Exploring personality changes during addiction and recovery. Self-awareness is key.
When we start recovery, it’s normal to wonder how we will change. Oftentimes, much of our identity becomes wrapped up in our substances of choice and when we say goodbye to drugs and alcohol, we wonder how our lives and personalities will change. Many of the tools we get in recovery shed new light on ourselves, offering greater self-awareness, peace, and healing. In this article, we will delve into some of the ways in which recovery can change our perception. First, we’ll look at how addiction is actually what causes our personalities to change. Above all, it’s important to remember that it’s your story and your life. Recovery is an ongoing process and it’s up to you to get to know yourself.
Active Addiction and Personality Changes
Drugs and alcohol change the brain and therefore, our personalities often change when we use them. During active addiction, our brains prioritize our substance(s) of choice over pretty much everything else. In the past, we might have prioritized school, family, our careers, our happiness and health, and our relationships. However, addiction jostles up our value system so much that our loved ones begin to wonder where the “real” person has gone. The addiction clouded our personality and true essence. We might experience heightened fatigue, secrecy, manipulative tendencies, selfishness, paranoia, laziness, mood swings, high-risk behavior, and many other changes to our personality. The list goes on and on.
Self-Awareness and Healthy Changes During Recovery
The good news is: recovery changes the brain and we begin to feel like ourselves again. Slowly but surely, our brains start to repair from the damage that our addictions caused. Any kind of change, even if it’s positive, is scary. It’s hard to know exactly how our personality will change with recovery. It’s a long journey back to ourselves and it’s all about owning our stories, learning from our mistakes, developing new coping tools, and implementing feedback from peers and counselors. Recovery helps us find our way back to our pre-addiction selves. In short, our personalities don’t necessarily change during recovery. Instead, we repair, learn, grow, and heal.
Tree House Recovery of Orange County, California is a premiere men’s addiction treatment facility that uses eight different modalities to help our men become the best versions of themselves they can be. We teach our men that every day of their journey is something to celebrate and that recovery isn’t a sprint– it’s a marathon. To get started with Tree House Recovery, call us today at (855) 202-2138
