5 Factors to Successful Drug Rehab
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- By: Jamie Emerson
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- Brain Health
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- September 17, 2021
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- 7 Min read
Successful recovery from addiction to drugs or alcohol can only be measured moment-to-moment, day by day. There’s never a time when a person can say that they’ve finished recovery. Healthy recovery from drugs or alcohol addiction is a life-long process, in which abstinence from substances of abuse is only one part of a larger puzzle.
Factors of Successful Drug and Alcohol Recovery
People with addiction disorders are likely to relapse at least once; that is, to resume their addictive behaviors. That doesn’t mean recovery is going to be impossible. Oftentimes, a relapse will illuminate a significant issue in a person’s addiction that hadn’t been as yet addressed or even discovered. Finding such an issue helps make sure it gets resolved or treated. Still, avoiding a relapse is the best way to go.
If we look at the research on long-term, healthy drug and alcohol recovery, we can see there are some factors that have to be in place for successful drug and alcohol recovery.
1. The right diagnosis.
It’s crucial to make sure you have the right diagnosis, particularly when it comes to the intersection of addiction and mental health. About half of all people with an addiction disorder or alcoholism also have a psychological disorder, which has to be treated at the same time the addiction is treated.
A person with both mental health issues and an addiction disorder are referred to as dual-diagnosed, with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder being the most common co-occurring disorders. Failing to get treatment for a co-occurring psychological disorder makes relapse much more probable.
2. Good Social Support.
A social support network can help a person in recovery obtain needed resources, supports them emotionally, and provides a way to rebuild and make new relationships. All addiction disorders cause deep loneliness, which can be healed through interacting with a healthy support system. A person’s social support system may include friends, family members, or members of support groups, like those made up of other recovering people. A few examples include Alcoholics Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous.
3. Follow aftercare guidelines.
Aftercare must not be an afterthought. After the initial period in which a person stops using addictive substances and detoxifies, it’s crucial to get into the habit of keeping one’s appointments that will keep them healthy. This includes therapists, doctor’s visits, and medical support services, like dentist’s visits. A toothache has caused many people to relapse, simply from seeking narcotics to ease the pain and illness of any sort can be a relapse trigger.
4. Find new people, new places, new things.
To break the cycle of addiction, people must also break old habits that contributed to their addictive behaviors. A maxim of addiction recovery is that a recovering addict needs new people, new places, and new things. In essence, to live a sober, drug-free, and satisfying life in recovery, a person can’t go back to an environment that prompted, or even encouraged their addiction. This means avoiding places that are tied to using or abusing substances, making new friends who are living a sober life, and taking up hobbies or leisure activities that don’t involve abusing substances.
5. Have a relapse prevention plan.
Sometimes relapse is spontaneous, but most of the time relapse happens after many tiny setbacks erode a person’s desire to stay clean. For many people, relapse is a process that can be stopped in its tracks, if a person knows what to look for and has a prevention plan ready. Here are a few steps for preventing relapse:
- Identify and understand what triggers your urge to abuse addictive substances. For example, if you’ve abused painkillers in the past to deal with work stress, be on the lookout when things get frustrating at work.
- Have someone you can call at any time of the day or night when you feel you’re on the verge of relapsing. For many people, this will be a sponsor but could be a trusted friend or family member.
- Keep a list of support group meeting times handy.
- Learn how to manage cravings. Cravings are intense, almost unbearable urges to use a particular drug or alcohol.
- Learn to manage stress and anxiety. Therapy is a great way to develop better, more helpful coping skills.
The takeaway
Getting into recovery and staying there requires a person to build meaningful relationships with people who will support and encourage their sobriety. Observing guidelines and orders given by one’s recovery professionals, doctors and other specialists can help keep a recovering person in good health, while learning how to reduce stress is also helpful in preventing a relapse.
Works Cited
- Laudet, A.B., Magura, S., Vogel, H.S. et al. Support, Mutual Aid and Recovery from Dual Diagnosis. Community Ment Health J 36, 457–476 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1001982829359
- Stevens, E., & Jason, L. (2015). Investigating social support and network relationships in substance use disorder recovery. Substance Abuse. Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08897077.2014.965870.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. (2020). Substance Use Disorder Treatment for People With Co-Occurring Disorders. SAMHSA: Tip 42. Retrieved from https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/SAMHSA_Digital_Download/PEP20-02-01-004_Final_508.pdf.
- Umhau, John C. Conquering the Craving, Journal of Christian Nursing: July/September 2019 - Volume 36 - Issue 3 - p 148-156 doi: 10.1097/CNJ.0000000000000624
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). NIMH: Substance use and Co-occurring mental disorders. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/substance-use-and-mental-health.