2016, A New Year with New Hope

So here it is 2016, long awaited by those of us watching time pass and recovery unfold. Today I want to emphasis the need to remain as positive as you can throughout your withdrawal however long it may be taking. Negative thoughts, negative conversations and a constant search for answers is not the way to help yourself. Your pattern of withdrawal will unfold in a manner that is right for you. It's your brain recovering, nobody else's so trust yourself and know, over the next year healing will continue for you.

My journey is now smoother and more linear with less deviations and road blocks. It's so much easier now the worst of the symptoms have left me. I still have to pace myself and my nights still get disrupted by the adrenaline rushes but everything is returning to normal slowly and surely. I'm 37 months off benzos.

My message for 2016 is please keep positive, please understand that your symptoms will not be the same as those of your withdrawal friends. Of course seek reassurance from experts especially in the UK where helplines exist or even ask your doctor if you are worried about anything. Maintain a diet that is healthy, do some light exercise if possible, distract and don't focus on symptoms or constantly discuss them with others as you're just imprinting them on your brain and giving them importance. Also don't remain sitting within four walls day after day however ill, try and move to another room, you're not a prisoner. If you can go out then get a change of scene every day, in your garden if you have one or a short car ride if you have support as it all helps. The brain is 'plastic' it responds to negative thoughts and actions especially if you believe them and remain afraid of them. Please feed it with the positive and read success stories, talk to people who've recovered and be mindful of your thinking at all times. Repetition of a negative pattern becomes a habit that's hard to shift. On the other hand positive repetition will reinforce the subconscious mind and provide the certainty that you are healing thus helping the process.

A very Happy New Year to everyone fighting this battle and I wish you much health and joy in 2016.