Understanding the signs and management skills of relapse will give you the zeal to forge a head with the recovery process and not to lose focus when triggers strikes
The problems of drug addiction recovery are greatly hindered with most people’s inabilities to remain consistent to the treatment. When one is addicted to any drug, they become slaves to the drug they are addicted to. Until such people acknowledge that they have a problem that is beyond them and accept that they are weak and need help, any kind of treatment offered may not last as they are likely to keep relapsing from time to time. It is therefore necessary that addicts own to the recovery process by first understanding the signs and management skills of relapse. We may not know what you are going through with your addiction, but as professional we want to assure you that you are not alone in this struggle. In her over two decades of administering treatment to drug users, doctor Dalal Akoury has established that relapse is one of the biggest draw back in the successful treatment of any kind of addiction recovery. Therefore in our quest to understanding the signs and management skills of relapse doctor Akoury is going to share with us something about mental relapse, the techniques of dealing with mental urges and the physical relapse. This is one discussion that you don’t want to miss and I urge you to stay on the link to get very productive information about relapse as an impediment of drug addiction recovery.
The push and pool of mental relapse going on in your mind – the mind can sometimes be in a dilemma with section of the mind fighting to stop drug use while the other is comfortable with the continued abuse. This push and pool is a common occurrence in the mind of most drug users and unless you know the signs of mental relapse well, you may not be successful in your recovery program. Therefore let us start by identifying some of the signs of mental relapse which may include the following:
- Engaging your mind in thinking about people, places, and things you used with
- Glamorizing your past substance abuse
- Telling lies and cheating all the time
- Hanging out with old friends using drugs
- Fantasizing about drug use
- Thinking about relapsing
- Planning your relapse around other people’s schedules
These are just a few of the indicators and when you notice any , then action needs to be taken immediately and remember that it will be difficult to make the right choices as the pull of addiction gets stronger says doctor Akoury.
The way the mind understand things can be one of your biggest problem in controlling your addiction problem. If you have been in the recovery program and you are almost succeeding a lot of temptations will be knocking hard and harder to take you back. This is the point when you must be on the lookout on the techniques for dealing with mental urges. With all the progress you have made, any urge to take just one drink may look harmless, but you must learn to say no. it will not be easy and lots of disappointments will be there but desire to remain focus even if you are alone where your support team is not watching.
Remember that a common mental urge is that you can get away with using that drug, because no one will know if you relapse. May be the surrounding is conducive because your spouse who has been helping you keep distance is away for the weekend, or you’re away on a trip. These moments can be very bad for you because that’s when your addiction will try to convince you that you don’t have a big problem, and that you’re really doing your recovery to please your spouse or your work. Remain focus that urge is fake. At this time remind yourself of the negative consequences you’ve already suffered, and the potential consequences that lie around the corner if you relapse again. If you could control your use, you would have done it by now.
Tell someone that you’re having urges to use – Call a friend, a support, or someone in recovery. Share with them what you’re going through. The magic of sharing is that the minute you start to talk about what you’re thinking and feeling, your urges begin to disappear. They don’t seem quite as big and you don’t feel as alone.
Distract yourself – When you think about drugs, try to occupy yourself with something to distract you from that feeling. You could call a friend, go to a meeting, get up and go for a walk. Do something productive; remember that if you just sit there with your urge and don’t do anything, you’re giving your mental relapse room to grow.
Wait for 30 minutes – Most urges usually last for less than 15 to 30 minutes. When you’re in an urge, it feels like an eternity. But if you can keep yourself busy and do other things you’re supposed to do, it’ll quickly be gone.
Do your recovery one day at a time – Don’t think about whether you can stay abstinent forever. That’s a paralyzing thought. It’s overwhelming even for people who’ve been in recovery for a long time. One day at a time, means you should match your goals to your emotional strength. When you feel strong and you’re motivated to not use, then tell yourself that you won’t use for the next week or the next month. But when you’re struggling and having lots of urges, and those times will happen often, tell yourself that you won’t use for today or for the next 30 minutes. Do your recovery in bite-sized chunks and don’t sabotage yourself by thinking too far ahead.
Make relaxation part of your recovery – Relaxation is an important part of relapse prevention, because when you’re tense you tend to do what’s familiar and wrong, instead of what’s new and right. When you’re tense you tend to repeat the same mistakes you made before. When you’re relaxed you are more open to change.
Once you start thinking about relapse, if you don’t use some of the techniques mentioned above, it doesn’t take long to go from there to physical relapse which will include driving to the liquor store or to your dealer for supply. If it were to get to this point, it will be very hard to stop the process of relapse. That’s not where you should focus your efforts in recovery. That’s achieving abstinence through brute force. But it is not recovery. If you recognize the early warning signs of relapse, and understand the symptoms of post-acute withdrawal, you’ll be able to catch yourself before it’s too late. Dear reader it is not to be done all by yourself, seek for help by scheduling for an appointment with doctor Akoury today.
