Alcohol And Drug Treatment And Relapse Prevention in Huntsville
Alcohol and drug abuse and addiction are chronic conditions. Having said that, they can negatively impact your brain by essentially rewriting how it processes drugs and alcohol and responds to stressful circumstances in one's life.
To this end, even after you have ceased using the mind-altering and intoxicating substances that your brain was dependent on, you might still experience the effects of substance abuse.
Particularly, since drug addiction is chronic, there is no one size fits all cure for it. However, one can still treat and manage the condition to make sure that it does not happen again. This is where drug and alcohol treatment and relapse prevention come into play.
Further, you will need a commitment in the long term to recover fully. This means that you need to continue searching out insight and support into how to manage triggers and drug and alcohol cravings when faced with challenging situations throughout your life.
Understanding Drug Rehabilitation And Relapse Prevention
Drug rehabilitation and relapse prevention are equally critical. Invalidating the gains you make throughout your recovery journey - even if you have already finished rehab - for instance, might cause you to relapse.
Research indicates that you just as likely to relapse back to drug and alcohol abuse and addiction as people who have diabetes can relapse back to their old symptoms.
In addition, anywhere between 40% and 60% of all people who are in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse relapse even after they have finished a Huntsville, Alabama treatment program successfully.
Likewise, you may relapse after an extended period of abstinence - which could prove potentially dangerous. This is because individuals who start using drugs again after a period of abstinence may already have lost their level of tolerance to their preferred drug. As such, they would have a higher risk of overdose - even though this would largely depend on the drug of choice.
While considering the need for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and relapse prevention, however, it is important to not take these statistics in a negative light - or even to mean that you are going to relapse to your previous patterns of abuse.
In much the same way that diabetics can make positive changes in their lifestyle to make sure that they never experience a relapse of their previous symptoms, you can also change your life - if only to make sure that you continue living free of the negative effects of alcohol and drug abuse and addiction.
At this stage, therefore, you might need drug and alcohol rehab and relapse prevention strategies - which are essential techniques to help you prevent a relapse.
How To Prevent Relapse
Discovering how to live a lifestyle of sobriety and health is similar to learn how to ride a bike. During the early stages, the going might seem tough, and you may even need help from a team of specialists and drug and alcohol addiction rehab experts to help you continue moving forward.
Over time, this process might start getting a bit easier. Likewise, your level of confidence may start rising only for you to find yourself relapsing back to your previous habits.
This means that you require a workable relapse prevention plan to help you learn how to identify and heed all the telltale signs that a relapse is imminent. In a lot of instances, drug treatment and relapse prevention programs in Huntsville will also come with built in assistance and education that you can count on to take control over your life - particularly during the crucial moments before you revert back and undo all the forward progress you have been making in recovery.
How Common Is Alcohol And Drug Relapse
Research indicates that 70 to 90 percent of the individuals who try to conquer drug addiction end up reverting back at least once. If you are one of these people, you may have left a treatment center in Huntsville, Alabama with the intention of sustaining your sobriety permanently - even as you continue attempting to keep your mental health on par.
However, eventually, you may encounter tempting circumstances where you could potentially start using again. When this happens, you may find that you are plunging back into your old lifestyle - spending more time with the individuals you used to abuse alcohol and drugs with, neglecting your responsibilities and duties, and doing everything possible to avoid friends and family.
In many instances, however, relapse is brought on by a variety of typical reasons. The main among these would be caused by the changes that drugs and alcohol cause to the chemistry of your brain.
Using drugs can also change the levels of important chemicals in your brain. Meaning, that it may raise some chemicals while lowering the levels of others. Even when you attain a lifestyle of abstinence, these changes may persist.
Specialists indicate that the brain function among alcoholics and those who abuse hard drugs and alcohol like cocaine might not return to normal 12 months or longer after they stop abusing these substances.
In addition, these brain changes negatively impact the portions that manage impulse control and reward. With an altered brain, therefore, you may have become accustomed to seeking pleasure while avoiding the consequences of your actions.
Importance Of Drug And Alcohol Rehabilitation And Relapse Prevention in Huntsville
Even in recovery, you might have some thought patterns that eat away at your self-esteem and confidence. For instance, you may start thinking that:
- Individuals liked you more when you were drunk or high
- You are damaged already, so there is no need to stop abusing alcohol and drugs
- You can still drink alcohol since you were only addicted to drugs
- You will never succeed in recovery and abstinence so you should continue using
Through a proper drug rehabilitation and relapse prevention program, you will be taught to start thinking more positive thoughts. You will also have the chance discover how to identify the process, how it works, and how to avoid it before it occurs.
Examples of the typical warning signs that indicate you may be headed for relapse may include:
- Failing to deal with emotions - both good and bad - head on
- Isolating yourself from friends and loved ones
- Neglecting physical and mental self-care
- Ignoring recovery goals
- Inability to find joy in the activities that you usually enjoy
- Not feeling up to the things you normally participate in
- Suppressing emotions
Overall, your Huntsville, Alabama drug treatment and relapse prevention program should offer a strategy through which you can stop yourself from beginning to use again - mainly when you find yourself in high-risk situations. You will also learn how to apply healthier coping mechanisms to prevent yourself from your old lifestyle of alcohol and drugs.
