If you’re addicted to opiates, you may be beating yourself up about it. This can lead to you enduring additional stress, which, ironically, actually makes it even harder to quit opiates.
In this article, I’m going to teach you about the importance of developing and nurturing self-compassion for opiate addiction.
Having compassion for yourself and your addiction takes a giant weight off your shoulders, enhances your spiritual vibration, frees up natural energy, awareness, and creativity, and increases your chances of attaining freedom from addiction.
Table of Contents
Being Hard on Yourself Sucks
When I was on opiates and wanted to get off, I was pretty hard on myself, and this is a common mindset which is disempowering and counterproductive to overcoming addiction.
When we know we are not living up to our potential, or even close to it, this can create inner-turmoil. If it gets really bad, this can even create massive psychological suffering.
I want to tell you something very important:
Being hard on yourself is not the way to be!
Too many people that are addicted to opiates have zero compassion for themselves, and this needs to change.
Developing Self-Compassion
Self-compassion is the extension of kindness, care, warmth, and understanding (instead of beratement and criticism) toward oneself when faced with shortcomings, inadequacies, or failures.
Self-compassion is the care and nurturing we offer ourselves when we make mistakes, embarrass ourselves, or come short of a goal we were hoping to achieve. It is the acknowledgment of our pain, and the rejection of the notion that we should just “tough it out.”
Having self-compassion means to honor and accept your own humanness and accept that in life, you will encounter a number of unfortunate circumstances, sometimes where you’re the one at fault. Self-compassion is having grace for oneself.
Self-Compassion For Opiate Addiction
Having self-compassion for your addiction to opiates can really transform your life in numerous extraordinary ways.
Furthermore, it can help you to significantly increase your chances of recovering.
Here are 3 simple steps to help you start developing and nurturing self-compassion.
1) Acknowledge your pain. Notice when you’re hurting and allow yourself to mourn the fact that you are not perfect. Resist the temptation to pretend like nothing’s wrong or that your feelings don’t matter.
2) Adopt a new perspective. View the world through the lens of a best friend or caring individual. When you’re tempted to be self-critical or judgmental, try to speak to yourself as someone who cares about you would; consider what they might say to encourage you.
3) Practice. Being self-compassionate is not an innate quality, and it’s often learned in our family of origin. Depending on our childhood circumstances, this may or may not have been a skill that we learned from our parents. As adults, we can choose to practice this skill until one day it feels like second nature.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been hard on yourself for being addicted to opiates, it’s time for a mindset shift. Eliminate self-criticism, and begin to develop self-compassion.
You’re in a difficult position, but life can be difficult. No one is perfect, and people go through challenges. Being hard on yourself is not what you deserve.
You deserve to have love and acceptance from others, and especially from yourself.
You are good enough, and you’re a beautiful soul.
So please, take my advice and start being compassionate with yourself, and do this in all areas of life, not just opiate addiction. Be accepting, loving, and compassionate with yourself, and watch the miracles begin to unfold.
And if you need some help overcoming opiate addiction, Click here now to learn about the Ultimate Opiate Recovery System.
This home-based recovery program has everything you need to make a holistic and permanent recovery from opiate addiction.
Matt
I’ve stuck in an every month run out get sick lose a week and please let everyone know every withdrawal is different but most important keep stressing that we are all different. one example is Gabapentin it makes my blood pressure go way to high
My most intense withdrawal lasted a month and I lost 32 pounds from a small 155. I’m so glad to have found this article because I have lost my pride joy and hope but I know God loves me and I will get out of this thing called addiction. To all the others suffering I did quit an intense cocaine addiction 25 years ago but chronic pain wears you down physically emotionally and spiritually. Keep following this man Matt he is a true counselor. Thanks Matt. Les
Wow that is a LONG withdrawal you had there Les. I’m sorry you went through that as it must have been a living nightmare. Anyways, I’m glad you’re out of it now and I’m really happy that you’ve found comfort in this article. Self-compassion is so important. Take care Les, and I’m sending my prayers out to you.
Hi Matt and thanks for the info and updates that you send me from time to time. All of the posts that I received from you are all relevant and make sense to all of us in recovery and I don’t find any BS trying to push one thing or another and I know BS when I see it,trust me!!
Paul in UK
You’re welcome Paul. I sincerely appreciate your feedback and kind words. Take care!!
Thank you for helping people I appreciate your articles I too am stuck but I’m slowly coming off of it.
