It is a normal part of growing up to discover who you are and find your identity. Finding a healthy identity can be difficult, as peer pressure and other factors work to make you second-guess yourself. These difficulties can be compounded by addiction and other conditions, which can bury your true self under pain. For many, they may have their addiction and recovery become a core part of their identity. However, there is more to a person than their struggle.
That’s why at Driftwood Recovery, a holistic treatment philosophy is utilized to heal all aspects of a person. This includes a person’s spirit or inner self, alongside the mind and body. The inner self is essential for achieving and remaining in recovery. It’s one thing to learn and practice the skills needed for recovery. To find your identity, however, gives you reasons to want to stay in recovery.
Why It’s Important to Find Your Identity
Identity is defined as the sense of self that encompasses one’s experiences, relationships, memories, and values. An authentic identity means to accept who we are and the values that are important to us. As we grow, we are influenced by our parents, guardians, and peers during childhood. Adolescence is a vital time in identity development, as we experiment and try out new things that shape the adult that we hopefully want to become. Three tasks help a person form their identity. These three tasks are:
- Discovering and developing your potential
- Choosing your purpose in life
- Finding opportunities to exercise this purpose and further develop your potential
It’s vital to find your identity because lacking a purpose or feeling as though you have no potential can be psychologically damaging. It happens a lot with young teenagers and adults, who worry that they have no identity or purpose. They may begin to experiment with drugs or alcohol to feel something positive or numb negative feelings. Having no dreams or goals leaves little reason for someone to want to seek help for addiction. To find your identity means that you find yourself worthy of help and compassion.
Recognizing That Addiction Is Not an Identity
Even while in treatment and recovery, it’s still important to find your identity. It’s tempting for some to make their addiction an essential part of their personality. However, a common fact shared by those who struggle with addiction is the lack of a drive or purpose. Sometimes, this occurs after a great loss, such as losing a job or the death of a loved one. Though identities are flexible and forever changing, making addiction a part of your identity is unhealthy. Addiction is a painful condition and, if left unchecked, can lead to dire consequences.
To find your identity requires trial and error to find the things that give you joy. Addiction robs a person of this choice by consuming their thoughts. It’s hard to find joy in life when it’s a constant cycle of obtaining your next hit, getting high, and recovering from the high. There’s been a movement of people, usually adolescents, making recreational drugs and alcohol a part of their identity. In these instances, they are stifling their potential, which will lead to needing more drugs or alcohol to feel “right,” often leading to addiction.
People who overcome addiction deserve to be celebrated. However, they also deserve to live. Finding peace, healing, and happiness are all goals every mental health care professional has for their clients. Many alumni may choose to involve recovery as part of their purpose, going on to help others achieve and stay in recovery. This is perfectly fine, as it is not the same as viewing addiction as a personality trait. When you find your identity outside of addiction, you truly begin to live.
How Driftwood Recovery Helps You Find Your Identity
Driftwood Recovery helps you find your identity by making identity an essential part of its addiction treatment programs. Clients find themselves exposed to diverse groups of people from all walks of life. There, clients may encounter ideas and values they may have never seen before. Speaking to staff also helps clients connect with different people, widening their worldview and showing them a life beyond addiction and pain.
Therapeutic activities such as therapeutic recreation, art therapy, and yoga allow clients to participate in fun activities. Along with a large campus, mostly covered in nature, clients are exposed to the outdoors and all its splendor. It has been scientifically proven that nature has a positive impact on mental health, and so too can it be on a developing identity. Clients who may have been nervous and withdrawn may find themselves drawn to exciting activities, such as rope work and obstacle courses. The wider the range of activities, the more a client can try.
Driftwood Recovery knows how important peers are to shaping our identities. That’s why clients are encouraged to participate in activities that grow and nurture positive personality traits. Compassion, empathy, understanding, and more are learned through team-building exercises and group meetings. With a robust alumni and peer network program, clients can see proof that they, too, can succeed. Sometimes, to find your identity, you need to know that it’s an achievable goal.
Clients who feel lost can find guidance in a compassionate staff member or treatment provider. There is never shame in needing help. A person is never too old to wonder about their identity or seek to discover it. Having times when we wonder if we have an identity of all is a normal part of life. Access to quality mental health treatment, however, makes this process a little easier on ourselves.
It can be difficult for one to figure out who they are at the best of times. When a person struggles with addiction and other conditions, it’s difficult to separate them from their true self. At Driftwood Recovery in Driftwood and Austin, Texas, clients take the time to discover who they truly are. Through specialized therapies, clients build confidence and positive self-worth. Though struggle and recovery may be a chapter of your life, it’s not the whole story. Finding your inner strength and what brings you joy is equally as important as recovery. To learn how you can discover your true self, don’t wait. Call Driftwood Recovery today at (512) 759-8330.