How to Create Your Own Online Sobriety Toolbox
This page is dedicated to the best sites about building your own sobriety self-care toolbox. Have fun finding your solutions with a handy place to find them. You can create a Facebook page for your toolbox. Or you may choose to start a wordpress.com free blog. Each may take 10–15 minutes to set up. Keep notes as you are creating it of your username and/or password as well as new ideas to add to it.
1. From Manage Depression and Take Care of Yourself
If you think you might be suffering from depression:
“This website may be able to help you take the first steps toward understanding and coping with the emotional and physical symptoms you are experiencing. Click on Are you depressed? to find a self-guided assessment that can help you determine whether what you’re experiencing may be depression, so that you can discuss your concerns with your healthcare provider.”
2. From Addiction. The Next Step.
“The best place to find positive, evidence-based support for a loved one battling addiction. Here you’ll find cutting edge information about treatments for substance use disorders and proven therapy in a free first-of-its-kind online toolkit.”
3. From How to Build a Sobriety Toolbox
“A few months before my second attempt at sobriety, I was in a 1:1 meeting at work with Doctor Vegan. We were catching up, I was explaining that I was drinking again, and that this time I was consciously trying to employ other coping skills. I told him I had an alarm on my phone that went off every few hours to give me a positive affirmation mantra, was carrying around various herbal teas, and had a growing collection of guided meditations in my iTunes. He explained what I was doing was creating a coping mechanism Toolbox — a collection of items that I could turn to instead of alcohol — and suggested that I take it a step further and come up with a list of ten things that worked for me and stick the list in my wallet.”
“Me being me, I took it five steps further. I started a Toolbox spreadsheet to serve as my database of Toolbox items, replete with categories (cravings, stress!, anger/meanness, exhaustion, PMS, depression, etc.). I printed out a list of my top ten tools and taped copies to my full length mirror, my TV, above my kitchen sink, and my work bulletin board. I started purchasing physical items that would serve as tools, and bought a special little leather pouch from American Apparel to hold said tools. I went toolbox crazy! and made it my mission to become the MacGyver of my own impending dooms. And it worked.”
5. From Developing a self-care plan from ReachOut.com
Self-care is a personal matter. Everyone’s approach will be different. It relates to what you do at work and outside of work to look after your holistic well being so that you can meet your personal and professional commitments . Below are the different aspects to self-care and example strategies that other people have found useful:
- Workplace or professional
- Physical
- Psychological
- Emotional
- Spiritual
- Relationships
6. From Tool Chest and Homework from Smart Recovery
“SMART Recovery (Self Management And Recovery Training) helps individuals gain independence from addiction (substances or activities). Our efforts are based on scientific knowledge and evolve as scientific knowledge evolves.”
“The 4-Point Program offers specific tools and techniques for each of the program points:
Point 1: Building and Maintaining Motivation
Point 2: Coping with Urges
Point 3: Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors
Point 4: Living a Balanced Life
7. From RecoveryToolkit.pdf on lifering.org;
“Tool: A means by which something is done or obtained.
Have you ever tried to fix or adjust something without the proper tool? It makes your work much harder. The following is a list of “tools” for a clean and sober life. These should not be construed as a mandatory set of rules, but rather as a list of suggestions.
Every tool included in this “toolbox” is taken from the personal toolbox of an addicted person in recovery. You may find them all helpful, or just a few, or possibly none at all.
The point is to provide the person who is new to recovery, or who is struggling with it, with a concrete list of suggestions that they can pick and choose from.
This list is by no means comprehensive or exclusive. Our hope is that you will use it as a starting point, and that you will add tools of your own design at whichever point you find conducive to your recovery.
Maintaining life-long abstinence from all non-medically indicated mood-altering substances is the goal of Life Ring Secular Recovery members. We hope that these tools will aid you in reaching that goal for yourself. “ John M. Price
Originally published at http://selfcaretoolbox.home.blog on May 4, 2020.
