Four Relapse Triggers You Might Not Know About

Relapse is unfortunately common for people working on recovering from alcohol or drug addiction. About 40 to 60 percent of people will relapse at some point, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, with that number falling to 15 percent after people hit five years of sobriety.

Most recovering addicts are aware of the biggest triggers for relapse—stress and anxiety. However, there are some other lesser-known factors you should be aware of, as they could result in you returning to substance abuse.

Here is some information from our halfway house in Phoenix, AZ about some of the relapse triggers you might not be aware of.

Overconfidence

Self-confidence is a healthy part of recovery—we’re not saying you shouldn’t be confident in your ability to beat your addiction. However, there is such a thing as what many recovery specialists refer to as “shallow bravado” that can cause you to relapse. This is typically characterized by people who just assume they’re cured, and no longer need to attend group or individual meetings or therapy sessions. There should always be a sense of urgency associated with the recovery process, and keeping up with meetings or other recovery steps even when you have been sober for a while will help you continue to stay sober and avoid a relapse in the future.

Burnout

It is common for people who are working on recovering from substance addiction to overextend themselves by sponsoring too many other people. The common line of thinking for these people is that by working hard to keep others sober, they’ll keep themselves sober in the process. Unfortunately, this can quickly lead to you burning yourself out, and the more overextended or burnt out a person feels, the more likely it is they will relapse. It’s great to sponsor another person, but be sure you’re leaving plenty of time for you to take care of yourself.

Outdated recovery plans

It’s possible that after a certain amount of time has passed, some of your recovery tools and plans will no longer work as they initially did. They might not give you the same comfort or satisfaction as they did when you got started. Keep in mind that recovery is a long-term process, not a single event, so you may need to update your plans and tweak certain processes to make sure you’re always getting the most out of them.

Lack of sleep

Numerous studies indicate that people who seek treatment for insomnia have a lower chance of relapse than people who suffer from insomnia and do not seek treatment. The early recovery phase will likely include much more sleep disturbance than the average person experiences. For this reason, you should make getting plenty of high-quality sleep a priority in your recovery.

For more information about how you can lessen your chance of a relapse and avoid some of the most common relapse triggers, we encourage you to contact our halfway house in Phoenix, AZ as soon as possible.

Categorised in: Halfway House

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