How Recovery Has Helped Me Cope With Stress In My Daily Life

In 2014, I made a decision to turn my life around. I had struggled with addiction to alcohol and substance abuse for many years, and through the gift of desperation, I decided to do something different and reach out to the NC Caring Dental Professionals group for help. My life today is very different, and I feel very blessed to have found a new way to live, but if I told you my life was stress-free because I no longer use substances to feel a void, I would be lying. 

I have been a Dental Hygienist now for over 23 years, my children are thirty and eighteen years old and I have reached the age where I am now receiving AARP materials. 

I feel extremely blessed to be present today for my children and be a positive role model for them. I am greatly appreciative of my career and feel my health is good. But there are days where my back and shoulders feel they are going to simply break if I treat one more patient. My daughter may fail to always do her laundry, and my son has man-child issues. Marriage is marriage, you have your great and not so great moments. I still show up and suit up for whatever fire needs to be put out. I can deal with these things healthy today. 

In the past, my ways of handling stress would absolutely involve a visit to the nearest watering hole to numb out my woes of the day. Today I don’t have to poison my body with toxins. I have learned coping mechanisms through working a program of recovery and having like-minded friends in my life. My choices usually involve prayer and meditation, music therapy, being in nature, and “healthy” retail therapy. My aches from being a hygienist are usually solved by stretching, exercising and massage treatments. 

Being aware of my stress levels are key to what I feel I need to prioritize in my life. I feel most of us have caretaker syndrome and can feel a need to escape from people at the end of a long day. I have actually taken the long way home to decompress, or simply listened to a good playlist that may or may not involve singing my heart out. I have also learned to start delegating tasks when necessary and even find journaling helpful when life gets too heavy. I don’t have to use today and can face my stressors head-on. 

Life is tough today but life was surely harder when I used substances to deal with it. The problems were still present and my bad choices magnified my problems. Let’s face it, hangovers and regrets are not a way to deal with life’s challenges. I am grateful for recovery and my faith in a God of my understanding to face whatever life throws at me. I have so many helpful tools now in my toolbox. Thank you NCCDP. 

– A Grateful Recovering Dental Hygienist