Jason you’re most welcome, and I’m really glad to hear that you’re slowly coming off it. Best of luck to you on your journey, and thanks for leaving a comment. 🙂
Beautiful, priceless words to work to live by… just what I needed to hear!!! So true…my inner spirit says yes to all that you spoke. I have been hard on myself for so long. I am going to endeavor to put this in place. Thank you and much joy and peace back to you!!! D
HI Deana, wonderful feedback! It fills my heart with so much joy and fulfillment knowing that you’re going to take action on what you’ve learned. That’s the secret to success. Take care and enjoy giving yourself compassion from now on. Your life is about to change for the better.
Thank you, I needed this article, I have been trying to get off opiates for several years now and i feel regarless of anyone’s opinion that the one im dealing with is the absolute worst and all pervasive in every aspect of my body. I spent around 5 years at a so called “recovery clinic” almost four years of which was on 185mg a day of METHADONE. It all started when I went to a pain management doctor when i was havinging issues from an injury and was the model pateint- never running out early, never asking for more, asking to decrease my dose and switch to less stong things to keep my tolerance from building. my doctor was helpful and complemented me all the time, but I was also getting all different kinds of therapy and eventually i was planning to get off, then my doctor retired and I had no insurance at the time and I wend to three different doctors who would not give me what i had been taking even though i was asking for less! they wanted mris and other tests i simply could not afford out of paying out of pocket simply to see them so i had to turn to the street to try to get off and my wife who I had been with for over seven years left me because I wasnt supportive enough while i was going though this, I lost most of my friends as well and anotherone who I recently gave a car to and ayedyed his insurance for a year only to be stabbed in the back when i needed money because my father was recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and liver cancer after recovering from prostate cancer just maybe a year before long story short Im now down to the between 20 and 45 mgs a day range depending on how much tourture i can put myself through. my wife left me when i went thto the clinic because she couldnt deal with the thought of me. and at the clinic they just wanted me to go up and up and it interefered with my job and I lost that to. I had to move back home for the first time since i was 19 and moved out with my girlfriend (now ex wife) and my real best friends live in other states near the east coast and Im in orange county california. I have never relapsed but I am treated like garbage by my new doctor who i see know, i just want to sstabilize so I can get me life back together and I feel so horrible about who I am but I really dont know how to change that. and i get so much disdain from theother members of my family who are tired of seeing me always not feeling good or irritable because of how i feel. and I just what to be off so badly. Methadone is the absolute worst thing in the world when your on extremely high doses for years and never told how hard it is to get off. the clinic just says you need more which is why i eventually just left but thats all my insurance would cover so here I am a burden to mey family and miserable day and night EVERY DAY AND NIGHT its just different degrees of agony or on a good day discomfort. I dont know why IM writing this even really anymore I just want off and Ive used Alot of what you have online and tried to follow your detox plans but Im just getting to the point where I hate myself. and I had a huge chunk of my savings account stolen today about85% of what ive been working hard to keep because i felt so crappy and didnt monitor the internet when we had some work done today. so i jus feel even worse. I just want off so bad so I can start enjoying ife instead of just constanly trying to monitor how i feel. I dont know what Im asking for but I figured Id just write to you anyway. any ideas how I can stop hating myself? and thanks for all of the info youve posted over the years ive read just about every single thing there is to read on your site and emails. but i just am loosing the will to keep going. I appreciate how much help youve given me without even knowing it but I just cant find anything to hold onto about myself anymore. your an amazing person for doing what you do and i qould not have made it this far without all of your videos and research and articles and emails. but im at that tipping point. I would ever relapse ive never really even had cravingsIve just wanted off for so long and so badly ive put myself through hell i just cant stand this much pain much longer. anyways thankyou for reading this if you do.
Hi Danny,
I’m glad you reached out and poured your emotions into this comment. You’re in a lot of pain and I really want to help. Could you please email me at matt@opiateaddictionsupport.com? I can help you Danny, if you’re open to it.
Love this! I’m going to share it with my son.
Wonderful Mary! Glad you loved the article and I hope it helps add value to your son’s life.
You really know what your talking about. It feels good to know that someone understands
Thanks Mia! I’m glad you feel understood. 🙂 Thanks for leaving a comment and I wish you the best.
You Rock Matt!!…
Thank You for all you do. I’ve been following your Blogs for a couple years now and you are as genuine as they come.
I know I’m not alone in saying how much I appreciate you dedicating your life’s work with the same compassion to help others get well.
Awe thanks! You rock too! I’m really happy to read your feedback and sincerely thank you for posting this comment Pandora.