• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

People in recovery, what are you doing to spend time?

X

Xi_

Greenlighter
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
5
I read alot of recovering people, that they are bored and lifeless, including me.
I'm constantly bored, and besides youtube, movies or guitar i don't feel like doing something/ i dont know something to do.
Any advice? What are you guys up to?
 
The post-using/early-recovery depression sucks. I'm dealing with it every day, but just try to stay busy. Anything you can think of. Whatever your daily duties are...as for me, I have a son to get from school, I exercise with my fiance every afternoon, I stay on the computer/this site quite a bit lol just learning and researching...just try to keep your mind occupied. It gets a little better every day. Just don't give up, and don't give in. If you don't mind me asking, what were you on and how long? How long are you clean?
 
Meetings are key. There is where you meet sober people to hang out with. I'm coming up on 5 months clean, I got drug court, meetings, sober fun time with friends, and of course hook-ups with girls. That's how I spend my time now, soon I will have college thrown into the mix again.
 
One of the best things that you can do is to get involved where you are needed. If you can spare the time, a volunteer job can do wonders for your life. It gives you a regular social outlet, it looks good on a job resume, it helps individuals and your community. There are so many ways to volunteer but a good place to start is at a volunteer center. Most communities have one. If you have experience with being incarcerated, a fantastic organization is Friends Outside. They provide services for people incarcerated as well as for their families. If a regular volunteer job doesn't fit in your life right now, you can always offer to give a friend or neighbor's dog an extra walk a day. Nothing like spending time with a happy dog to make the world look good again!<3
 
If you're asking what I'm doing with my time, spending way too much time on Bluelight, lol. Which is probably not the healthiest choice but it does make me feel like I am helping others at least.

But if you are asking what I would recommend I would say anything that you enjoy, that makes you feel good/healthy, that makes you feel useful or that helps others. Any hobbies or interests, getting outside, exercise, volunteering, reading, spending time with other people, all that kind of stuff. I liked herbavore's suggestions. I highly recommend yoga. Anything that is working on improving your life or mental health is great too. Getting re-connected with nature is very important IMO. And maybe connecting with your ancestry or indigenous peoples. I've been going to native healing ceremonies and have found that very helpful. If you are going to watch TV or read I recommend non-fiction and documentaries. Listening to or playing music or singing are hugely helpful IME too.

EDIT: I'm going to try to be better at taking my own advice. Maybe I will get off the computer and do some cleaning and get some fresh air. It's very easy to replace a substance addiction with a behavioural addiction, like spending a lot of time on the internet, playing video games, or watching TV. Although in the short-term that is probably a lot healthier than doing addictive drugs, it can still become an addiction that gets out of control and adversely affects one's life.
 
Walk, workout, read, meetings, talk to my friends in recovery, family, online poker lol, MUSIC
 
Suffering with this badly and has made me relapse a few times but only codeine which is shit but can't get anything stronger now. I become very withdrawn when kicking/recovery...I hardly leave the house and stay awake all night then sleep through the day as at night there's no responsibility's. I try to sleep a lot to pass the days in hope time will make me feel better but have too much energy now!. When I'm feeling OK I will listen/sing/rap to music compulsively. I watch quite a bit of tele and love when I catch a decent movie...action movies make me want to exercise and I find myself doing ninja shit like playing with sticks, nun chucks,stretching...I want to improve myself now as I've neglected myself for years doing nothing but nodding out.

Its hard to do stuff sometimes when your so bummed out and not used to the sober world, you realize that you can't turn into Bruce lee straight away and get discouraged when your body aches and you can't keep to your schedules/plans. As much as it seems going out is hell, when I HAVE to go out which can be like once every fortnight to get my benefits, once I'm out and gotten over that mental barrier I want to stay out! I don't got much of a social life atm I was a lone user in the end...I don't mind doing things alone though and like today I just brought an allday bus pass and got on/off at various places walking around different parts of town whilst listening to music, granted I was chemist shopping which gave me the motivation/reward but I did enjoy the overall experience of being out and seeing different faces...interacting with people, singing/rapping dancing down the street lol.

My minds so much clearer now, I'm a hyperactive ad(h)d type of person and would always self medicate its like I need to slow down. When I got over the WD's I tried to use other drugs to replace opiates but they didn't help with the exception of weed which normally I cannot tolerate and makes me an anxious wreck but I somehow managed to overcome the anxiety by doing things. After taking a big hit from a pipe I was really anxious and realized it was because my body was out of alignment...I cracked my back and did some weird stuff that just made me feel better, shit i even hide in a tiny closet that I had to squeeze into!!! I try not to smoke though as it does make me edgy and /i have to do things to feel OK and somewhat enjoy the buzz..I just wanted a shift from reality.

I've had to deal with alot of emotions that have come rushing back, I feel emotions now like guilt. It's taken sometime to defrag my mind.

Sorry this has turned into a ramble about me kicking/dealing with sobriety I just went off track as I've not spoke alot about it.

I feel more spiritual, even just looking out my window. Anyway I think just keep busy/stimulated whatever it is you have to do to cope.

Goodluck to everyone going through this shit, especially if you did it alone like me... its a big feat and take it day by day.
 
exercise. I know its just chasing another high, but the natural high of working my body hard feels and IS good for me.
 
