The phenomenon of relapsing back to substance abuse is one of the major features which make addiction such a chronic disease. In the absence of seeking professional rehabilitation programmes, like at Skyward Recovery Center, the chances of relapsing are around 80% for an addict.
This leads to a troubling situation for the person who feels like they are stuck in an inescapable loop of addiction and subsequent destruction.
Why Do People Relapse?
Significant drug or alcohol use has the ability to neurologically alter our brain, leading to functional and physical changes which encourage addiction. Relapse is most prevalent in early stages of recovery where the addict is not mentally strong enough to resist addictive triggers or make sober decisions.
Other mental factors including general detachment and the inexistence of motivation to recover lead to a more miserable situation for the addict. Just like other chronic disorders including hypertension, diabetes, etc. prolonged care needs to be maintained to keep the addict from relapsing.
This level of care can be found in our professional treatment and relapse prevention programme.
How to Avoid Relapse?
Relapses are generally more common amongst addicts in the early stages of recovery. Therefore, removal of the stimulus at first is a primary method of avoiding a relapse. This implies that the person must avoid all triggers which stimulate substance use.
The addict must also then keep themselves engaged and occupied to avoid relapsing as a result of isolated boredom in the post-recovery period. The discovery of a new hobby or occupation keeps the addict from thinking about substance use and hence is an effective way of fighting addiction in the long term.
Mental solidarity is reinforced through an external support mechanism which the addict can rely upon during recovery. These may generally be peers from treatment and tend to engage in activities which inspire and support the addict in their path to recovery. Since both parties are inclined on achieving sobriety, a mutual sense of relatability emanates and a strong self-correcting mechanism is built which prevents either person from relapsing.
What is Relapse Prevention?
Relapse prevention includes the dissemination of information during therapy programs which assists the person in avoiding substance relapse and thereby recovering from addiction. Relapse prevention empowers the addict to effectively fight and redress any triggers to continue substance use that may arise post-therapy.