Health

Tips To Prevent Substance Abuse Relapses

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Addiction to drugs and similar substances impacts the physical well-being of a person. A person struggling with substance abuse often faces a lot of physical ailments, including chronic pain and various heart, liver, and kidney diseases. However, along with physical ailments, the person also struggles with numerous mental illnesses. 

Both mental and physical ailments together intensify the hardships of suffering from substance use disorder. If you are a resident of California, a dual diagnosis treatment center in Redlands, CA, will allow you to address the physical and mental challenges that you are facing if you are struggling with substance use disorder. Another challenge that addicts face is potential relapses. Relapses make the person feel helpless. So how can one prevent replases? Let us find it out. 

What Causes Relapses?

Recent studies have shown that around 20 million people above the age of 12 are addicted to drugs and similar substances in the US. Another study shows that 9% of total adults in the US are enrolled in a rehab facility for one or the other substance use disorder.

A major aspect of enrolling in rehabilitation programs is preventing relapses. Facilities that offer dual diagnosis focus on the total transformation of the person’s mental and physical state, ensuring that the chances of relapses are low. But why do relapses occur? 

Firstly, we have to consider addiction as a disease of the brain. Addiction results in the disruption of brain cells and neurons that lead to the person being unable to control their own actions. These substances alter the entire brain chemistry, and if a person doesn’t get a dose of the substance at regular intervals, they experience severe withdrawal symptoms. 

This is why most people experience relapses if the psychological aspect of the addiction is not treated. Addiction to substances makes the person feel anxious and depressed and alters sleep and eating patterns. Mental and physical ailments co-occur when a person is suffering from addiction. This is why dual diagnosis treatment is essential. 

If you consider addiction a disease, you will be glad to know that there are numerous ways to prevent relapses. In fact, many rehabilitation facilities offer specialized programs for it. 

Tips To Prevent Relapses

Dual diagnosis is essential for preventing relapses. However, apart from this, your self-effort is also very crucial in ensuring that you successfully overcome the urge to fall back to the same old habits. Here is how you can help yourself: 

  1. Understand Your Triggers 

Being aware of what triggers your return to the substance will help you prevent relapses. Triggers can be internal, such as certain kinds of emotions, stress, anger, and low self-esteem, or external, such as certain people or situations. You need to make a list of these triggers and avoid them at all costs. Remember that you must overcome the feeling of guilt and shame associated with recovery and steer clear of people and situations for your own well-being.  

  1. Joining Support Groups 

When you join support groups, you are surrounded by a group of people who have or are undergoing similar experiences. These groups make you feel less lonely on the healing journey. Moreover, you also get to learn from the experiences of your fellow participants on how you can successfully overcome relapses. 

  1.  Practicing Grounding Technique 

The grounding technique, also known as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, is beneficial if you are suffering from stress and anxiety, which is a common outcome of practicing complete restraint from substances. Take a few deep breaths and: 

  • Notice five things that you can see around you. 
  • Notice four things that you can touch around you. 
  • Notice three things you can hear around you. 
  • Notice two things you can smell around you.
  • Notice one thing that you can taste. 

This practice helps calm the mind and allows the individual to divert attention from intense cravings. 

  1. Getting Help 

There is nothing wrong with getting help if you are unable to control your intense urges and cravings. If you have just come out of a residential rehabilitation program, you can opt for a partial hospitalization program, which will help you incorporate different relapse prevention techniques into your daily schedule and allow you to attain lifelong sobriety successfully. 

Conclusion

Maintaining lifelong sobriety is the ultimate test for every addict. This is the reason why it is important to focus on the psychological aspect of addiction along with the physical aspect. Treatments such as dual diagnosis are specifically designed to address these issues and help patients with substance use disorder maintain complete restraint from such substances. 

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