Relapse Prevention in Bowling Green, OH
When a person becomes sober and gives up drugs and alcohol, they are only beyond the first step to a lifetime of sobriety. After the initial phase of drug detox in Bowling Green, we prepare our patients for preventing relapse. Our program for relapse prevention in Bowling Green includes individual counseling, group therapy, and additional programs that are aimed at helping addicts stay drug-free.
Maintaining sobriety is a careful balance of caring for one's self and actively engaging in remaining drug-free through counseling and/or group therapy. Many relapse prevention programs also focus on helping a person recognize the symptoms associated with relapse. Often, there are several warning signs that a person may be headed toward relapse before a person ever resumes drug abuse.
In a relapse prevention plan, a person will usually prepare a list of addictive behaviors and warning signs that can indicate a relapse is near. Through participation in relapse prevention treatment, a person can ideally recognize these behaviors as quickly as possible and learn behaviors that can help them prevent a full relapse from occurring.
Relapse Statistics Among Addicts and Alcoholics
Addiction is defined as a chronic and relapsing disease. This means that despite a person's best efforts and intentions, they are susceptible to relapse. While there are many people who become sober and stay sober for a lifetime, there are others who may relapse one or more times before becoming sober for a lifetime. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 40 to 60 percent of people who become sober will relapse. These statistics are similar to other chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma.
Warning Signs and Symptoms of Relapse
Relapse is a chronic condition, meaning a person is never necessarily cured of the condition. They can immediately return to using and need to go through treatment for drug withdrawal in Bowling Green rehab center. As a result, a person must maintain his or her sobriety, just as they might take a medication to prevent a medical condition.
A person must participate in the programs they have found will help them stay sober. Examples could include 12-step programs, individual counseling, or programs that enhance a mind-body connection, such as yoga, meditation, or journaling. All of these programs require active engagement as a means to stay sober.
Stages of Relapse
Specialists for relapse prevention in Bowling Green have identified three primary stages of relapse: emotional, mental, and physical. By learning each stage of relapse, a person may ideally know if they are headed toward their own personal relapse.
Emotional relapse is a stage that occurs when a person isn't necessarily thinking of using drugs or alcohol again, but may not be taking as good of care of themselves. Examples of symptoms associated with emotional relapse include:
- Experiencing sudden mood swings
- Refraining from going to meetings, therapy, or outpatient rehabilitation groups
- Practicing poor self-care habits, such as refraining from eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep
- Starting to blame others for a person's personal misfortunes, being quick to get angry, or feeling defensive
Mental relapse is a stage where a person may start to contemplate returning to drug abuse. A person may engage in risky behaviors, such as going back to hanging out with old friends the person used to use drugs or alcohol with. Other behaviors a person may engage in include:
- Starting to plan a person's relapse
- Starting to think about returning to drug use and thinking of drug use as the "good old days"
- Continuing to not go to meetings or continuing a recovery program
In mental relapse, a person starts to give up on themselves as a sober individual and in their recovery.
Physical relapse is the third phase of relapse and occurs when a person returns to using drugs and/or alcohol. This is the only symptom, but an important one, of physical relapse.
Seek Our Program for Relapse Prevention in Bowling Green
It is important to remember that physical relapse doesn't mean that a person will return to a lifetime of drug and alcohol addiction in Bowling Green. Instead, this relapse is an opportunity to reach out to a relapse prevention program as a means to re-commit to their sobriety.
According to the University of Washington, a person should update their relapse prevention plan about every three months in the first year of their sobriety. After this time, the relapse prevention plan should be reviewed every six months for a two-year period.
Once a person practicing relapse prevention in Bowling Green has been sober for three years, they should continue to evaluate their relapse prevention plan on a yearly basis. Call us at (877) 804-1531.