Many people hold onto guilt, shame, fear, regret, and other negative emotions because they don’t feel worthy of self-forgiveness. Negativity can affect your mental and physical health during recovery and worsen symptoms. Facilities like Newport Beach Recovery Center encourage clients to find healthy ways to accept their circumstances while healing and moving forward.

According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, research “results suggest that individuals who accept rather than judge their mental experiences may attain better psychological health, in part because acceptance helps them experience less negative emotion in response to stressors.” Actively looking at the cause of negative feelings and accepting them will help you learn to recover from the various ways they have impacted your life. Recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) requires focus on the present and future instead of the past.

Do Past Choices Control Your Future?

Past choices will affect your future, but they do not control what you do next. You can choose to retake control of your life by addressing the underlying issues and finding healthy ways to overcome them. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “Treatment enables people to counteract addiction’s disruptive effects on their brain and behavior and regain control of their lives.” Newport Beach Recovery Center can help you learn essential skills and coping techniques to decrease negativity and improve self-awareness. Your past does not have to define you.

How Does Negativity Impact Mental Health?

Negativity can lead to a host of mental and physical health issues, including:

• Difficulty coping with daily stressors
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Increased risk of heart disease
• Higher blood pressure
• Mood swings
• Sleep issues
• Changes to appetite
• Difficulty completing basic tasks of daily living

If you let negative thoughts influence your behaviors, it can have a detrimental effect on your general well-being.

How Can You Practice Self-Forgiveness During Recovery?

Not everyone feels capable of self-forgiveness in early recovery. The consequences of addictive behaviors and choices might become overwhelming and cause you to feel like you do not deserve forgiveness. At Newport Beach Recovery Center, we believe everyone in recovery deserves compassion, empathy, respect, and forgiveness for things they have worked to put right. By attending treatment and actively engaging in therapy, you have chosen to make amends for past decisions and make better choices moving forward. Self-forgiveness is a part of that healing journey.

You can practice self-forgiveness every day by doing the following:

• Reminding yourself that you are more than your diagnosis
• Educating yourself about how substance misuse may have affected you
• Accepting that some things are entirely outside your control
• Accepting responsibility for your actions and taking steps to repair the damage
• Showing yourself kindness and empathy
• Regularly practicing self-care

What Are the Healing Benefits of Thinking Positively?

The body and mind are connected, and improving your mental outlook can impact your moods, physical health, and day-to-day functioning. You can heal from trauma and the harmful effects of substance misuse by focusing your energy on embracing positive aspects of life, including everyday moments that leave you feeling good about yourself and others.

Some of the health benefits of positivity include:

• Individuals with chronic pain experience decreased pain levels
• Reduced stress, anxiety, and depression
• Longer lifespan
• Decreased risk of heart disease and other health issues
• Lower blood pressure

Your entire life can get better when you decide to look on the bright side and accept your circumstances. Mindfulness-based techniques and other coping skills can facilitate healthier thought patterns and help you build new routines.

How Can the Brain Be Rewired to Think Positively?

Positivity does not mean ignoring negative thoughts or pretending they do not exist. Instead, you should accept the negative without judgment while focusing on the positive to improve mental health. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a “sign of emotional wellness is being able to hold onto positive emotions longer and appreciate the good times.” You can learn to rewire your brain by consciously choosing to remind yourself of the good things you have experienced and the positive aspects of difficult situations.

You can start decreasing negativity by doing the following:

• In the morning, think about all the happy, enjoyable, or good things you plan to do that day
• Every night think about all the good things you experienced
• Write down a list of the things you enjoy about your life, including pets, loved ones, hobbies, and social groups
• Celebrate every success and goal you achieve in recovery

You do not have to live with fear, grief, shame, regret, and other negative feelings. Instead, incorporating positivity and practicing self-care can improve your overall health and decrease symptoms related to SUD and mental health issues.

Negativity can lead to risk-taking behaviors, self-destructive tendencies, and difficulty coping with everyday life. The more you judge yourself and focus on your mistakes, the harder it will be to feel capable of real change. You can choose to replace those negative thought patterns by consciously choosing to focus on the positive things in your life. Being positive does not mean avoiding or ignoring bad things that happen. Instead, it allows you to accept those things in a nonjudgmental way and use them as examples of what not to do in the future. The care team at Newport Beach Recovery Center has created a family-like community where you can learn to focus on the positive aspects of recovery. To learn more about our facility or set up an admissions appointment, call us today at (888) 850-0363. We are here to help you regain control of your life.