RangersFan said:
It gets a little better every day.
Click to expand...

This is very true. from the age of 17 -18 i have been in and out of rehabs and kept relapsing solely because i was bored and boredom leads to thinking about drugs or your past experiences and how you miss them. The lack of motivation and happiness or appreciation from once fun activities will return over time. After being addicted for quite some time the brain and chemical structure becomes accustomed to the extreme release of endorphins, dopamine, serotonin ,or whatever other chemical the drug is associated with, and when off the stuff and back to a normal life the once fufilling activities do not release enough dopamine and or whatever other chemical that the substance brought out in you that your brain liked and therefore the activity does not appeal to you or seem fun enough to keep you happy. Drugs like MDMA or ecstasy release massive amounts of the serotonin stored in your brain. For educational purposes lets make up a scale by a points system and say MDMA is your drug of choice (as it was mine... hence the name). On one night of using the drug it will release 80 points of serotonin. Your brain becomes used to that rather quickly after further use. When returning to your normal once satisfying fun activities it does not suffice or satisfy the brain which is used to the 80 points of chemical reaction from the drug whereas the 20-30 points that the sober activity induces for most likely a significantly shorter period of time does not even excite the brain. Over time though the brain will grow out of the pattern you once put it through and will accept the new sober way of life as it once accepted the drugs when you first started using.

It all takes time man. Like the old saying goes time heals everything.

As for the boredom try finding a positive healthy addiction or something that you can work toward that will reward you. That reward will feel better than any high. Mine for quite some time before relapsing again (i know i know) was creating dubstep mixes and the feedback i received and the sense of self accomplishment was soo great for me for months and months.. until i fell victim to peer pressure :/

sorry for the long ass post but its all in a good cause. THE MIND IS A BEAUTIFUL THING TO WASTE
 
The Mind is Most Definantly A Beautiful thing to waste! I feel the same, every time ive been doing skittles, i was told that in jail i would be the greatest trip ever, well no,. everytime i use it i become more and more insaine in my own world of delusions! Time can only tell. I cant even pinpoint when or how it happened all i relititivly know is from the age of 12-14 i abused adhd meds daily to task my complete things in order, then i got into everything else, expanded warped and delirious in my own nature, and lost my mind compleatly. God(in my persepective take it or leave it) was what started the chain reaction to change. I NEED to change otherwise i will End Up Like Syd Barrett, A Lost World OF Beautifuly burning talent. i cant see myself this way ever again. Tose out the broken peices and repair with a fresh new clean slate for tomarow, but i warn. Drugs like to speak for themselfs, whispering in our ears, sometimes reality is fantasy and its just that reality with fiction in a world of nothing finnaly comming to my greatest realization of ALL!
 
Develop a holistic plan. One that addresses finances, living scenarios, health, diet, exercise, entertainment, spirituality (if applicable), and so on. If you come up w/ a plan encompassing, well, ostensibly everything, chances are, first, you'll be busy; second, you'll have supervision and can do maintenance on the more compromising realms there within.
 
When you finally decide to break way that devide like a young Syd Barrett you are, but at a sence get out while you still can before you will end up like Vegtable man. :(
 
I've been going to some meetings and picking up old hobbies, i.e. reading, sketching, collaging....granted, the meeting thing has been rough because I can't find one that I like enough to stick to.
 
• When I'm not busy relapsing, I visit the library quite a bit. The one within proximity has a seriously sexy selection of odd books and foreign films. It is also a pretty attractive library, so it makes it easy to get lost in a novel because it's just so darn cozy and kept-up. The fact that I do not have to pay a dime unless I fuck off returning them is also a definite plus.

• I've recently taken up baking. Blame the years of opiates, but I love the challenge of making an exquisite baked good.

• Exercise, exercise, exercise. I tend to have a pretty potent temperament. I maintain that other than using drugs or genitalia, exercise is the only thing that can alleviate said temperament.

• I think of something spontaneous to partake in that would give me some sort of a 'rush'. I recently started taking the bus down to the beach and embracing meaningful conversations with strangers this way. Also, recently started playing the piano again and dabbling in really fucked up 'paintings'.

• I make a realistic list every single evening of what I want/have to do the next day. I try my best to follow this list.
 
NA/CA meetings
Volunteer work
Improptu football games
Coffee
Writing
Service users groups
Helping newer people in recovery
Renewing family ties
Loving myself & my new life without opiates/benzos/pot/alcohol/cigs
3 years now.
 
I read a lot of Latin and email essays to friends I have all over the country. I pace a lot. I smoke a LOT of cigarettes and dip/sniff lots of snuff. I also play Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, this neat intricate roguelike game with random dungeons, permadeath, and ASCII graphics. I also started jogging, and I do pull ups and crunches every other day (I lost a lot of weight due to my drug use, an unhealthy amount, my arms are so skinny).

I see a therapist once a week so that's something.

My next-door neighbor is a professor of Greek so I'm gonna learn some Greek from him.

I have two non-using friends and we go on hikes. I also have using friends and I just ask them not to use around me (not so much because I'm scared I'd do drugs again, more because the smell of marijuana can give me an anxiety attack hahaha).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top