The Benefits Of A Good Relapse Prevention Program
by Adolph K. Reekie
Once you enter an alcohol and drug treatment facility, they will provide a relapse prevention program that will provide new strategies and techniques for the newly sobered individual to live by after leaving the facility. These strategies and techniques allow the drug addict or alcoholic to deal with the addictions, disorders, behaviors and thoughts that in the past have created feelings of shame, depression, hopelessness and helplessness. These feelings and emotions (which are common in most everyone but may be extreme in nature in the alcoholic or drug addict) have usually, in the past, resulted in a return to drug addiction, substance abuse or alcoholism.
A Relapse Prevention program can best be described as a program used to teach the newly sobered alcoholic or addict how to effectively deal with the stressors or triggers. These stressors and triggers can appear without notice and if unprepared, may be cause for serious alarm if the newly sobered individual isn't ready for them.
Drug addiction and alcoholism are diseases of the brain that, when not treated effectively, are followed by chronic relapse. Relapse prevention is an integral part of any effective addiction treatment program, whether it is drug rehab or alcohol rehab. Unfortunately, far too many drug and alcohol rehabs teach relapse prevention by just telling their clients to go to self help groups once discharged from their facility. This just will not do. An individual's success outside any treatment facility depends on their ability to recognize when they are in a "slippery" situation, how to deal with it appropriately, who to talk to for help and where to go for support. If an individual is without these basic fundamentals, their chances of staying sober drastically decrease.
To understand the basics behind relapse prevention, an understanding of relapse itself is required. For instance, in healthcare, relapse is described as deterioration in an individual's medical or psychiatric condition after a period of recovery from a particular illness. In the world of drug addiction or alcoholism treatment, relapse is described as returning to a specific behavior after a period of abstinence from that behavior. In the case of the alcoholic and drug addict, that would include alcohol or drug use. In the case of the person with an eating disorder, sex addiction or gambling addiction, it would include other behaviors.
Research has shown time and time again that a relapse (or slip) doesn't just happen by itself. There are many outside influences and contributing factors. After proper education and training, every individual who has completed our program will be able to identify significant warning signs. These warning signs can be anything that may result in the individual returning to the self-destructive patterns of substance abuse, alcoholism or other disorders and addictions.
There is one fact that stands out above all others and that is that relapse does not come on suddenly or without warning. Relapse is a process that takes place gradually and over time. Talk briefly with any drug addict or alcoholic that has experienced a relapse or slip. Most every one of them will say it began with a thought process which then was followed by behaviors to support that thought and then resulted in the discontinuation of recovery related activities. Afterwards, they ended up in another bout of drug or alcohol abuse.
As mentioned earlier, drug addiction and alcoholism are a chronic disease of the brain. As with any chronic disease, the possibility of relapse exists. Alcoholism and drug addiction are influenced by social, environmental, psychological and medical factors.
Unfortunately, this disease does not just "go away" because we or anyone else wants it to. There is no exact method for preventing relapse, but there are certain guidelines, that when followed, greatly increase the odds of achieving and maintaining long term recovery.
To date, there has never been an addiction treatment program, drug rehab or alcoholism treatment program that is able to claim beyond doubt that all of their patients have recovered. There are some who boast of cures but research shows these are false claims.
Our program incorporates relapse prevention as a significant part of our treatment plan. This greatly improves a person's chance of achieving quality and long term recovery.
Adolph K. Reekie is a freelance writer. For more information about Blood Drug Test visit Drug Testing Online Store at www.spacedetox.com
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