A good relapse prevention strategy will help you stay sober for the long term because it can provide you with tips on how to avoid your addiction. While treatment in a residential rehabilitation center is excellent for people who are suffering from this type of problem, it can’t end when you walk out the door. In truth, many people find that they experience a lower relapse rate within their first year of sobriety if they use various methods to stay sober permanently as addicts. They are taught basic recovery techniques during their time in addiction treatment that proves very helpful for them and other addicts who seek to stay clean after rehab treatment in order to be happy and live freely again. One of these techniques includes attending regular meetings, where recovering addicts share stories with one another about the times they struggled, how those were overcome, and what lessons were learned so that recovery is sustained through continued hope too!
At RehabsIndia, we provide you with the much-needed resources and knowledge to recognize those signs of a relapse and create a backup plan to avoid them. By having these plans in place, you will be more inclined to stick to your recovery program - which is one step closer to maintaining your physical, mental, and emotional health so that you can remain steadfast in fighting your addiction.
Defining Relapse
Ask a number of people what relapse means to them, and you will get a variety of answers. Some individuals may define relapse as the act of having just one drink or taking a single hit, while others may think one cigarette constitutes falling off the wagon. It's vital that before you can successfully prevent your possible relapse, you must first identify what you consider to be a slip-up. When we refer to preventing your possible upcoming relapse, it's important to realize that just because you do ingest alcohol or smoke another cigarette after months cleanly doesn't mean that there is no hope for you in terms of ridding yourself from the addiction behind this harmful behavior.
Know what your Triggers are
Do you crave drugs? Do you feel an uncontrollable urge to get high if you find yourself in a certain scenario such as in the company of people who are using illicit substances, or at the house of your parents? If the answer is yes then we would like to remind you that there is nothing wrong with feeling this way. It doesn't mean that you have a weak willpower, it simply means that these triggers exist within your environment, and realizing this truth is a positive step toward overcoming them! Once you've identified your triggers then come up with strategies to avoid them and eventually overcome them - because even though we don't believe that forcing yourself to go against something that feels good when indulged may be helpful for short-term gratification, for long-term happiness it's generally going to lead nowhere good. So, take control of your life now.
While relapse prevention techniques assist you with preventing an instance where you slip up, often times the causes of these instances to occur due to several factors over which you have little control in isolation. While we strongly advocate for minimizing your exposure to further risk, it's important to realize that it's not always possible and thus a relapse must be ready to be dealt with when it comes knocking at your doorstep. Therefore, it's particularly important to find as many substance abuse treatment methods and support programs as possible in any given scenario. We've found that in this kind of scenario has a strong network around you supports greater long-term results than approaches relying on a singular or isolated technique!
Handling Emotions
The most important tool you can learn to manage is handling your emotions. Positive and negative triggers can naturally trigger you to relapse. If these triggers have always led you to drugs or alcohol, it's time to seek recovery techniques meant to help as you pick yourself up and move on from them. Make sure you're picking the right techniques that work for you because everyone responds differently in this aspect!
Balance your Life
Striving for balance between work and play is essential to avoiding burnout. If you don't take care of yourself, then your job will eventually start to take a toll on your emotional state and you'll develop a negative attitude around it - something that will unfortunately only make the situation worse! As an entrepreneur, try to spend time doing something totally different so you can get away from things related to work. Go out with friends or family if they are available, or simply try something new. It's important to remember that there are many good things in life worth being grateful for: spending some time with loved ones always puts your problems into perspective.
Maintain a Support Circle
You aren’t in this world alone which means you don’t have to be alone while going through the different aftercare programs at this stage of recovery. This is the stage that should help you get through your life afterward. Assemble a tribe of people who you trust and can turn to when things get rough - because they will! They can help you stay on course and utilize your learned relapse prevention techniques when it’s most important. These members of your support tribe can consist of friends, family, and/or other people who actively participated in the rehab center with you. It doesn’t matter who is part of it as long as they are willing to help make sure you succeed in your recovery!
Reaching Out
While recovering, the process may be fraught with temptations. To make this process easier, there are some steps you should take to ensure your success. If you need help reaching your goals to keep a substance-free lifestyle and prevent another addiction relapse - we can help, visit our directory of resources on the best rehab centers in India today for information on how we can help you get through today and avoid chemical dependence down the road.