Remember, Remember the 5th of November: Honouring Milestones in Recovery

Annually, between Halloween and New Year, we might start to notice the distinctive bang, whizz and sparkle of fireworks. These explosives light up the sky throughout the winter festive season, as people gather to celebrate a slew of events with family and friends. But each year, we may find these fireworks to be especially popular on one evening in particular – the 5th of November. Whilst our contemporary Bonfire Night with its toffee apples, sprinklers and fair food may feel far removed from the past, this event is closely tied to history. In fact, Bonfire Night is directly linked to the events of 5Th of November 1605, when the infamous Guy Fawkes attempted to conduct his Gunpowder Plot. This event, for many, is of both political and personal significance, and can act as a catalyst for reflection, a period of checking in with ourselves. This type of conscious touching base with our thoughts and feelings is a key component of maintaining wellbeing; perhaps never more so than in the context of addiction treatment.

The Importance of Remembering

The famous lyric poem of 1870 encourages us to:

Remember, remember, the 5th of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

The English folk verse places potent emphasis on the act of remembering – of continuing to reflect and reminisce. This type of introspection is often naturally invoked by the Autumn months that, for many, tend to make a change in the air as the year shifts into a new season. But for some, this relationship with reflecting and commemorating milestones goes much deeper. For people in addiction recovery, this recognition of past and progress is perennial.

Marking achievements is paramount to honouring ourselves and our journey in treatment. But commemorating ourselves is often harder than celebrating the acts of an iconic historical event such as the foiling of the gunpowder plot, where everyone seems to come together in festivities.

The Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes was foiled – Fawkes was apprehended beneath the Houses of Parliament before he could execute his plan of destroying the building. Each year, a celebration of this explosion being prevented takes place. We can think of struggles with substance and behavioural addictions as like the explosives planted by Fawkes.

With the appropriate intervention, the explosives can be defused. Each time we make progress in our rehab journeys, we can celebrate another time where we managed to not relight the match. This progress takes huge, active effort and commitment to the process of recovery. And this, in itself, deserves celebrating.

Reflecting in Addiction Treatment

Many approaches to addiction treatment put a particular onus on the practice of reflection. Reflection often has two sides to it – acceptance and celebration.

Acceptance

Acceptance happens when we begin to take our situation at self value. A lot of researchers indicate that addiction treatment is often only useful when an individual is at a stage in their life where they can accept that they are an addict. For most people, this isn’t due to lack of trying. The neurobiological nature of addiction means that it essentially creates changes in the ways that we think, feel, and act. This can even go as far as altering the function and structural anatomy of our brains. When these physiological and psychological aspects of addiction are married, they can be extremely difficult to challenge.

This means that coming to the realisation that we are struggling can often take longer than people may expect. However, this does not mean that acceptance is impossible. Before we reflect on our progress, we must be able to see our current situation for what it is.

Acceptance in 12 Step

A lot of treatment interventions centre the role of reflection as a path to acceptance for this very reason. One key example of this is the 12 Step Programme of Alcoholics Anonymous, which requires participants to make a ‘searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.’  This introspection may prove difficult, but it isn’t implemented to worsen our feelings and to make us feel bad. Rather, it’s about gathering a more realistic perspective on ourselves and our habits in order to move forward towards positive change.

Acceptance in Therapy

Acceptance, for any person, is paramount to a healthy inner life. This is why many therapies utilise practices that help individuals to work towards acceptance in their specific situation. This is because when we do not accept something, our brains can start to distort. This can lead to us developing cognitive distortions – ways of thinking that do not accurately represent reality. The more this gap between our beliefs and our real situation deepens, the more that we can begin to spiral.

We can go to therapy to accept an event in our lives, to work through accepting an instance of trauma, or in order to accept our own actions, thoughts, and feelings. This type of work can be completed in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Trauma therapy, Group therapy and 1-1 addiction counselling.

But what do we do once we’ve started to accept?

Celebration

After acceptance comes progress – and naturally, after progress is made, we have something to celebrate. Every time we mark a milestone – however big or small – is a moment to commemorate. Just as the song goes, we ‘I see no reason/ Why gunpowder treason / Should ever be forgot.’  We should approach addiction recovery in this same vein, making an effort to both mark and validify the efforts and progress we make along the way. Each time we act to defuse situations – in avoiding a trigger, for example – is a moment worth the marking. Not only does this recognise the important work and effort being made, but it also sets a healthy approach to change – the more we feel rewarded for our effort, the more likely we are to continue down the same path.

This is due to the psychology behind motivation, encouragement and recognition. These things all make tangible y differences to our brain chemistry, reconfiguring our reward circuitry systems in our brains. This can work to rebalance some of the neurotransmitter levels in our brain such as serotonin and dopamine), allowing us to feel more stable.

Marking Milestones

We may be making milestones in addiction treatment. But how do we mark them? In some cases, physical monikers such as ‘chips’ will be given to mark certain periods of sobriety in AA groups. But there are other meaningful alternatives. There are lots of ways to healthily acknowledge progress, for example:

• Plan a day of activities you love
• Have a pamper or self care day
• Spend time with loved ones to create a community feel
• Treat yourself to a small, meaningful gift
• Engage in new areas you may have felt unable to before (i.e. volunteering)
• Keep a diary to track positive progress and news
• Write a letter to yourself each time you hit a new milestone
• Practice gratitude and give thanks to key players in your life

This shift to commemoration can help to provide us with hope. And this, perhaps more than anything else, will help to defuse the explosives of addiction.