Recovering from addiction isn’t easy, and for many people the journey to sobriety is not linear. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 40% to 60% of people treated for a substance use disorder return to use at some point. If someone is trying their hardest to stop using drugs or alcohol and finds themselves giving in to temptation, they may wonder whether lasting sobriety is possible for them at all. Understanding why relapse happens, and how to prevent it, is key to lasting recovery.
What Is Relapse?
Recovery from drug or alcohol addiction involves breaking free from physical dependence on the substance and working through the psychological side of addiction too. Rehabilitation is complex, and at FHE Health in Deerfield Beach, Florida, we take each patient’s circumstances into account when planning their treatment.
Treatment is shaped by the substance used, how long it was used, and the effect it had on the person’s mental and physical health. Considering all of these factors, it’s important not to judge anyone’s pursuit of sobriety or the path they take to get there.
People trying to quit using drugs or alcohol often find that even after the substance has left their bodies, they face ongoing cravings. When they leave rehab and return to normal life, they may start feeling weak or depressed and start using substances again. This is known as relapse.
Relapse is normal, common and happens frequently during the rehabilitation journey. Sometimes people go through a relapse only once, while others may take several attempts to beat their addiction. Relapse prevention takes a while for someone who has become dependent on a substance, as they must learn to live life without it. But no matter how relapse takes shape, one must always go back into treatment as quickly as possible due to the potentially deadly consequences of substance addiction.
Relapse in Recovery Is More Common Than You Think
Imagine you made it through a rehab program for alcohol addiction. You’ve completed residential treatment and are now attending a 12-step program and working with a counselor. You’re feeling better than you have in years. So when an old friend comes into town and invites you to one of your favorite old hangout spots, you think, “What’s the worst that can happen?”
You’re sitting in a bar with friends you haven’t seen in a long time, and everyone is laughing and reminiscing about old times. They say, “Come on, have a drink with us,” and you think about the good place you’re in and how you have your problem under control. One drink can’t hurt.
But one drink turns into many drinks, and when you wake up in the morning, reality washes over you. It can feel like you ruined everything you worked so hard for, and now you’ll have to return to the very beginning and restart the process. Faced with this prospect, you might think it’s easier to just drink away the pain.
Understanding how easily a relapse can happen, and that it isn’t a moral failing, can help you process that experience with a healthier perspective. The addiction specialists at FHE Health work with people to teach them tools for avoiding situations where a relapse may occur, and what to do if one happens.
So You Relapsed… Now What?
People who relapse often feel like failures, but it’s important to remember you’re not alone. Here are some things you can do to help yourself after relapse.
Reach Out for Help
If you’re in a 12-step group, contact your sponsor or attend a meeting as soon as possible. Be honest with the people closest to you who you can trust to help you get back on your feet. If you’ve been attending a program at FHE Health, contact us for advice on how to get back on track.
Avoid Temptation
Your emotional state is extremely fragile after a relapse, which means you may not be able to resist triggers the way you did the first time. Don’t attend events where alcohol or drugs will be present. Don’t leave yourself alone with easy access to the substances you were once dependent on.
Consider Professional Assistance
There’s no shame in re-entering rehab after a relapse, despite the feeling that everyone will look at you as someone who failed. People know how easy it is to slip, and returning to a treatment program to get back on your feet is a commendable step to take.
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Relapse Intervention at FHE Health
Immediately following a relapse is one of the most important times to take action. If you let yourself wallow in self-pity or continue to use, you may be undoing more of the work it took to get to this point. At FHE Health, we offer compassionate and judgment-free advice to people at all stages of their recovery journeys, from those doing their first detox to those getting back on track after a relapse.
Relapse Prevention
Relapse prevention is challenging and involves learning how to live without what was once a central part of daily life. You have to relearn how to do things sober. There will be trial and error, but success is entirely achievable. Here are some ways to curb relapse:
- Attend an addiction treatment program: FHE Health has detox centers for both drug and alcohol addiction. They are medically supervised, giving patients access to therapists, nurses and doctors who provide around-the-clock care. Detox is the process of clearing harmful substances from the body, and programs typically last about a week, which is roughly how long acute withdrawal symptoms take to subside. The periods of withdrawal and intense craving are when a person in recovery is most likely to return to use. Spending that critical interval under constant supervision means leaving having moved past the hardest stretch, which makes relapse less likely. It’s the best first step you can take when you begin living your new life.
