Our Sober Mental Health

Everything usually tends to work better when you don’t mess with the design intentions. Human beings are no different. We have this wonderful capacity however to evolve in many ways so our intended life paths leave a lot of room for interpretation. As society evolves, our cultural evolution is really blossoming with recognition of people being valued for being what they want to be. This brings about room for growth in mental health as society nurtures and accepts its potential. Arguably we are still pretty young in this evolution and are figuring some of these things out so I won’t digress longer on this area of discussion, other than to note its importance in sober mental health.

There is tons of scientific evidence that alcohol use causes brain damage, basically stalling and in many cases reversing mental development during consistent usage. The killing of brain cells is permanent but in recovery the remaining brain mass starts to adjust after a couple weeks and swell to normal mass. Motor skills improve, contemplation vs compulsive decision making improves, emotional development begins to progress again and in many ways we start our natural growth as humans once again at a normal or even accelerated pace. The return of our emotions and exposure to contemplation is a gift that is the demise of many people in recovery. Sadness can be incredibly powerful; mood swings are destabilizing and we need to hang onto the rock of sobriety in the storm to not slip back to arrested development and a worse mental place.

Gratitude, helping others, healthy living (diet and physical activity), engaging with nature, patience and connecting with community are the cornerstones for mental health in sobriety, perhaps for most people. Maybe you embrace yoga, or prefer fishing but get out there and engage yourself in the world, away from the infatuation with the self. Every day is a beautiful day in sobriety, especially when our minds are growing and our potential as human beings is evolving once again, to be more to the world and ourselves.