Recovery is a complex and dynamic process that does not have a clear linear path or ending. Setbacks in recovery are a common feature of addiction and even mental health recovery. As the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) notes, 60% of individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) will enter sustained recovery, but many will relapse first. According to Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, over 50% of people relapse post-treatment, with 40–75 % of relapses occurring three weeks to six months post-treatment. Despite the success rates for recovery, the prevalence of relapse is understandably daunting.
At Driftwood Recovery, we recognize the value and importance of building an attachment in treatment and recovery. Attachment is at the core of our approach to treatment and continuing care to support a strong foundation of self-awareness and understanding. With self-awareness and self-understanding, you can address and manage the difficulties that contributed to your substance use. We are dedicated to providing a vibrant alumni community where you can find the connection, guidance, accountability, and support needed to thrive in recovery. With support, setbacks in recovery do not have to equal relapse or the end of your recovery.
Yet, you may question what the setbacks in recovery are. How can attachment in alumni services prevent or dismantle setbacks in recovery? Expanding your understanding of setbacks can provide insight into the dynamic nature of recovery. Moreover, a greater understanding of setbacks in recovery can help you learn how to address challenges before relapse becomes a reality.
What Are Setbacks in Recovery?
When people think of setbacks in recovery, they often focus on relapse as the only challenge of recovery. However, there are a variety of setback challenges that can occur in recovery and eventually lead to relapse when left unaddressed. Listed below are some of the setbacks in recovery you can encounter:
- Difficulty coping with challenging emotions
- Poor stress management skills
- Boredom
- Difficulty managing cravings
- Unaddressed triggers
- Being around friends and family who still abuse substances
- Environments where substances are readily available
- Relationship conflict
- Co-occurring mental health disorders
- Transitioning from residential treatment to other continuing care services
- Relapse
Although relapse is the most recognizable setback, the range of setbacks in recovery highlights relapse as a gradual process. A relapse typically happens in stages as it moves from emotional, mental, and finally, physical relapse. As a result, recovery must be understood in stages rather than as a singular step or a journey with an ending. Further, each stage of recovery comes with its own risk for relapse, which can make trying to overcome other setbacks in recovery feel impossible. Understanding the impact of setbacks on your well-being is an important first step toward building tools to minimize setbacks and improve outcomes.
Impact of Setbacks in Recovery on Well-Being
A relapse speaks to the negative impact setbacks in recovery can have on your well-being. However, before relapse, there are numerous difficulties rooted in other setbacks that can impede your well-being. Regardless of the setback you experience, you can be left with upsetting emotions like guilt, anger, frustration, embarrassment, sadness, and disappointment. Distressing emotions related to setbacks in recovery can contribute to low self-esteem, decreased motivation, increased stress, and poor mental health. Moreover, some of the other ways setbacks in recovery can harm your well-being include:
- Maladaptive coping
- Relationship strain
- Social isolation
- Job loss
The distressing emotions that bubble up with setbacks speak to how unaddressed challenges can contribute to negative self-beliefs.
Dismantling Negative Beliefs in Recovery
Not only can setbacks in recovery make you feel hopeless, but they can also convince you that you have failed. Feelings of guilt, shame, anxiety, and depression often bubble up from the thought of failure. Listed below are some additional negative beliefs that can impair the recovery process:
- The belief that you are broken
- Black-and-white thinking
- Believing that there is only success or failure
- The belief that you do not deserve forgiveness
- Believing your sobriety is a fluke
- The belief that no one cares about you
For those in treatment and recovery, a sense of failure takes root as you build an all-or-nothing mindset toward your recovery. Negative beliefs about yourself and your recovery can impede your psychological health and prevent you from effectively using adaptive coping skills. According to Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, a holistic model of care is crucial to addressing and dismantling negative beliefs about yourself and recovery. Yet, how do you overcome setbacks in recovery and thus their psychological harm?
Ways to Overcome Setbacks
An important first step in managing setbacks in recovery is mindset. First, recognizing that setbacks are a normal part of recovery can help diminish all-or-nothing thinking. You set yourself up for success when you understand that setbacks do not equal failure, and failure does not equal the end. Further, you can prevent and overcome setbacks in recovery by building a plan of action to help you stay on track. Listed below are some things you can include in your setback action plan:
- Identify triggers/cravings
- Give yourself grace
- Identify warning signs or difficult days
- Treat setbacks as learning moments
- Practice adaptive coping
- Reevaluate and adjust goals
- Seek support
- Prioritize self-care
Looking at some of the steps you can take to overcome setbacks in recovery showcases the value of a positive mindset for maintaining recovery. A positive attitude is often made possible through connection with the self and others.
Finding Resilience in Setbacks at Driftwood Recovery
At Driftwood Recovery, we believe in providing alumni services because we know how important mutual support and community are for whole-person healing. In an alumni program, you can find the support, resources, and guidance needed to overcome crisis moments. Moreover, access to positive community activities can help you foster self-worth and confidence to address setbacks and meet the challenges of life head-on. With a community of peers, you are reminded that you are loved and deserving of healing.
Experiencing setbacks in recovery can feel devastating, especially when you associate setbacks with relapse. Yet, setbacks in recovery are not exclusive to relapse. Setbacks in recovery can include poor stress management and unaddressed triggers. When stressors arise in recovery, they can contribute to negative self-beliefs that you are a failure and undeserving of forgiveness or healing. However, recovery does not have to equal failure. Recovery is a dynamic process with peaks and valleys that are equally important to your journey. With support, you can find connections, resources, guidance, and confidence to prevent, manage, and overcome setbacks. At Driftwood Recovery, we are dedicated to providing alumni services to support sustained recovery. Call us at (512) 759-8330 to learn more today.