According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in the U.S., 48.7 million people (17.3%) have substance use disorder (SUD). The prevalence of SUD is staggering, but as SAMHSA notes, 21.3 million (71.0%) adults consider themselves to be in recovery. Although entering recovery is important, maintaining recovery is equally important. Therefore, uncovering and building relapse prevention tools is invaluable to lasting recovery.
As noted in Addiction Relapse Prevention by Nicholas Guenzel et al., approximately 50% of people relapse within the first 12 weeks post-treatment. The prevalence of relapse early in recovery is tied to early recovery as a vulnerable time as you step down in level of care to build an independent life in recovery. Despite the importance of independence in recovery, it is important to know recovery and relapse prevention tools are not built in isolation. Thus, access to support and services for relapse prevention tools can be the difference between sustained recovery and relapse.
At Driftwood Recovery, we know that making the transition from structured care to ongoing recovery can be overwhelming. Therefore, we are dedicated to providing peer support in our alumni and community integration programs (CIP) to help you recover. With a person-centered model of care and integration, you can reconnect with yourself and others. Moreover, with a community of support in alumni, you can build relapse prevention tools to set the foundation for a meaningful life in recovery.
Yet, you may question how an addiction relapse can happen. What is your risk for addiction relapse? How can you prevent yourself from becoming a statistic for chronic relapse? Deepening your understanding of addiction relapse can provide insight into how relapse happens. Moreover, understanding addiction relapse can help you learn how to build relapse prevention tools.
What Is Addiction Relapse?
Addiction relapse is an unfortunate but common feature of addiction and recovery. In general, addiction relapse occurs when you stop maintaining your goal to reduce or avoid the use of substances. However, addiction relapse is often more complex than returning to the misuse or abuse of a substance or substances. As stated by the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, addiction relapse is a gradual process. Thus, across weeks and months, there is a gradual shift in the way you feel and think about your addiction before you return to misuse or abuse.
Addiction relapse is not only a gradual process but can be broken into three distinct stages:
- Emotional: Occurs when you do not focus on healing the whole of your parts
- Only focuses on abstinence
- Ineffective emotional, mental, and physical self-care
- Mental: Occurs when you struggle with the desire to use substances
- Minimizing or glamorizing substance use
- Physical: Occurs when you initiate the misuse or abuse of substances
- You are no longer in control of your consumption
The stages of relapse highlight the need to recognize risk factors that can contribute to relapse.
Risk Factors for Addiction Relapse
Despite being a chronic relapsing condition, some factors can put you at greater risk for relapse. Some risk factors for addiction relapse include:
- Associating with individuals with active SUD
- Inadequate support
- Rejection from loved ones
- Social marginalization
- Easy access to substances
- Chronic pain
- Unemployment
- Low income
- Housing instability
- Low self-efficacy
- Poor motivation
- Lack of adaptive coping skills
Looking at the risk factors for relapse showcases the need for support and relapse prevention tools.
How Can Relapse Prevention Tools Help?
Everyone’s progress toward recovery and maintenance is unique to them. However, access to relapse prevention tools can provide a foundation to support your specific needs for sustained recovery. Supporting sustained abstinence from substance use is an important aspect of relapse prevention tools. However, relapse prevention tools can also support whole-person healing across multiple domains of your life. Some of the other ways relapse prevention tools can help you include:
- Improve adaptive coping skills
- Increase motivation
- Greater self-efficacy
- Support self-regulation
- Strengthen support network
- Enhance self-awareness
- Build positive self-image
- Enhance self-care
Relapse prevention tools can be invaluable to long-term healing inside and out. Therefore, addressing and dismantling barriers to building relapse prevention tools is vital.
Addressing Barriers to Relapse Prevention Tools
Much like recovery itself, barriers to relapse prevention tools are multifaceted. There are numerous domains, from emotional and cognitive to environmental and social stressors, that can act as barriers to recovery. According to the Canadian Journal of Addiction, some of the barriers to maintaining recovery include:
- Poor awareness and or access to recovery resources
- Mental and emotional challenges
- Continuing care services
- Support groups
- Employment
- Health challenges
- Chronic pain
- Cost of support services
- Stigma
- Poor support network
- Unstable housing
- Low income
Looking at the barriers to maintaining recovery highlights the need for tailored relapse prevention tools. A tailored relapse prevention plan can address your specific experiences and needs.
Empowering Healing With a Relapse Prevention Plan
A relapse prevention plan can help you build healthy tools to manage and process challenges that arise during your recovery. Listed below are some strategies that you can explore for your individualized relapse prevention plan:
- Eat nutritious foods
- Build a sleep routine
- Exercise
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Support network
- Peers
- Trusted loved ones
- Journaling
- Activities and hobbies
- Short and long-term goals
Through an active alumni program, you can learn how to build relapse prevention tools that match your life.
Building Relapse Prevention Tools at Driftwood Recovery
At Driftwood Recovery, we believe in providing comprehensive alumni services to meet you where you are. In a thriving, sober community, you can find the support you need to address challenges that arise in recovery. Whether you are entering early recovery or have been in recovery for a while, life stressors can impede healing. You can achieve recovery, personal, and professional goals with access to resources like peer support and workshops. An engaged and supportive alumni community gives you space to build tools to reintegrate into your community and lead a courageous life in recovery.
In recovery, there are life stressors that attempt to impede your recovery. While stressors are a normal part of life, when left to fester, they can increase your risk of relapse. Therefore, access to relapse prevention tools can help address risk factors like low income, psychological stress, and poor social support. Moreover, relapse prevention tools can help you build a relapse prevention plan to reduce barriers to recovery and enhance whole-person healing. Through a relapse prevention plan, you can improve coping skills, increase motivation, and strengthen your support network. At Driftwood Recovery, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive services and resources in a peer-driven alumni program to support sustained recovery. Call us at (512) 759-8330 to learn more today.