How Do I Prevent the Relapse Process?

Seeking help and recovering from substance abuse is a challenging task, as is staying sober. Maintaining a former addict's sobriety is a daily talks that requires positive reinforcement from professionals and concerned family and friends. Ultimately, however, it is up to that individual to follow their recovery plan for the rest of their lives. Relapsing is very common for former substance abusers before ultimately abstaining from their troubling substance. There are, however, several tips a former abuser can implement to support their fight against returning to drugs or alcohol permanently.

Instructions

• 1

  Develop and adhere to your recovery plan. Nearly every outpatient center and substance abuse treatment program provides its patients with a relapse prevention program. Designed specifically for former addicts, the program provides a template to address various situations that endanger an individual's sobriety. Refer to your specific plan, and follow its steps as you recover. Continue to take the required medication, and follow through on any mandated counseling visits. In the event that a serious situation endangers you to relapse, contact your former outpatient center or addiction program and seek specialized help tailored to your addiction, personality, and need.

• 2

  Attempt new hobbies as a means to replace the void that substance dependency used to fill. Substance abuse takes the majority of an individuals free time. Upon becoming substance free, find and implement new hobbies into your life. Physical activity such as daily workouts, intramural sports leagues, or yoga and fitness classes are ways to becoming active while promoting a healthy lifestyle. Learning new trades such as an musical instrument or a language can also assist in engaging in activities that allow you to forget about your prior substance abuse. Try an activity that you've always wanted to do, yet never had the time nor resources to follow through.

• 3

  Avoid triggers that may lead to reusing substances. Triggers are any person, place, image, or event that subsequently creates an urge in a recovering abuser to use drugs or alcohol. All individuals live unique lives; as such, everyone's triggers are different. Visiting familiar restaurants and retailers, or seeing certain friends and significant others can trigger emotions that lead to intense cravings. Make out a detailed list of all the scenarios and locations that could serve as a catalyst to relapsing. Upon completing of the list, attempt in earnest to avoid those places and individuals altogether.

• 4

  Refrain from negative thinking and emotions. A relapse prevention study proposed by Marlatt & Gordon in 1985 found that individuals with an alcohol dependency had the highest rates of relapse upon experiencing negative states such as stress, anxiety, depression, anger, frustration and boredom. Maintain a positive mental state to decrease the risk of relapsing at a later date. Create distance from the things and individuals that cause you to have negative feelings.