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Relapse Prevention and the Five Rules of Recovery

//Relapse Prevention and the Five Rules of Recovery

But if you’re aware of them, you won’t get caught off guard, and you will have a chance to prepare yourself. If you’re not prepared, small triggers can quickly turn into strong cravings. Recovery from addiction starts with the 3 Rs – Recognizing your addiction, Reaching out for help, and Rebuilding your life. Through these steps, you can learn to cope and become a healthier and happier version of yourself.

Addiction and Recovery

1) Clients often want to put their addiction behind them and forget that they ever had an addiction. They feel they have lost part of their life to addiction and don’t want to spend the rest of their life focused on recovery. Dealing with post-acute withdrawal is one of the tasks of the abstinence stage 1. Post-acute withdrawal begins shortly after the acute phase of withdrawal and is a common cause of relapse 17. Unlike acute withdrawal, which has mostly physical symptoms, post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) has mostly psychological and emotional symptoms.

Change your life so that it’s easier to not use.

But they can be stressful issues, and, if tackled too soon, clients may not have the necessary coping skills to handle them, which may lead to relapse. Probably the most important thing to understand about post-acute withdrawal is its prolonged duration, which can last up to 2 years 1,20. It is not unusual to have no symptoms for 1 to 2 weeks, only to get hit again 1. This is when people are at risk of relapse, when they are unprepared for the protracted nature of post-acute withdrawal. Clinical experience has shown that when clients struggle with post-acute withdrawal, they tend to catastrophize their chances of recovery.

The Role of Cognitive Therapy in Relapse Prevention

The final of the five rules of recovery is the most simple. When and after recovering, a person needs to follow these five rules. If they look for loopholes in recovery, they will end up resisting or sabotaging change.

five rules of recovery

How does cognitive therapy fit into the recovery process?

Identify triggers that cause five rules of recovery stress and create a plan to navigate through stressful situations. This may involve setting boundaries, practicing assertiveness, or seeking support from your network. By having a proactive approach to stress management, you can handle stressors in a healthy and constructive manner, reducing the risk of relapse. Imagine a scenario where you find yourself in a situation that could potentially jeopardize your progress in recovery. Without recovery rules, you might feel lost and unsure of how to handle the situation. However, with a set of guidelines to follow, you can rely on your recovery rules to guide you through the uncertainty.

  • Keeping up with an addiction requires lying, hiding, denying, and planning.
  • These five essential rules provide a framework for sustainable recovery, but it’s important to tailor them to your individual needs and circumstances.
  • If you’re interested in receiving support, you can schedule a free 15-min consultation here.
  • But with the right action plan, you can manage these thoughts.
  • While the path to recovery can look radically different depending on the individual, bending the rules to fit your temporary desires is not an option if you genuinely want to recover.

As mentioned earlier, many people suffering from substance use disorders are eager to prove themselves and their control over addiction. Committing to continuous learning and self-improvement is vital for personal growth and preventing relapse. Engage in activities that expand your knowledge, cultivate new skills, and nurture your spiritual and emotional well-being. Explore educational programs, participate in support group discussions, read motivational books, or attend workshops relevant to your recovery journey. One of the fundamental rules of recovery is embracing a healthy lifestyle.

There are many risks to recovery at this stage, including physical cravings, poor self-care, wanting to use just one more time, and struggling with whether one has an addiction. Clients are often eager to make big external changes in early recovery, such as changing jobs or ending a relationship. In bargaining, individuals start to think of scenarios in which it would be acceptable to use. A common example is when people give themselves permission to use on holidays or on a trip. It is a common experience that airports and all-inclusive resorts are high-risk environments in early recovery.

The Five Rules of Recovery: How to Stay Focused on What Is Important During Recovery

These five rules of recovery will help ensure that you are taking care of yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally in your recovery. Recovery is also more than just avoiding your drug of choice. There are many different aspects of your life that need tending to if you want to ensure that you stay sober and prevent relapse. Recovering individuals are often overwhelmed by the idea of change.

  • When you aren’t taking the time to take care of yourself, there is a deep, unconscious sense that you don’t deserve to be taken care of.
  • Rather than seeing this change as something negative, see this change as something positive and exciting.
  • Changing your life is what makes recovery both difficult and rewarding.
  • But more importantly, it usually will lead to a mental relapse of obsessive or uncontrolled thinking about using, which eventually can lead to physical relapse.

This is a red flag that you could be on your way to a relapse. Knowing that you need to take the time for self-care practices will be very helpful in your recovery. Asking for help can mean joining a self-help group, getting therapy, or joining a recovery program. You can also do a combination of therapies to ensure that you are getting different types of support.

Self-care can be difficult to implement, but it’s a necessity in your recovery. Practicing self-care means putting aside your ego and the things that revolve around an addiction. For example, relapse after five years of abstinence is very rare.

Repair Stage

You can avoid a full relapse by paying attention to these signs and asking for help right away. These five rules are used by many recovery programs because they’re clear, powerful, and easy to follow. Call now for an entirely free and confidential assessment.

This is an attempt to prove that you have control over your addiction, and one of the steps in your recovery requires you to admit that you don’t. In this type of relapse, you start to consider using again because of your emotional stress. Not only do you want to relieve your negative emotions, but you also begin to romanticize your drug use and forget about the negative effects.

The goal of treatment is to help individuals recognize the early stages, in which the chances of success are greatest 1. Second, recovery is a process of personal growth with developmental milestones. Third, the main tools of relapse prevention are cognitive therapy and mind-body relaxation, which change negative thinking and develop healthy coping skills 3.

Avoiding high-risk situations is crucial because these environments can trigger cravings and temptations to use drugs and alcohol. By steering clear of these situations, individuals can protect their recovery and reduce the risk of relapse. Mind-body relaxation has been proven to reduce substance use and successfully promote long-term relapse prevention.

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