Think You’re Going to Relapse? Here’s What to Do

Did you know that 50-90% of people who receive some form of treatment, according to drug and alcohol rehab statistics, go on to relapse?

Sounds discouraging? I agree.

Relapse after all is a stage far too many people in recovery slip through – the high statistics are not surprising at all. But you don’t have to become another statistic. In fact, there are proven, reliable, and straight forward strategies you can use to ensure you don’t fall off the wagon.

Although it’s true that you have a lot of work cut out in front of you, this doesn’t mean that you can’t successfully beat out the relapse statistics.

If you’re worried you might fall victim to relapse, you just have to do a few key things to set yourself on the road to successful recovery.

Start with an inpatient treatment at an inpatient rehab facility

First things first, if you think you might end up relapsing – it’s time you checked yourself into an inpatient treatment at an inpatient rehab facility. Inpatient treatment is without a doubt the best option for those struggling with relapse – it has successfully kept people from relapsing so there’s no reason why it can’t do the same for you.

With that said, however, maybe inpatient rehab won’t work for you – it’s not for everyone.

Although it may not “cure” your addiction, it’s still something you need because what it will do is set you back on the straight and narrow. In other words, it’ll create the right foundation for you by showing you the tools you need to successfully beat your addiction – you’ll need these tools for the rest of your journey.

Address your issues with complacency

What if I told you that your thoughts of relapse are directly correlated to your issues with complacency? Would you believe it or brush it off?

Your reaction to the question above will provide you with a clear indicator of where you stand on the path to recovery. This is the case because if you’re battling with relapse – you’re suffering from issues with complacency. In other words, you’re not taking the pursuit of personal growth seriously.

Those who aren’t actively engaging in the process of personal growth are suffering from complacency issues, meaning they’re more likely to relapse. If you’re not taking positive action to better yourself each and every day, you are by default slipping closer to relapse – there’s no middle territory for you to call home. Either you’re moving towards personal growth or you’re slipping towards relapse.

Pick complacency or pick personal growth – make a decision

There’s only two roads before you – one is full of personal growth and the other road is characterized with complacency and will end with relapse. You can only take one road.

Which one are you going to pick?

You must make the decision now and commit to it.

If you cannot look yourself in the eye and state with conviction that you’re going to follow the road of personal growth – you must actively work to address your complacency issues.

How to overcome complacency and the possibility for relapse

There’s one tried and trued method to overcoming complacency and the possibility for relapse – it involves you taking advice from everyone around you, from your sponsor to your therapist to your counselor to your mentor. You must seek out these individuals and ask them what part(s) of your life you should be aiming to improve.

In other words, the road to overcoming complacency lies in your ability to embrace humility and ask those around you for help. More importantly, once you’ve asked for help – you must follow through and act on the advice you receive.

Avoid becoming just another complacent addict who floats through the realms of sobriety – you’re not going to magically heal yourself nor is overcoming addiction going to be a passive experience for you.

You must actively seek help, form new habits, and take action if you are to beat complacency and overcome the possibility for relapse. It’s going to take hard work and humility. Lots of it.

If you can’t find the courage within to seek advice from those around you, it’s likely that you’re headed towards relapse. The only thing you need to do to stay sober is to show humility by asking for advice and then actually follow it. That’s all it takes to overcoming the possibility for relapse.

The trick, however, isn’t in knowing this information – the trick is in acting on this information. You have to put this tip into action if you are to successfully get clean and stay clean.

Resisting the temptations once and for all

Once you’ve began seeking and implementing the advice of others, you’ll notice that the path of recovery gets easier to bear than ever before. You’ll notice yourself changing for the better and for the first time you notice yourself liking the person you see in the mirror.

As good as this stage feels, it doesn’t mean that your job is done. For beating complacency and the possibly for relapse is an everyday battle.

Each day you will be faced with temptations from all different facets of life. These temptations will aim to suck you back into your addiction and you must actively and consciously resist the temptation to do so. With every temptation you resist, you grow that much stronger and the easier the process becomes.

To help you resist temptation, you should continue seeking advice and help in the form of support groups such as AA and NA meetings.

In addition to these support groups, you should also make it a conscious habit to eliminate the various triggers and temptations around you. Make smarter decisions and you’ll notice majority of the temptations escaping your world.

Although you can eliminate majority of the triggers for relapse with smarter decisions – you won’t be able to eliminate the triggers and temptations altogether. No matter what you do or where you go, some form of temptation will always be around you. Therefore, you need to learn how to face the triggers and temptations head on if you are to resist the threat of relapse.

How do you do that?

You do that by embracing personal growth and making it a central component of your life.

Look at all the different areas of your life, from professional to health to financial to emotional and figure out how you can go about improving these areas. Pick one to start – you can get help identifying the one area you need to be improving by seeking the advice of your sponsor, therapist, or mentor.

Ask these individuals what area of your life requires the greatest need for improvement. Then, do what they say and follow their suggestions. By constantly strengthening and improving the foundation of your life, you’ll notice yourself becoming better and better with each passing day.

The better you become, the less likely you are to slip back into your old ways.

In other words, once you trade complacency for personal growth, you will have successfully shifted the odds of staying clean in your favor and will have successfully avoided the allure of relapse.

Think You’re Going to Relapse? Here’s What to Do