Making the decision to go to rehab is not an easy one for anyone. It’s not the going to rehab part that’s difficult, but admitting to yourself that you have a problem. None of us wants to admit that we are addicted to drugs or alcohol or whatever else. But after you have managed to do that, you’re only quarter of the way there. The second quarter is actually admitting yourself to a rehab.
The third quarter is to go through the program and the fourth quarter might be even harder than admitting your problem – preventing relapse. How to make sure you will stay clean of whatever you were in the rehab for? Here’s a Relapse Prevention Worksheet to help guide you on the way to staying clean.
People are different, so obviously there’s often no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are several things to keep in mind. As a main thing – remember that addiction is a chronic illness. And as with any chronic illness it must be treated long-term.
Long-term ongoing treatment and support is needed
After the rehab you will still need to stick with the program for a months and you might need to attend support group meetings more than once a week.
Know yourself, know your triggers
Do you know what might set you off again? Things that might give you cravings for your substance of choice? These triggers are different for everyone and everyone dealing with an addiction needs to be aware of theirs. Triggers can be people, triggers can be places, emotions, even certain weather or time of year. Or maybe even certain foods. After you have managed to identify your triggers, try to avoid them. But obviously it’s not possible to avoid them all the time, so you need to learn to cope with them.
Make changes in your life
Turning your life around totally might not be necessary in general, but changing your habits, changing your life, developing new healthier habits might make it easier to prevent a relapse.
Find support
Surround yourself with people who understand what you are going through and who instead of being triggers (e.g. friends who use drugs and/or alcohol) for a relapse can actually be helpful on your journey.
Additionally, if you sometimes feel like you need more help, you can go back to the rehab facility for a quick refresher.
When to comes to stress in your life, a potential trigger for a relapse – keep in mind that often stress can’t be avoided. But what can be done is changing how you look at it. Studies have shown found that healthy stress usually exists together unhealthy stress. And while it’s not always easy, it’s possible to turn unhealthy stress into a healthy one – by seeing stressful situations as a challenge and opportunity for growth. For example.
To read more on topics like this, check out the health category.
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