- Use medication if it’s appropriate for you: The more intense the withdrawal, the greater the risk of returning to use. Medications are available that substantially reduce cravings, and there’s no reason to feel ashamed about needing them. Lofexidine is a non-opioid medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration to ease opioid withdrawal symptoms. Naltrexone binds to opioid receptors and blocks the effects of opioids, so using them produces little or no high, which reduces the incentive to keep using. Methadone and buprenorphine are used to treat opioid use disorder rather than to manage pain. They act on the same receptors as heroin but far more gradually, which relieves withdrawal and craving without the sharp cycle of highs and crashes. All of these medications are prescribed and monitored by a clinician, who determines what fits your history.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle: Living sober does not just mean living without drugs and alcohol. It also involves adopting healthy behaviors in daily life, a strategy that is immensely useful for relapse prevention. Nutrition and diet are one way to go about this, since regular meals help stabilize mood and energy during a period when both tend to swing. Regular exercise can boost your mood and serve as a distraction when cravings hit. If you feel tempted, going for a run or working out at the gym gives you a reason to leave an environment full of triggers until the craving passes.
- Get enough rest: Sleep helps people cope with the mood changes and cravings that come with withdrawal. Drugs and alcohol often wreck sleep schedules, causing restlessness and insomnia, and many people begin using in the first place to deal with sleep problems. Learning to manage rest patterns makes it less likely that someone in treatment will return to substances to help them sleep.
- Continue engaging with a support system: A residential program can help you through the initial stages of physical withdrawal and teach you strategies for the mental challenges of staying sober. But when you return to daily life, you’ll face new challenges and temptations. A support network helps you navigate them. Peer support groups provide accountability and give you someone to talk to who understands what you’re going through. Staying in touch with recovery counselors helps both with preventing relapse and with getting back on track if it happens.
Hope After Relapse
While there are many approaches to relapse prevention, relapse is still common. That 40% to 60% figure sits alongside relapse rates of 50% to 70% for hypertension and asthma, two chronic conditions nobody describes as treatment failures when symptoms return.
No matter how many times a person relapses, they need to return for treatment and support. Learning to manage the triggers associated with substance addiction is a process that takes years to master with repeated assistance. Having those skills makes it much easier to resist cravings and let the desire to use pass.
Treatment must be sustained, because returning to a substance after a period of abstinence can be dangerous. When someone stops using a drug, their body loses tolerance for it. If they later use an amount they once tolerated, they may be at risk of an overdose. Avoiding that requires the supervision and counsel a treatment program provides.
On relapse prevention, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has said: “Treatment of chronic diseases involves changing deeply rooted behaviors, and relapse doesn’t mean treatment has failed. When a person recovering from an addiction relapses, it indicates that the person needs to speak with their doctor to resume treatment, modify it, or try another treatment.”
There is hope after relapse. It isn’t the end of the recovery journey. The first thing to do is accept that it happened and take responsibility. Feeling guilty and punishing yourself is unnecessary. Part of taking responsibility means understanding what led to the relapse. Was something not working in treatment? Did you not get the guidance you needed? Did anything in particular trigger the relapse? Armed with that knowledge, you can build a new plan for sobriety.
Consistent, regular treatment is the best way to avoid another slip. Relapse prevention therapy exists to give people in recovery the tools they need to stay sober. Joining a support group with others in treatment shows you the breadth of recovery stories. Seeing how others have relapsed and then returned to sustained sobriety reinforces that you’re not alone, and that a slip on your sobriety journey doesn’t mean you’ve failed or should give up on a healthier life.
Contact FHE Health
If you or someone you know has relapsed and needs treatment, contact us at 833-596-3502 for assistance. Our team of trained and compassionate medical specialists, counselors and addiction experts can help with both recovery and relapse prevention. There’s always hope when it comes to recovery, and it’s never too late to seek help.
