The very first step of staying sober and clean after treatment and preventing alcohol and drug relapse is to realize the signs that the recovery journey is going off the rails. These signs can be subtler, contrary to what most people think. A vital aspect of the recovery treatment is to monitor the stressors and emotions that brought about addiction initially. Relapse can be categorized into emotional and physical relapse, but these are further broken down to show how recovery can turn into relapse if not discovered during the earlier stages.
Unhealthy Emotions
When one is incapable of balancing the negative emotions that arise during the recovery period, these feelings can accumulate to the point of no return. During this period, most people tend to shut these emotions off and bury their heads in the sand.
Compulsive Behavior
Since one is trying very hard to ignore the negative emotions in their mind, they will tend to find themselves susceptible to compulsive behaviors often. These compulsive behaviors often manifest themselves as over-exercising, over-eating, over-working, and other excess forms.
Internal Chaos
After the unhealthy negative emotions, coupled with compulsive behaviors, one might feel overwhelmed by triggers that can destroy the inner person of the individual. This will consequently distort thought patterns, and in turn, help accelerate the relapse path.
External Chaos
The mental and emotional relapse can stay for a while without being noticed as people convince themselves that the inner chaos isn’t much of a big deal. Since ignoring the internal chaos can only take so long, they accumulate and explode outside. These manifest themselves as outbursts at work, home, school, or social events.
Loss of Control
During this phase, you’re already aware of the external and personal indicators that the recovery stage is off the rails at the moment. Again, you feel awfully on edge, and like your life is about to go entirely out of control. At this moment, you’ll feel like your life is a sequence of unsolved issues, and this has been a significant catalyst for the physical relapse.
Obsessive Thinking
When you reach this stage, you’ll be thinking exclusively on the problems in your life, which can be emotional or physical. These negative thoughts will fill the addicted brain and give you the wrong ideas on using alcohol and drugs. The addictive mechanisms will return in full force, convincing you that the recovery process isn’t working, and you need to give up.
High-Risk Situations
When you’re about to dive into fully-fledged physical relapse, you’ll find yourself entertaining situations that you’re aware of are dangerous. This is, at times, in an attempt to push the recovery boundaries. For instance, you can try to re-join with old friends who used to abuse drugs or drink. You can again decide to hang around in areas you’re aware you can easily access the substance of your preference. These wrong moves are usually vindicated by the impaired logic of the mental relapse. This can easily lead to physical relapse.
To learn more about the relapse categories and stages, https://detoxofsouthflorida.com sheds more light on the issue, and even elaborates more on the techniques to use to prevent relapse.
