Tips and Strategies for Preventing Relapse

Recovering from an alcohol or drug addiction is one of the most challenging things you’ll ever do.

It involves taking one day at a time, celebrating the small wins, and controlling your triggers before they control you.

While preventing relapse might be challenging, you have many different tools and strategies at your disposal.

Use some of those in this article below, and you might be better positioned to maintain your sobriety.

Enter An Addiction Program

You might think you can get sober alone and stop yourself from relapsing, but getting help for substance abuse is one of the most loving things you can do for yourself. Addiction centers offer several programs to help their patients enter the road of recovery and subsequently stay on it.

You might start by entering an intensive outpatient program before transitioning to an outpatient treatment program. These programs provide you access to therapy, counseling, and relapse prevention techniques. You might then benefit from sober living homes, relapse prevention support groups like 12-step meetings, and personalized maintenance plans.

Identify Your Triggers

Identifying what makes you want to use drugs or alcohol might put you in a much stronger position to stay on the road to recovery.

When you know what makes you want to drink or use drugs, you can actively avoid those triggers until you’re much stronger. For many people, triggers can be everyday things like boredom and stress. However, they can also be relationships, specific places, and money problems.

Using the HALT Acronym

As specific feelings like hunger, anger, loneliness, and fatigue can make people use drugs or alcohol, recovering addicts are often encouraged to use the HALT acronym.

Anytime you feel like using, you can ask yourself whether you’re hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT) and address any of those four factors. Often, this is enough to drive away the urge to use.

Look After Yourself

Many people with addiction problems don’t look after themselves. They often don’t maintain a balanced diet, sleep well, or exercise often. However, being on a new sobriety journey allows you to turn that around. You can retrain your mind and body to be a much happier, healthier version free from the grasp of drugs.

While it can be challenging to change old habits, it’s entirely possible. Start by establishing a new, healthy sleep structure by going to bed at the same time each night and waking at the same time each morning. With quality sleep under your belt, you can start forming healthier eating habits and prioritize exercise like walking, cycling, or swimming at least a few times per week.

Create a Support Network

Recovering from addiction can be a team effort. Many people struggle to get clean and stay clean alone. As a result, you shouldn’t underestimate the value of a support network. Your support network might consist of professionals within an addiction center, friends, and family members.

Whenever you feel at risk of relapse, or even if you just want to talk through issues, you can contact someone within your support network.

Preventing relapse can be vital for your future health and well-being. If you’re currently on your recovery journey, don’t underestimate the importance of taking these actions above. You might then be in a much stronger position to maintain your sobriety now and into the future.