Fighting Against Relapse: Tips, Challenges, And Mistakes

Introduction

Recovering from addiction is a long-term process. It simply doesn’t end with the completion of the treatment programs. The days, weeks, and months you spend in the treatment program are filled with therapist counseling, group work, and careful medical oversight.

– And that’s what helps you create a solid foundation for your recovery.

However, all the tools and equipment you kept inside your bag after your treatment need to be sharp. Otherwise, you might find yourself face-to-face with the reason for most recovery failures – Addiction Recovery Relapses.

Relapses are part of recovery. However, if you are not doing anything to prevent the relapses from coming, you will not be able to attain complete recovery.

What Is Relapse?

Going with the clinical definition – To relapses means experiencing regression covering some grounds in addiction recovery. Most of the time, relapses eat away all your recovery progress and bring you back to square one.

Because addiction is a chronic disease, every recovery method will come with a relapse. However, that doesn’t mean you will accept the relapse. You must prepare yourself to avoid any relapse.

Addiction creates a complex behavioral pattern that becomes embedded in your brain. Recovery is the process of learning and using tools to combat such compulsive behavior.

Hence, relapse is not a simple drawback where a person goes back to their old addictive behavior – it’s a process that affects the multi-aspect of a person’s life.

Why Do Relapses Happen?

Due to the chronic nature of the addiction, relapses are often part of the disease. Unfortunately, relapses are so common that almost 50% of all the people going through the addiction recovery process experience relapses.

Addiction is a brain disease that alters how the brain functions. This includes the pathways in how a person feels pleasure and processes, memory, and decision-making capabilities.

Prolonged exposure to substance use can rewire how your brain functions and result in substance dependence.

Tips To Prevent Relapses

While you are recovering from addiction, be aware of the stages of relapses. Prepare a plan to deal with the relapse beforehand to help you prevent from using again.

Follow these tricks to stay on track.

1. Recognizes The Relapse Stages

Relapse happens in three different stages: Emotional, Mental, Physical. This process can start if you stay away from alcohol and drugs but suddenly come across a place or meet people who remind you about your old self.

• Emotional Relapse: During the emotional relapses, you are not thinking of drinking or taking drugs, but you might be subconsciously setting up for a relapse.
• Mental Relapse: In this phase, you are at war with yourself. The strong part of you wants to stay away from any substance. However, the weak part is tempting you to take at least a sip or one puff.
• Physical Relapse: This is the phase when you eventually start using again. It starts with one relapse where you just took one sip or pill and eventually goes back to your old habit.

2. Know Your Triggers

Relapse happens because of the triggers. These triggers can be people, places, or situations. It can drive you back into drinking and using drugs again.

Here are some of the most common triggers.

• Bad relationship.
• Withdrawal symptoms.
• Places where you used to spend time drinking.

Always be aware of your triggers if you want to prevent relapses!

3. Remember Your Reason For Quitting

When the urge hits you to go back to your old self, remember why you quit and for what reason you are taking addiction recovery treatment. Remember the embarrassing thing you have done under the effects.

Try to focus on how better your life can become without the existence of alcohol and drugs in your life.

What Challenges Do People Face During Relapses?

Successfully completing the addiction rehabilitation doesn’t come without any challenges. Understanding the challenges will help you fasten your recovery process.

Here are a few challenges you might face:

• Developing Coping Strategies: Getting sober is not all about stopping using alcohol and drugs. It is also about establishing a new lifestyle. Unfortunately, different people have different lifestyles, so they need different coping strategies.
• Finding New Purpose In Life: When a person understands that they have fallen into the darkest and deepest potholes, they lose hope. They think that they have to live with addiction for their whole life.
• Boredom: Boredom is one of the main reasons why people start drinking alcohol and taking drugs. The same boredom can pose a challenge while preventing relapse. When there is nothing to do, people think about the good old memories. This can bring back some of the memories of your addiction days. It can create new urges to taste alcohol again.

Mistakes That Can Lead To Relapses

Treatment is a great first step!

But not the last. This is the first mistake most people make. Thinking that once the addiction treatment is complete, their addiction diseases have been cured.

– No, that’s not how it works!

Here are some common mistakes to watch out for!

• Leaving Treatment Too Soon: If the treatment moves forward smoothly, people feel that they have completed their treatment and leave it too soon. This might result in leaving the treatment halfway.
• Being Complacent: Complacency is another pitfall that’s hard to avoid. At first, people enjoy the treatment process and give their 100%. After a few sessions, they become complacent and put in less effort, which results in relapses.
• Spending Time With Old Friends That Introduced To Drinking: This is the last thing you must do. Getting into the same social circle that makes you a patient is like asking to become the same again. Once your treatment is completed, make some new sober friends.

Get Help!

The fear of relapses can be debilitating. However, that doesn’t have to be the case when you are prepared with the right coping strategies.

Putting the knowledge we share in use can greatly help you reduce the risk of relapse. To know more about relapses, contact us today!