Fear

How can fear inhibit your recovery?

Fear is a healthy emotion that has a useful place in the lives of all human beings. Primitive humans could not have survived without fear. Experience made them afraid of dangerous or destructive things that they were powerless over, such as extreme weather or predatory animals. When used for actual purposes of self-preservation, fear gives us the caution and the discretion necessary for life. Fear prompts us, for example, to take safety precautions and to protect our families from poverty and disease.

While in active addiction, you may have used some of fear’s positive qualities, but more than likely you focused on the negative aspects: anxiety, dread, worry, uncertainty, and apprehension of a harm or evil that always seemed just around the corner. Fear of the truth may have filled you with dread and uncertainty, and anxiety accompanied your efforts to conceal your use. These negative elements of fear belong in your Step Four inventory.

Being on spiritually solid ground is key to combating fears. When you feel fearful, meditate or pray. Listen to your Higher Power. You may also want to share your fears with people who have more experience in recovery than you do, such as your sponsor, recovery coach, or recovery support group.

If you find that your fears are a real obstacle to living a full life, you may want to seek out a counselor or therapist to help you work through them. Keep in mind too that some people in recovery suffer from anxiety disorders, which are medical conditions that can be effectively treated.

FEAR stands for Face Everything And Recover.