Relapse Prevention in Eagle Pass, TX
Relapse prevention in Eagle Pass plays an integral role in the recovery process from drug or alcohol addiction. Programs for relapse prevention can help reduce the risk of the person returning to a pattern of substance abuse.
What is Relapse Prevention?
Programs for relapse prevention are intended to help each recovering person develop their own unique strategy for reducing the risk of returning into a pattern of self-destructive behavior after leaving rehab.
Most people assume that treating a person caught in the grip of drug or alcohol addiction involves only making it through the detox process. However, medical detox in Eagle Pass only removes the effects of the substance from the body.
Detox does nothing to address the psychological factors behind the person's substance abuse problem. Addiction specialists in drug treatment centers help each recovering person identify their individual addiction triggers and recognize early warning signs of relapse.
Relapse Statistics Amongst Addicts and Alcoholics
According to statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 40 to 60 percent of recovering addicts relapse at least once during their recovery.
It's common for people to believe that drug rehab programs have failed if a person returns to habitual substance use after a period of recovery. In reality, addiction is a chronic relapsing disease that is similar to other chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma.
People with other types of chronic diseases are taught to seek help and get treatment if their symptoms recur. The same principle is true of recovering addicts.
The role of relapse prevention in Eagle Pass is to provide people in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction with the strategies and tools needed to manage their condition using healthy methods and coping skills learned in rehab.
Stages of Relapse
Most people assume that relapse is an isolated event. However, there are a number of stages a person goes through before the actual act of taking a drink or using again. The stages of relapse are:
Emotional Relapse
During the early stages of emotional relapse the person may still be motivated to stay sober and might not even be thinking about relapsing. However, their emotions and behaviors could potentially be setting them up for a relapse in future. Common early warning signs to watch for include:
- Poor eating habits
- Bad sleeping habits
- Isolation from others
- Bottling up emotions
- Not managing stress levels in healthy ways
- Not attending meetings
- Not asking for help
Programs for relapse prevention in Eagle Pass teach recovering people to recognize symptoms of emotional relapse. When signs are identified, the person is encouraged to put newly-learned skills from relapse prevention programs into effect to prevent the symptoms progressing to later stages.
Mental Relapse
If the early warning signs of emotional relapse are ignored or not acted on, the natural consequence is to transition into mental relapse. A part of the person's mind may still be focused on staying sober, but the other part might begin thinking about relapsing. Warning signs include:
- Craving drugs or alcohol
- Glamorizing past substance use
- Minimizing the consequences of use
- Feeling as though the addiction is now under control and ‘just one' use won't hurt
- Thinking about people or places associated with past use
- Planning a relapse around other people to avoid getting caught
Recovering people in drug rehab centers spend time developing their own unique relapse prevention programs designed to deal with their individual addiction triggers. They are taught to discover their own effective strategies designed to stop the relapse process before the actual event of using again. The person is also taught to take some time to stop and consider the consequences of using ‘just one time' and what it would mean to the progress they've already made.
Another tactic to stop the mental relapse stage is to call someone and ask for support to get through the urges. It might be a sponsor from a group support meeting, a friend or family member, but the point is to call someone and ask them to talk you through the situation. Our programs for dual diagnosis treatment in Eagle Pass aims to treat these mental disorders that fuel addiction.
Controlling impulsive behavior when cravings are strong and thoughts turn to using again can be very challenging, but the risk can be reduced with the right relapse prevention programs in place.
Physical Relapse
When early warning signs of a potential relapse are ignored, some people give into the temptation to act on their urges. This leads them into physical relapse.
In some cases, recovering people may really just use once, realize their mistake, and begin the recovery process again with renewed determination. Unfortunately, others sink back into a cycle of addictive substance abuse and find it more difficult to break free from the grip next time they seek treatment. Call us now at (877) 804-1531.