In recovery, you’re intentionally pursuing your sobriety so you can stay healthy and addiction-free long-term. It takes effort, and it can be challenging, but the work you’re doing is good. It’s for your ultimate benefit and success. However, sometimes this isn’t always the case. Believe it or not, some people can engage in self sabotaging behavior during recovery, putting their sobriety at risk. You may be able to relate to this yourself. But why does this happen?
What is Self Sabotaging Behavior?
When discussing self sabotaging behaviors, what do we actually mean? According to VerywellMind.com, self-sabotaging behavior is the intentional action you take to undermine your progress and prevent you from accomplishing your goals. In other words, you’re hindering your own success due to your purposeful choices or behaviors.
Taking active steps to prevent your own success may sound strange, but it happens all of the time. And it can be a common occurrence in recovery, too. Self sabotaging behavior is often brought about when someone doubts they’ll achieve sobriety long-term. Or they succumb to the negative feelings, fears, and pressures that occur in recovery and relapse to find relief. After all, engaging in self destructive behavior like substance abuse is in itself a type of self-sabotage.
Signs of Self Sabotage
So what exactly does self sabotage look like in life and in the recovery process? For some, it may be obvious that they’re sabotaging themselves, while others can actually do it unknowingly, believe it or not. However, there are some telltale signs of self sabotage to look out for if you’re concerned, including:
Using Substances
As mentioned earlier, using substances like drugs or alcohol is a form of self sabotaging behavior, especially if you’re in recovery from substance abuse. Choosing to use again is a form of risky or self destructive behavior, not to mention a sign of potential drug or alcohol relapse.
Social Isolation
Instead of pressing into community or your support system when life (or recovery) gets challenging, you pull away. As you isolate yourself, you miss out on the encouragement, care, and accountability that others can provide.
Putting Things Off
Rather than doing something that will better yourself (such as exercise, taking a class, or getting a recovery mentor), you put it off. As you procrastinate, you may think you’ll get to what you want to achieve eventually. But after a while, your goals subside.
Quitting Self-Care
Self-care is an important part of living a healthy life and maintaining a positive well-being. And it’s even more valuable in recovery. But choosing to stop regular hygiene, exercise, or eating right is definite self-sabotaging behavior and puts you on the path of relapse.
Minimizing Your Recovery
Perhaps you begin to think that your substance abuse wasn’t a big deal, or even struggle with euphoric recall as you only remember the good things about your addiction. Consequently, you minimize the value of your recovery efforts, think you no longer need support, and may start to rationalize using again.
Why Does Self Sabotaging Behavior Happen?
As you’re reviewing the signs of self sabotage above, perhaps you recognize some of these patterns in your own life. But why would you sabotage yourself, especially when you’re pursuing something good like recovery? For some, it’s the underlying causes of addiction itself that are the source of your self sabotaging behaviors, too. These causes are typically associated with unresolved past trauma, such as repressed childhood trauma due to adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Self-sabotage can be a way to self-medicate for your trauma’s lingering effects.
On the other hand, you may fear failing at recovery, or even fear succeeding at it, too. The fear of trying and failing is so bad that you’d rather not attempt recovery at all. Alternatively, succeeding in recovery may mean life change, new responsibilities, and even the possibility of future failure, so you choose to hinder your success instead.
Your self sabotaging behavior could also be the result of low self-esteem or very limiting beliefs about yourself. Perhaps you’ve internalized the stigma of addiction and believe you’re unworthy or a bad person. So you sell yourself short and engage in self destructive behavior as a way to affirm how you feel inside.
Stop Self Destructive Behavior at Sana At Stowe
If you’re sabotaging yourself, let this be your wakeup call to stop. You don’t have to struggle in recovery. At Sana at Stowe, our comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs in New England can help you break free from the self destructive behavior that has held you back. And as a trauma-informed clinic, we can address your addiction’s root causes, allowing you to reclaim your life. To learn more, call us today.
