You have probably heard someone say, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.” It is the kind of thing a parent might say to a child who was doing something fun but a little bit dangerous after they have been injured in one way or another.
The phrase is surely meant to foster a moment of learning for the child, though we suspect many kids do not process the lesson right away. Indeed, the phrase might just serve as a universal description of a common situation parents find themselves dealing with—the kind of thing you say with a sigh as you go to comfort the child whose fun has gone wrong.
We would like to turn this phrase around so that it applies to the recovery journey. We would never suggest that recovery is all fun and games. After all, there are plenty of challenges that a person in recovery will encounter over time.
But we would like to suggest this: fun and games can support recovery. Fun and games can also provide ideas and perspectives that can be helpful in recovery.
Let’s take a look at three previous entries that use fun and games to address recovery issues and ideas.
The Power of Laughter in Recovery
In the post “When You Love to Laugh, You Show Some Love to Your Sobriety,” we considered the short-term and long-term benefits of laughter for a person in recovery from a substance use disorder.
Among the short-term benefits: the ignition and cooling of the stress response and an increase in muscle relaxation, which contributes to a sense of calm.
And among the long-term benefits: increased personal satisfaction and self-esteem as well as a lessening of the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
We offered some ideas of how to add more laughter into your life. Here’s our favorite:
[W]e suspect the best kind of laughter is inspired by good times with friends and family rather than by any of the forms of media we have mentioned. Sure, a comedian can coax a crowd into uproarious fits of laughter for an hour or two. But friends who can consistently make us laugh—even when times are tough—are a more consistent source of mirth. Plus, you have the opportunity to spread the benefits by inspiring some laughs yourself.
Lessons From Board Games Are Far From Boring
In “Classic Board Games Offer Recovery Lessons,” we identified ideas related to recovery across six classic games. Those games include Trivial Pursuit (which recovery definitely is not), Trouble (which a substance use disorder definitely is), and Sorry (which is something you might need to say to those who were harmed while you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol).
Here is how we applied the lessons of another beloved board game to the experience of being in recovery:
Sometimes Recovery Can Feel Like a Game of Chutes and Ladders
The goal in recovery, of course, is to just keep going, day after day, climbing up a series of metaphorical ladders leading to lasting abstinence from drugs or alcohol.
However, many people in recovery experience the setback of a relapse—and that can feel like sliding down the slides in a game of Chutes and Ladders. The recovery journey might also involve smaller setbacks that can be frustrating to address, but each setback provides an opportunity to get headed in the right direction again.
Recovery Can Feel Like a Puzzle to Be Solved
In a post titled “Thinking About Crosswords Can Help You Fill in Recovery Ideas,” we used those challenging grids to consider strategies for “solving” the puzzle of recovery. Our first idea in that post had to do with the importance of flexibility when recovery challenges arise. We wrote:
Most solvers, no matter how good they are, run into clues that they simply cannot solve for one reason or another. Maybe the answer is a piece of trivia they just do not know. Maybe the structure of the clue is throwing them off. Maybe the right answer is simply eluding them at the moment.
Fortunately, when a solver is stuck, they can turn to the crossing answers to get some help. Can’t figure out five across? What if you solve the clues for the down answers that intersect with it? Get a few letters that way, and you may arrive at the solution to the difficult clue. Having some flexibility when you get stuck is a key way to move forward.
This is true in recovery, too. Sometimes, for example, you are being bedeviled by cravings, and none of your usual strategies for getting past them are working. When that happens, you may well need to try something else. Having the wherewithal to change your approach when you need to do so is an important part of the recovery journey.
Get Yourself Back in the Game
A substance use disorder upends your entire life, stealing your hopes and dreams in the process. You can get back in the game and on track to reach your goals by getting yourself into treatment.
Wooded Glen Recovery Center, located in Henryville, Indiana, is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s top treatment facilities. Trust us: we are not playing around when it comes to helping you.