A key ingredient to recovery from addiction to alcohol or drugs is a healthy lifestyle. Treatment and rehab professionals agree mere abstinence is not enough for recovery. Some other components of health and wellness must be abided by if a person wants to stay focused on long-term goals. Smoking is one way people with addiction in recovery can maintain a healthy lifestyle by understanding risk factors and working to quit.
Heavy Smoking and Drinking
One of the stumbling blocks for people with alcoholism is developing a healthy lifestyle. Most people still use tobacco. An estimated 80 to 95 percent of people with alcoholism smoke cigarettes. Even among people in recovery, an estimated 85 percent still smoke, more than three times the percentage of those who smoke in the general population.
Quitting Both
People with alcoholism are not encouraged to quit drinking and smoking at the same time. The stress of quitting alcohol was enough to deal with without having added stress of trying to stop smoking at the same time. Members and families are encouraged not to be concerned about the use of caffeine or tobacco but focus on more serious things like drinking too much.
Health Risks
The dangers of tobacco are very real and people have looked at the list of health issues associated with smoking. The list includes lung cancer, emphysema, head and neck cancers, and heart disease. The greatest risk for people with alcoholism is quitting both at the same time before they are ready. The health risks and dangers of smoking are real but it is not necessary to try and do both at the same time. There is plenty of time to do it later when withdrawal symptoms subside and recovery has been ongoing for a little bit.
Brain Recovery
At some point, it is a good idea to quit smoking in recovery. It can become a bad habit to fall back on while dealing with the lasting issues of withdrawal from alcohol. Many chronic, long-term drinkers experience some form of brain damage as a result of years of alcoholism. The damage may reverse itself in some cases, but not always fully. Diet, age, exercise, and genetic makeup are all factors in how quickly the brain recovers. People have discovered the brains of recovering people with alcoholism who continue to smoke tobacco are much slower to recover if at all. Overall, the benefits of quitting smoking are myriad. If a person with alcoholism quits drinking and smoking, they are likely to start feeling better from the inside out and begin to take healthy steps towards healing for the long haul. Smoking cessation programs alone will not address their concerns if they are not able to also look at drinking habits and start to work towards a holistic approach to recovery.
Oceanfront helps you find a holistic space to heal from addiction to drugs, alcohol, smoking, and other things which keep you from kicking addiction to the curb. We are founded on the principle of providing the best in care and services at affordable prices. We are located in beautiful Laguna Beach. Call us to find out how we can help you navigate addiction recovery: 877-279-1777
