Top 3 reasons people relapse back to addiction

The factors associated with relapse are of utmost concern in the field of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Because of this, the focus of federal and state organizations that help fund rehab centers has turned to “evidence-based treatment.” This means treatment programs that have been proven effective by successful graduates.

With the number of people in the US who need rehab (23.5 million in 2009 alone), the rise in prescription drug abuse, and the latest scourge of synthetic drugs, the need for positive results in drug rehab becomes increasingly urgent.

What is relapse?

The dictionary defines relapse in three ways:

1. To fall or slide back into a former state.
2. To regress after partial recovery from an illness.
3. To slip back into bad ways; backslide.

Let’s look into this further. Drug rehabilitation centers want to help a person stop taking a drug – but also stop feeling the need to take drugs again. This means that we not only have to detox a person to get them off the drug, but the best type of drug rehab would be one that also addresses the reason the person started to take the drug. This would be the best way to prevent drug relapse.

Relapse Reasons

1. Unrealistic expectations

A person who has gone through a rehab program justifiably expects a better life when they complete the program. However, a better life doesn’t just “happen” – especially after you have broken your ties with the people who might normally help you. A former addict has to work to reestablish those ties and regain the trust of those who they may have betrayed while addicted. This is hard work.

Example: A former opiate addict gets clean and sober. He feels great, like he can conquer the world. He leaves rehab, where everyone has been supportive and helpful. He assumes that now he is off heroin, everything will be fine. But it’s not. He still needs to fix his broken relationships, or find a new job. Life is tough. Instead of using the tools he learned in rehab, or utilizing the rehab facility as a basis for support, he feels ashamed of his failures and turns back to drugs to “deal” with the situation. This would constitute an unrealistic expectation of life after rehab. 

2. Lying

Rehab is hard work. Getting completely clean and sober – then addressing the problems that made a person turn to drugs or alcohol can be something a person is unwilling to do. If they lie throughout their rehab program and don’t find the true reason behind their addiction, they will not be getting everything they can out of it.

Example: An alcoholic gets sober. She blames her alcoholism on her ex-husband or some other easy target. She in turn does not delve deep and discover that she been suffering from depression since high school, or she doesn’t know how to talk to people without alcohol, or she could never really stably hold a job. When she leaves rehab, these problems persist and she relapses. 

3. Taking Recovery for Granted

Effective drug rehabilitation means that one has not only gotten off drugs, but has isolated the root causes behind their addiction, and has learned how to deal with life’s problems without resorting to drug use. When life is going better after rehab, a former addict or alcoholic may start thinking that they exaggerated their condition in the first place. They may decide that one more drink, or pill, or snort – for old time’s sake – won’t hurt them. They may take the drug again and go back down the rabbit hole of addiction. One thing that anyone considering rehab needs to understand is that drugs are both physically and mentally addictive. You may be much better mentally, but the physical addiction can still rear up and put you right back where you started: addicted.

Solutions

The need for effective rehabilitation is now more evident than ever. At Best Drug Rehabilitation, the overall approach is holistic. This means drug-free detoxification; education in life skills; faith-based programs in a multi-denominational setting; counseling to get to the heart of the problem; as well as other integrated methodologies. Before completion of the program, a thorough relapse prevention plan is detailed by addiction specialists – a plan which the recovering addict has considerable input in, since he or she would have first-hand knowledge of their specific potential relapse triggers. Recovery is a life-long goal, and holistic rehabilitation will help the former addict achieve this.

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Prescription Drug Abuse