Overcoming an addiction to drugs or alcohol may involve detox, rehab and continuing care. At every step, a primary objective is relapse prevention. Learning about and accessing relapse prevention tools can help patients stay sober for a lifetime.
Proper Dual Diagnosis Treatment and Therapy
Relapse can happen for a number of reasons. However, individuals with undiagnosed or untreated co-occurring disorders are more likely to struggle with relapse in the future.
Having co-occurring disorders means that you suffer both from addiction and a secondary condition. This might be bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression or agoraphobia, among countless other conditions.
If you don’t get treatment for a mental health condition, it could become a barrier on your path to recovery. One of the best ways to prevent relapse is to get psychological support. Dual diagnosis treatment can resolve certain issues, or at least identify and treat conditions that could prevent lasting recovery.
Create a Meaningful Support System
It is almost impossible to completely recover from an addiction on your own. Even after detox and rehab is complete, you’ll benefit from a support system. This support system can be made up of peers from treatment, therapists, close friends or family members.
Essentially, your support system is your safety net. If you’re tempted to give into cravings, your support system can remind you of your sobriety goals. When you need to vent or discuss major life problems, the people in your support system are the ones to call. Learning the value of a support system, and creating one as soon as possible, is a big part of effective relapse prevention.
Identify Personal Triggers
A trigger is a small event, feeling or state of mind that can lead to a relapse. Everyone has their own personal triggers. During recovery, it is important to start identifying those personal triggers. Examples of triggers could be a lack of sleep, being hungry, feeling alone, being sick, being stuck in traffic or having too much cash in your wallet.
Once you have identified these triggers, you can recognize them for what they are. You can also take steps to prevent them from happening. If you are triggered to drink when you’re hungry and tired, for example, you can make a habit of getting to bed early and always carry snacks in your bag.
Learn and Use Coping Mechanisms
Many people who eventually relapse cite stress as the reason. Stress sometimes overwhelms us, but at Steps to Recovery you’ll learn a new way of coping. For people who struggle with an addiction, too much stress can be the tipping point between sobriety and relapse. Coping mechanisms are the tools you can use to prevent stress from leading to relapse.
Stress can be a result of family arguments, relationship drama, financial trouble or failure at work. It can also be something like chronic insomnia. Whatever the source of stress, each individual has to discover their own coping mechanisms to relieve stress in a healthy way. Some common coping mechanisms include walking, working out, painting, meditating, calling a friend or listening to music.
Addressing Relapse Prevention at Steps to Recovery
At Steps to Recovery, relapse prevention is an ongoing focus. Whether patients are in partial hospitalization programs, intensive outpatient or anything in between, avoiding relapse is the goal.
To that end, patients will have access to all of the following amenities, tools and treatment methods. Each can play a role in relapse prevention today and in the days, months and years to come.
- Fitness and recreation facilities
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Strong peer-to-peer relationships
- Trauma therapy
- One-on-one drug counseling
- Family therapy
- Step-down recovery to ease back into independent living
The best way to access a variety of relapse prevention tools is a high-quality addiction treatment program. Steps to Recovery in Levittown, Pennsylvania, can offer you the resources you need to stay sober for a lifetime. Start to overcome addiction once and for all by calling 866-488-8684.