and make healthy and sustainable changes. Thankfully, people don’t have to make these changes alone. Here at Painted Desert Recovery in New Harmony, Utah, clients receive the help they need to identify these harmful habits and replace them with healthy ones. With the skills needed to make long-lasting changes, clients can live healthier and happier lives. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, don’t wait. Call (844) 540-0353 today.
