Between 40% to 60% of recovering addicts relapse within one year after receiving treatment for their addictions.
Why is this percentage so high?
People with addictions relapse for many reasons, but one vital way you can avoid this is by learning your relapse triggers.
If you’re struggling with an addiction that you can’t seem to overcome, you must learn the common triggers that lead to relapse. Here are five triggers that often cause recovering addicts to go back to drugs or alcohol.
1. People
One primary objective you should have when breaking an addiction is finding ways to prevent a relapse. Relapsing can occur at any point after you break your addiction.
For some people, it happens right away. For others, though, it might not happen for years. Learning the triggers that lead you back to drugs or alcohol is essential for staying clean.
The first trigger you should consider is people. If you want to stay clean, you will need to change the group of people you hang around. You won’t be able to hang out with the same people anymore.
You will have to avoid being around people who you used drugs with in your addiction. If you get out of rehab and go right back to the same people, your chances of staying clean are extremely low.
When you complete a rehab program, you’ll need to start a new life, and this new life involves a new group of people. You might feel lonely at first, as you’ll have to make new friends, but it will be worthwhile.
2. Places
While there are many other triggers for drug addicts, the second primary one is places. Where did you go to use drugs before you went to a rehab facility? Where did you go to buy drugs?
The places you purchased drugs from or used drugs at are the places you’ll have to avoid when you complete your program. If you go back to the same places, it will trigger feelings to use.
Going back to the same places also opens the door to drug use once again. You cannot expect to go to these places and not feel tempted to use drugs.
One of the key principles you’ll learn during your program is the importance of avoiding all the places that relate to your addiction. There’s no way to break an addiction while visiting the same places.
3. Feelings
To avoid triggers, you’ll also need to realize that feelings are a common one that leads to relapsing. While you can control the people you are around, and the places you go, controlling your feelings is slightly different.
Your feelings are in your head. Therefore, it’s much more challenging to avoid these than people or places. Your feelings, though, can cause you to want to go back to drugs.
One feeling you might have is cravings. Recovering drug addicts continue craving substances even after getting clean. The cravings can continue for many years, too.
Through drug addiction treatment, you’ll learn healthy ways to respond to these cravings. For example, when you crave drugs, you might learn to respond by calling a trusted love one instead of acting upon the feelings.
The second feeling you might experience is confusion. If you lived as an addict for many years, you might feel lost and confused as you try to live a normal life as a recovering addict.
Third, you might feel sadness or loneliness after breaking your addiction. When you get out of rehab and have to start all over making friends, you could very likely feel lonely.
4. Time
Another thing to consider with your life after rehab is the time you have on your hands. Extra time is a trigger to know about and plan for when getting clean.
When you have too much time and nothing to do, you’ll probably feel bored. The problem with boredom is that it can lead people to do the wrong things.
To avoid this problem, you’ll need to create a plan for your time. You’ll have to stay busy and avoid times when you could feel lonely and bored.
Finding a job is a great start. When you work a full-time job, you’ll have something to do at least five days a week. Working a full-time job can also leave you feeling tired, which is a good thing.
If you work hard and feel tired, you’ll be more likely to go home after work to get some sleep before you have to work again.
When you understand that time is a trigger, you can plan for this to avoid having too much free time on your hands.
5. Untreated Mental Illness
Finally, one thing that is a major trigger for recovering addicts is untreated mental illness. Mental illness often plays a role in addiction. It can lead people to start addictions and prevent them from breaking them.
If you have a mental illness, you must treat the issue. Treating mental illness is not always simple. Instead, it takes time and trial and error.
It might also involve seeking help for months or years. The important thing to know is that you must treat your mental illness if you want to avoid relapsing.
When you work through an addiction treatment program, this is an issue that you will learn about. The addiction center will help you determine if you have these problems, and they will help you treat them.
Treating them with counseling is one option, but some people also require daily medication to stabilize the chemical imbalances in their brains. In any case, treating the problem can help you avoid the trigger.
Which Relapse Triggers Do You Fear?
While many addicts repeat the cycle of getting clean and relapsing many times, help is available. Seeking help from a residential treatment center can help you learn your relapse triggers and much more.
Are you ready to learn more? Would you like to go through a program that works? If so, contact Malibu Detox and Residential Treatment Center today. We can help you and look forward to hearing from you!
