Addiction Relapse Prevention 101

There are many factors that contribute to maintaining abstinence from drugs and alcohol. If you have been in addiction treatment or around 12-Step meetings, then undoubtedly you have heard many of these already. But they bear repeating. In fact, you can't hear them enough.

5 Keys to Preventing Addiction Relapse

Stay away from people, places and things –

Okay, so this is a no-brainer, but I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people announce that they had relapsed due to being around someone who was using. Removing those hazardous people from our lives is no easy feat. At times they may be family or close friends. But in the end if they are a threat to your recovery then there needs to be distance between you and them.

Relapse is a process, not an event –

Chances are if you picked-up then you made that decision sometime prior to the actual using event. Addiction has a way of being very seductive in how it operates. All it takes is the simplest thought of using to get the wheels of addiction turning. Once this begins it takes a concerted effort to reverse the insidious process.

Use your supports –

By having a support system the whole recovery process is made that much easier. But….you have to use it. When I first got clean I quickly surrounded myself with other recovering addicts. Not only did we attend 12-Step meetings together but went to movies, camped out, took road trips and shared time with one another. These relationships have been a major part of my recovery. Without these supports I honestly do not know how I would be able to stay clean.

Express gratitude –

As the old saying goes, “Grateful addicts don’t use.” You might be saying, “What do I have to be grateful for?” Well, I will tell you: Think about when you were dope sick or coming to from a bender where you had blacked out. Or how about the time when you got busted and ended up in the holding center overnight? Or whatever the circumstance. So you may not have the best life in the world but you know what? When you are clean things can always get better. And that’s the beauty of recovery. It can always get better.

Don’t pick up no matter what! –

That’s the bottom line. Cravings will pass. Feelings will pass. As long as you take the appropriate steps to manage your disease you can get through anything. In my recovery I have dealt with deaths, job problems, relationship issues, and the list goes on. In other words, by utilizing the tools with which I have been given I have been able to deal with life on life’s terms. And after all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

What are some of your relapse prevention tools?