The journey from addiction to recovery is certainly challenging, often marked by setbacks. For many, these setbacks come in the form of relapse. It’s important to remember that while relapse can feel like a failure, it does not mark the end of your recovery journey; in fact for many, it’s part of it. Recovery is a lifelong commitment and relapse can serve as an opportunity to strengthen your recovery plan and emerge more resilient than ever.
What Defines a Relapse?
First, it’s important to understand the difference between a lapse and a relapse. A lapse, or slip-up, is a short-lived, often accidental return to substance use, usually as the result of inadequate coping strategies. A relapse, on the other hand, is a sustained return to heavy and frequent substance use that existed before your treatment or commitment to change.
This distinction is critical because it influences how you handle your behaviour post-incident. If you view any substance use as a complete relapse you can engage what is referred to as the Abstinence Violation Effect. This can lead to a negative mental cycle where you begin to see yourself as a failure, attributing your lapse to uncontrollable internal factors, and leading to a spiral of guilt and shame, which can induce more substance use.
It is much more beneficial if you maintain perspective, seeing a binge or a slip-up as a temporary lapse in judgement so you can minimise the lapse and quickly return to the recovery path. If you’ve had a lapse, it’s important to focus on elements in your control, such as understanding your personal triggers, enhancing coping strategies and bolstering your support networks.
Why Does Relapse Happen?
Relapse often occurs in response to a trigger or combination of triggers. Positive triggers such as encountering certain people, places, or situations associated with past substance use can trigger cravings. The same can happen if you encounter negative triggers, such as hardships or difficulties that in turn spark a longing for the substance.
Common Triggers for Relapse Include:
- Pain or Discomfort from Withdrawal Symptoms: The physical and psychological discomfort experienced during withdrawal can be intense and persistent, leading individuals to seek relief through substance use.
- Unpleasant Emotions: Feelings such as hunger, anger, loneliness, and fatigue can create a heightened sense of vulnerability and a desire to escape through substance use.
- Isolation: Spending too much time alone with one’s thoughts can lead to negative thinking patterns and increased cravings. Isolation can amplify feelings of loneliness and boredom, creating a void that you might feel tempted to fill with substance use.
- Social Situations: Interacting with people who are using drugs or alcohol or who were part of your past substance-using social circles can create significant pressure to relapse. The desire to fit in, or direct encouragement can be powerful motivators for returning to substance use.
- Environmental Cues: Spending time in places where substance use previously occurred, such as bars, clubs, or certain neighbourhoods, can trigger strong memories and cravings, which can be hard to resist.
- Big Life Events: Major life changes, such as losing a job, the death of a loved one, divorce, or other stressful events, can trigger a relapse. Even positive events like promotions, marriages, or births can create stress that leads to cravings.
- Overconfidence: Believing that you have complete control over your addiction, especially in risky situations, can be dangerous. This overconfidence can lead to underestimating the power of your triggers and placing yourself in high-risk situations unnecessarily.
- Unresolved Trauma: Past trauma or PTSD that has been inadequately addressed in therapy can resurface and trigger a desire to use substances as a coping mechanism.
- Financial Stress: Struggling with financial difficulties can lead to feelings of hopelessness and desperation, increasing the temptation to use substances as an escape.
Without an emergency plan, a strong support network, or enhanced coping skills, the temptation to use can become overwhelming. It’s important to remember that just as addiction involves learning mechanisms in the brain, so does recovery. It’s a learning process, and does not occur overnight. It’s about training your brain not to turn to substances in times of adversity or longing.
What to Do if You Relapse
Experiencing a relapse is emotionally painful, but you need to remember that all hope is not lost. If you feel you have relapsed, or relapse is imminent, here are some actionable steps you can take to turn things around:
- Reflect on Triggers: Understand the emotional, physical, situational or relational experiences that preceded, or are likely to proceed, your relapse. Reflecting on these can help you identify vulnerabilities and develop strategies to avoid or cope with similar situations in the future.
- Ask for Help: Seek support from family, friends or mental health professionals, and refocus your efforts on recovery. Consider finding a personalised rehabilitation program, intensifying therapy, or joining a peer support group so you can access immediate assistance and ongoing support.
- Boost Self-Care via a Daily Schedule: Prioritise your self-care, being mindful to maintain healthy social, emotional and physical habits. Get plenty of exercise, make healthy dietary choices, ensure sufficient sleep and resist the urge to isolate. A structured daily schedule helps maintain focus and reduces opportunities for relapse.
- Continue Changing Your Life: Recovery involves building a new, fulfilling life that is not centred around substance use. Focus on renewing old interests, developing new ones, changing negative thinking patterns and creating new routines and friendships.
- Develop a Relapse Prevention Plan: Keep a detailed relapse prevention plan handy if you feel yourself slipping. This plan should specify your triggers, list your coping skills and include contact information for immediate support.
- Forgive Yourself: Changing habits of any kind takes time, so viewing success and failure as all-or-nothing is counterproductive. Setbacks are a normal part of addiction recovery. Forgiving yourself for slipping up can enhance future performance and help you get back on track.
- Reflect on Triggers: Understand the emotional, physical, situational or relational experiences that preceded, or are likely to proceed, your relapse. Reflecting on these can help you identify vulnerabilities and develop strategies to avoid or cope with similar situations in the future.
Continue Your Recovery Journey with Hope in Health
If you are struggling with relapse and need help getting back on track, reach out to our team today. At Hope in Health we tailor our addiction rehabilitation programs to you, working alongside you to ensure you get the support you need. Combining holistic and integrated rehabilitation treatment practices, we provide life-changing treatment for alcohol and substance addiction to build strength and resiliency strategies that lead to genuine healing.
With Hope in Health, your recovery journey doesn’t end when you leave our centre. We offer a no-cost transitional support guarantee, providing intuitive continued support to help you develop sustained habits as you transition back to everyday environments, friends and communities. Remember, relapse is not the end. It’s a part of your journey to a healthier, happier life.
Hope in Health
Phone: 1300 445 671
Email: enquiries@hopeinhealth.com.au
Website: www.hopeinhealth.com.au
Warriors Advocacy
Phone: (02) 8317 5444
Email: admin@warriorsadvocacy.com.au
Website: www.warriorsadvocacy.com.au
