The Best Ways to Help a Loved One Who Is Experiencing a Relapse
Posted on October 18th, 2023by
In Sober living | Leave a Comment »
That’s about the same as relapse rates among people with asthma or high blood pressure if they stop taking their medicine. What’s key is to recognize the early signs of relapse, so you can stop a backslide before it starts. Addiction is a long-term condition, like asthma, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Of course, the goal is to stop using drugs or alcohol completely and not relapse. But when you see your addiction as a chronic disease, you can look at relapse from that perspective, too.
Reach out to Your Support Network
If you could summarize all the advice of this article into one word, it would be this – ACT. Without taking action to resolve what’s wrong in your recovery plan, you will go on to relapse again and again, until you are firmly back in the clutches of active addiction. When it comes to it, if you want to live a safe and sober life, you must act, and act now.
Is Relapse Part of Recovery?
- Relapse prevention plans should be easily accessible and realistic.
- It serves various functions, from managing withdrawal symptoms to maintaining long-term sobriety.
- For others, recovery is a personal growth process that usually involves a couple setbacks.2 Rather than viewing a relapse as shameful, this perspective looks at it as a learning experience.
- Taking action immediately after a relapse is vital to getting back on the road to recovery.
- Identify important past events that gave rise to negative beliefs about yourself.
Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, with an estimated 573,000 new cases and more than 200,000 deaths globally in 2020. One in three bladder cancers becomes advanced and will require radical treatment, including bladder removal. Stress-relieving techniques are critical for coping in sustained recovery.
Steps to Take After a Drug or Alcohol Relapse
Right after relapse, remind yourself why you began recovery treatment in the first place. This will give you the strength and motivation you need to focus on getting back into recovery. It is common, even expected, that people who are attempting to overcome addiction will go through one or even several relapses before successfully quitting. For people trying to control what to do after a relapse their behavior rather than trying to quit entirely, a relapse happens when the individual had gotten control over the behavior but is re-experiencing a period of uncontrolled behavior. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) defines relapse as the recurrence of behavioral or other substantive indicators of active disease after a period of remission.
- Sleep deprivation undermines recovery in indirect ways as well.
- In addition to getting professional treatment, avoiding your triggers, finding social support, caring for yourself, and managing stress can help prevent future relapse.
- Surrounding yourself with a strong support network and making the necessary changes can help you recover from a relapse and continue on the road to lifetime sobriety.
- Addictive behaviors create a difficult-to-break cycle of shame that creates further shame unless explored in a way that allows learning to take place.
- Naomi Carr is a qualified mental health nurse with several years of experience working with children and adults in the UK.
What is the Difference Between Sobriety and Recovery?
- Support groups and 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) can also be very helpful in preventing relapses.
- By addressing these emotions head-on, individuals can reaffirm their commitment to recovery and build resilience against future challenges.
- It can show you what you need to change to recover successfully.
- Experiencing a relapse can be a distressing event, often accompanied by negative emotions such as guilt, shame, and frustration.
- A relapse, although a critical sign that something is not right with your recovery process, is, in the cold light of day, just a stumble – it’s by no means a sign of failure or the end of your recovery journey.
This includes all drugs, even ones that can help with substance or alcohol misuse, such as Vivitrol. Engaging in physical and mental well-being activities, such as mindfulness, exercise, and positive self-talk, can help manage stress and cravings. Reestablishing a network of supportive relationships is a pivotal step in recovery after a relapse. The process involves both repairing existing relationships damaged by addiction and forging new, healthy connections that promote sobriety.
Risk Factors for Relapse
Studies show that social support boosts the chances of success. Help can come in an array of forms—asking for more support from family members and friends, from peers or from others who are further along in the recovery process. It might mean entering, or returning to, a treatment program; starting, or upping the intensity of, individual or group therapy; and/or joining a peer support group. The risk of relapse is greatest in the first 90 days of recovery, a period when, as a result of adjustments the body is making, sensitivity to stress is particularly acute while sensitivity to reward is low. It is important to know that relapse does not represent a moral weakness. It reflects the difficulty of resisting a return to substance use in response to what may be intense cravings but before new coping strategies have been learned and new routines have been established.
Do I Need to Go Back to Treatment?
It can engage what has been termed the Abstinence Violation Effect. It encourages people to see themselves as failures, attributing the cause of the lapse to enduring and uncontrollable internal factors, and feeling guilt and shame. In addiction, relapse occurs when a person resumes drug or alcohol use after a period of sobriety. Relapse usually results from a mix of psychological, physical, and environmental triggers. While it is a common part of the recovery process, it can lead to dangerous behaviors that may harm both the relapsing individual and their loved ones. If you’re not sure how to move through the recovery process, follow one of the relapse prevention plan models that are available.
Care for Yourself
Even some treatment programs take a hard line on participants who relapse. Recovered provides a directory of treatment options that can be used to treat cocaine dependence and provide relapse prevention strategies. Although https://ecosoberhouse.com/ there is no way to avoid all relapses, you can make a positive difference. By exploring these organized treatments paired with your love and support, your loved one can drastically reduce the risks of problems in the future.
Seeing a therapist or mental health professional could go a long way towards developing healthy coping mechanisms. This is when you start thinking of using again, contacting the people who encouraged your addiction, or going back to your habits while using. Often, this stage accompanies cravings and intrusive thoughts that convince you the bad effects of the substance you abused weren’t that bad. You also start finding reasons why using again might be a good idea. This may vary from person to person and be influenced by things such as extent and length of use.
Care for yourself
It involves adapting strategies and learning from experiences, including setbacks. Adelante Recovery Center is here to help those battling drug and alcohol addiction. We are located in beautiful southern California and welcome those from across the country. Adelante Recovery Center is here to help those that are battling drug and alcohol addiction.