Author: John Carter

Understanding Nifaliophobia: The Fear of Being Sober

This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care. Most people will need ongoing support groups for some time after detox. This is a very good time to speak to your counseling team about these fears and the emotional struggles you are having. They can help you work through them and explain more about how you can recover more fully.

We are biologically wired for companionship, so this is a very real and instinctual fear to have. What is the point of sobriety if you let yourself wallow in self-doubt and pity? I don’t believe you really feel that way because otherwise, you wouldn’t be here. You know, deep down, that you can and should have a better life. The more you scratch it, the worse it’s going to get. Leave it alone, give it time, and it will go away on its own.

There are some general things you can expect to happen. The following tips are all ways you can help yourself reach your goals. If there are any concerns about content we have published, please reach out to us at

Getting sober means replacing your primary coping mechanism – drugs and alcohol – with new, unfamiliar ones. The process can be uncomfortable, particularly for someone who is afraid of feeling in general. Staying stuck in this fear generally means staying stuck in addiction. Early sobriety may come with feelings of fatigue and the stress of dealing with challenges (people, places, and things that stimulate the urge to use). It’s impossible to know how you’ll react and how your life will change when getting and staying sober.

Fears About Sobriety That Will Sabotage Your Recovery

People who do realize this tiny problem need to find other means of alleviating stress. Some studies find that this structure, along with a start date for sobriety and milestones, is important to some people in recovery. Yet without taking these steps, there can be no recovery. You’re not obligated to drink just to make others feel good about their drinking. So don’t allow anyone to make you feel that way.

I’ve spent the last seven years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. One study found that 68% of people treated in a detox unit experienced moderate alcohol withdrawal symptoms. You can expect certain alcohol withdrawal symptoms such as sleep disruption to occur, though some people can experience seizures and other severe symptoms.

Avoid Old Habits and Toxic Relationships

A lot of folks start to drink at a young age to impress their friends or bond with them over a glass of wine. Afterward, it may become increasingly difficult to stop drinking in the company. This problem is relevant even for older people – for some, drinking alcohol might even be the only sociable activity. As usual, you need to replace this unhealthy hobby with something safe. Of course, nothing will give you the funny feeling as alcohol does, but if you want to stop drinking, you’ll have to find other hobbies.

After a while, you’ll be enjoying life on entirely different terms. Instead of being afraid that you won’t recognize yourself, look at it as an opportunity. You get to define yourself from here on out, and there won’t be any regrettable drunk shenanigans doing that on your behalf. You will have good days, hopeless days, and every other sort of in-between day on this journey. Here’s the thing about the word “fail.” So long as you dust yourself off and keep trying, you haven’t failed at all.

1. Additionally, pursue an addiction treatment center that prioritizes relapse prevention.
2. You’ve battled this far through detox and made the decision to get help.
3. Worrying about it constantly will only strengthen your fears and lessen your resolve to do anything.
4. The idea of getting sober in rehab only to relapse on the outside is a frightening thought.

The fear of getting sober is more common than we may think. Of course, on the surface, asking if there is such a thing as a fear of being sober might seem like a rhetorical question. Non-addicts may proclaim, “Of course addicts should want to get sober—why wouldn’t they? ” But the problem runs deeper than just simply being able to quit and stay sober.

Addiction is a disease, we have addiction medicine that saves lives.

There are common setbacks to getting and staying sober like withdrawal, craving, and pressure to use. Relapse rates for substance use addictions are around 40% to 60%. Setbacks don’t erase progress, though, and they don’t mean you’ve “failed” to stay sober.

You may feel as though failure is inevitable. In this situation, it’s important to be truthful with yourself. It hurts to think of what you have given up or lost for drugs and alcohol. This can relate to picking up the pieces after detox, but it also has to do with what you know and feel comfortable with in your daily life. A life of drugs and alcohol feels normal because that’s what you’ve focused on for so long. It’s not uncommon, then, to be afraid of what life will be like without these substances to help you to manage stress, family members and other challenges.

In others, it is the natural human instinct to worry about the unknown. Discover the solutions you’ve been seeking with this new guide to living free of alcohol. Knowing relapse signs can help you recognize your risk of relapse, and they may include a return to addictive thinking patterns and compulsive behaviors. Take a look at our state of the art treatment center.

It’s understandable that you might feel fear of withdrawal. After all, you’ve probably spent months or years avoiding the first hint of withdrawal symptoms. You always rush to get that next drink or hit before withdrawal really sets in. When you stop using drugs or alcohol, you will experience a range of withdrawal symptoms.

Learning to cope with common fears in recovery is one of the most important skills. It’s the period after treatment that poses the most challenges for a person facing drug and alcohol addiction and substance abuse. That’s why at Gateway we provide a continuum of care for each individual that tracks success over time. We want to guide you through the period after initial treatment to ensure you can deal with fear in addiction recovery with ongoing support and understanding. If you’ve developed an identity tied closely to the drug scene, you might fear losing yourself outside that world.