After rehab there’s nothing scarier than a possible relapse. Don’t worry, almost everyone feels that fear when they’re reentering the everyday world, full of looming stressors. Trust in what you learned in rehab. But also, keep in mind that the hard work of recovery only began with detox, treatment and rehab. Your continuing healing and fight for sobriety will be a daily choice for the rest of your life. But don’t worry, with every success, the choice to be sober gets easier.
So how can you avoid a relapse?
First thing’s first is that you need to get to know yourself a little bit more. Make sure you understand what triggers your anxiety or depression. These are often dual-diagnosis with addiction. The mental health disorders and addiction feed off of one another though it’s not always clear which is the chicken or the egg and which came first, but one thing’s for sure, if you don’t know how the two interact emotionally for you, relapse becomes substantially more likely.
As you get to know your triggers, don’t forget to allow yourself the right to experience your emotions. People often become addicted to a substance out of a wish to numb up, or distract themselves from their feelings. Pushing down your emotions will only take you back to the place you were in when you first started using. Let yourself feel those feelings. Identify them. Breathe and process those emotions by tracing them through whatever provoked them. When you begin to understand the source of your feelings you can learn better how to support yourself and control your response to difficult feelings.
If you or someone you know is or has been addicted to drugs or alcohol you may already know some of the scary ways it can affect the whole life of the addicted person, from halting productivity, to deteriorating the most important relationships. If you are suffering from addiction, call us now at (833) 596-3502 to learn more about our intensive inpatient treatment or outpatient detox center in South Florida. We are dedicated to the health and wellbeing of our patients. Let us help guide you to the path of sober living.
