How to Avoid Relapse: Maintaining Sobriety After Rehab

When you are at the beginning of sobriety, the journey can feel overwhelming. If you have been struggling for a long time, breaking the pattern and getting help can be hard. Getting help for substance use is a testament to the inner strength that exists inside you. Recovery and managing your health are rewarding and help to give you purpose. The process of recovery continues even after you leave treatment. Understanding the best ways to maintain your sobriety as you adjust back into day-to-day life will help you avoid relapse. West Coast Recovery Centers encourages all of our clients to think about their aftercare and plan to enter into their daily lives again.

Relapse is not something to be ashamed of. Sometimes, relapse can be a part of the journey as you learn to adjust and work through your new focus on your mental and physical health. Understanding what can cause relapse will help you maintain your progress after you leave rehab. Setting a plan with your care providers is integral to having a successful transition back into your day-to-day. If you approach your recovery with care and understanding, you will better know how to avoid relapse. 

What Is Relapse?

Relapse is when someone falls back into old patterns of alcohol or other substance use. It is a multi-step process that starts far before the actual use of the substance. First, the process of relapse begins with emotional relapse. This is when you are struggling with feelings surrounding relapse, but don't want to admit that you feel an urge to use. Oftentimes, people experiencing emotional relapse may start to withdraw and isolate, and stop maintaining the treatment that keeps them healthy. As you isolate and pull away, you get closer to the next stage of relapse, known as mental relapse. 

Mental relapse is when you are weighing your desire to use against your desire to stay sober. Signs of mental relapse include substance cravings, lying, trying to find a way to safely use while maintaining control, or planning to relapse. 

The final step of relapse is actual physical relapse. While it can be a one-time thing, physical relapse can be dangerous. Falling into substance use when you are stressed may lead to active addiction. It is important to take note of the steps before the actual relapse. By working to alleviate these steps, you can get help and avoid relapse. Furthermore, maintaining your treatment plan even after you leave rehab is important in avoiding physical relapses.

Common Strategies to Avoid Relapse

There are many ways to avoid relapse. The most effective way to maintain control over your sobriety is to stay in treatment even after you leave rehab. Maintaining care will give you resources to turn to and things to fall back on when you are struggling with your feelings or cravings. Staying in treatment may look different for every person. Some people may need to go to therapy more often than others. Others may want to go to support groups. It is also possible that you may need medication to help manage symptoms of mental health issues or to manage cravings. Utilizing the care that is best for you is important in staying sober.

Avoiding relapse also means having a good support team. Having skills and people to fall back on when these times happen is important to handle them as they happen. Life may always have stressors, but if you know what to do and where to turn, you will be able to stay healthy. Having a good support system means that people will be able to encourage you to stay on the path of recovery.

Being able to use coping skills will also encourage you to manage your stressors as they appear. If you are honest with yourself, your loved ones, and your care team, you will be able to stay on the path of recovery. Getting sober is both difficult and rewarding, which is why it is important to maintain your progress after treatment.

Maintaining After Treatment

Getting sober is the difficult first step of a lifelong journey. When you struggle with substance use, you may be used to a certain routine or life. Getting sober changes that and gives you a new focus in life. Maintaining your sobriety can be work, but it is important. When you are in treatment, you can plan for the period after you leave. West Coast Recovery Centers offers aftercare planning for the time to move on from more intensive inpatient care. 

When you leave treatment, you integrate back into your day-to-day life. This means being exposed to similar triggers or people that you were around when you were using substances. Having a plan of what to do and how to manage these situations will set you up for success. Aftercare planning will give you the resources you need and the tools and techniques to fall back on when you are struggling. 

Recovery is a difficult process for some people. If you have struggled with substances for a long time, it may be difficult to find a new way of living. Focusing on your health and your sobriety will allow you to live a happier and healthier life. Once you leave rehab, you will have to learn how to live a healthy and sober life back in your day-to-day. The best way to do this is to maintain your aftercare and work constantly to avoid relapse. You may experience stress and struggles, but good planning and access to resources will give you what you need to stay healthy. To learn more, call West Coast Recovery Centers at (760) 492-6509.