Understanding Relapse Prevention in Addictions
Addiction is a complex issue, and while the road to recovery can be challenging, relapse prevention can help. When it comes to recovery from addiction, relapse is an inevitable part of the process. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t understand it or use our understanding to prevent it. Relapse prevention is a process of developing insight into our behaviours, cravings, and decisions that lead us to lapse or relapse. In this blog post, we will discuss how relapse prevention works and why it is so important.
What is Relapse Prevention?
Relapse prevention is a set of techniques designed to provide individuals with strategies for coping with the cravings that can lead to a return to substance abuse. Through this process individuals learn how their thoughts, feelings, behaviours, emotions, and environment interact with each other which helps them identify potential risks for relapse before it happens. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “the goal of relapse prevention is for people in recovery from addiction to identify and respond effectively to risky situations before they become overwhelming and lead them back into active drug or alcohol use.”
The Role Of Self-Awareness
Self-awareness plays an important role in relapse prevention. Self-awareness involves understanding one’s own behaviour, emotions, thoughts and motivations in order to better cope with triggers for substance abuse. This includes recognising risk factors such as environmental cues, relationships, feelings and activities which might trigger a desire for relapse. Through self-awareness individuals can gain control over their own behaviour by recognising their strengths and weaknesses as well as those things which may trigger them towards further substance abuse.
Tips for Preventing Relapse
The first step in preventing relapse is recognising the warning signs that may lead up to it. Some of these warning signs include increased anxiety or depression levels; changes in sleeping patterns; increased isolation; withdrawal from activities previously enjoyed; decreased motivation; changes in self-care habits such as not eating properly or skipping showers/bath; difficulty concentrating on tasks; spending more time alone than normal; returning back to old behaviours such as hanging out with old friends who may have been using drugs/alcohol when you were using previously etc. Once these warning signs are identified then steps can be taken to prevent a full-on relapse from happening. Some tips on preventing a full-on relapse include: having an accountability partner who will serve as a support system during difficult times; attending therapy regularly; having an action plan for high-risk situations such as going out with friends who still use drugs/alcohol; having a list of people you can call when feeling overwhelmed by cravings etc.; attending support groups; journaling about your thoughts and feelings regularly etc.. All of these tips can help an individual stay on track with their recovery journey and reduce the risk of a full-on relapse happening.
The Benefits Of Relapse Prevention
Relapse prevention offers many benefits including increased self confidence in one’s ability to cope with addiction triggers; an increased sense of control over one’s emotions; improved communication skills; improved problem solving abilities; an enhanced support system; improved motivation for abstinence; reduced vulnerability to peer pressure; decreased risk of criminal behaviour associated with drug use; improvement in overall physical health; improvement in social functioning; improved self esteem; decreased depression symptoms and anxiety symptoms associated with drug use; improvement in cognitive functioning. All these benefits combine together to increase the chances that one will be successful in maintaining sobriety long term.
In summary…
relapse prevention is an important tool for individuals seeking recovery from addiction because it helps them recognise their own behaviours and develop effective strategies for coping with triggers that could lead them back into active substance abuse. Through increasing self-awareness as well as engaging in positive activities such as exercise, healthy relationships, spiritual practices etc., individuals can reduce their risk of relapse while increasing their chance of success at achieving long term sobriety. If you are struggling with addiction or know someone who is, you can contact us for an appointment or look up another professionals and services such as LifeLine, TurningPoint and DirectLine. This can help you implement relapse prevention into your daily life so that you or your loved one have the best chance possible at achieving lasting sobriety!