Denial Management is a process that interrupts and manages alcoholic or addictive thinking that leads to relapse.

The Path to Relapse

1. Something triggers a desire to drink or use.
2. You entertain and obsess on the thought.
3. You act on the thought.

Entertaining the thought to drink or use means you are in Denial. Managing that thinking is what will prevent acting on the thought and relapsing.

1. Something triggers a desire to drink or use.
2. You entertain the thought.
3. You interrupt the thought.
4. You do not act on the thought.

It is a process that begins by learning what denial is, recognizing when you are in it, and then managing it so that you will stop before you pick up a drink or a drug.

Understanding Denial

Very simply, when you are in denial you are lying to yourself. This may be overt or covert, conscious or unconscious, but the result is the same. It is selectively remembering the “fun” you had or the “relief you got” when you were using, and not remembering the pain that it caused or didn’t cure.

Recognizing Denial

When an alcoholic or addict has any of the following types of thinking, they are in denial:

• “I can have just one”
• “I deserve one”
• “A drink or a drug will make me feel better”
• “It wasn’t that bad”
• “I won’t have the same trouble this time”
• “This time will be different”
• “I’m really not an alcoholic or an addict”
• “I don’t care if I wreck my life again”
• “It’s my life”

These are some of the thoughts that lead the act of picking up a drink or a drug and relapsing.

Managing Denial

Changing denial thinking immediately is the key to preventing relapse. At Recovery First, we teach our clients to do this by:

• Thinking it through to the end
  • What was your life like at the end of your using
  • What happened that made you seek help
  • How bad did you feel right before you came to treatment
  • What will you loose if you use again
  • If you use, it will get worse not better
• Call someone for support and help
• Tell someone – in your support group – how you feel
• Acknowledge that you are lying to yourself
• Take some positive action

By managing your denial, you will interrupt the relapse before it happens and continue on your path to Recovery.

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.

Relapse Prevention is a strategy for dealing with Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome and the mental, emotional and behavioral triggers that alcoholics and addicts face in the early stages of recovery. It is a plan of action that is crucial to remaining clean and sober after completing substance abuse treatment. Without it there is a very high likelihood of drinking or using again.

The anatomy of a relapse

When someone relapses, it begins with a feeling of discomfort that can be traced back to Post Acute Withdrawal and/or some form of distress that is related to something specific or just a general sense of unease.

Physical, emotional and/or mental discomfort leads to feelings of distress. For someone in early recovery, these uncomfortable feelings are difficult to handle. They set in motion an urgent desire to feel better – to get rid of the pain and discomfort. For the newly clean and sober person the most familiar method of doing that is drinking or using drugs. Since the persons ability to have good judgment has been damaged as a result of substance abuse, they forget the pain and suffering that this caused in their life, and think “oh, I can have just one…and that will make me feel better.” Of course, this is not true, but it is the essence of denial, and if this thinking is not interrupted, it will lead to the familiar behavior of drinking or using drugs again.

Reversing the Pattern

By interrupting this pattern and then reversing it, relapse can be prevented:

When the initial discomfort triggers the desire to use, our clients learn to do different things, think different thoughts, which results in feeling better. This allows them to handle whatever the initial discomfort was, and remain clean and sober. This plan of action that will – if followed – prevent a relapse.

Behavior – Recovery Activities

Instead of picking up a drink or a drug, our clients learn to:

• Develop a support system – and use it
• Go to self-help meetings like AA and NA
• Talk with a sponsor – before they pick up
• Contact their counselor

Thoughts – Manage Denial

Denial is any type of thinking that says “it’s ok to pick up a drink or a drug,” or “I will feel better if I could just have one.” These thoughts are lies, and they are the result of the poor judgment that alcoholics and addicts suffer from due to the brain damage that is caused by prolonged substance abuse. Managing this type of thinking is extremely important. By talking with someone in your support system, this type of thinking can be exposed and corrected so that the alcoholic or addict is not deluding themselves about the consequences of drinking or using will be. Once a client does this, they recognize or are reminded of the truth – that they cannot safely take even one drink or drug – and this brings them back into reality about the fact that a drink or a drug will not solve their problem.

Feelings – Process and Get Relief

At this point, there is usually a sense of relief. Clients feel that they are back on track, and begin to process their feelings by sharing them. This feeling of relief is heightened by the knowledge that they are not alone, and that they are not the only one who has gone through whatever it is that they are going through. They are reminded that this is a normal part of the recovery process and that it is a sign that they are well on their way.

Discomfort – Eased by Processing Thoughts and Feelings

As the result of changing the behavior, managing thinking, and processing the feelings, the original discomfort is lessened, and the individual no longer feels the tremendous drive to drink or use drugs. The relapse has been interrupted, and the addict or alcoholic continues on their path of recovery.

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.

Dealing with Post Acute Withdrawal

When Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome strikes, you need to be ready for it or you will probably pick up a drink or a drug again. It happens anytime within the first 2 years of recovery as a side effect of the body’s natural healing process. This is ironic, since the flushing of chemical remnants from organs and intramuscular sites is actually a good thing; the problem is that once these substances hit the bloodstream, the addict or alcoholic experiences a physical craving for the substance. Unless they are armed with knowledge of this phenomenon, and have a relapse prevention plan in place that helps them manage the denial thinking that crops up, they will use again.

Post acute withdrawal symptoms manifest as a vague feeling of discomfort. There may be some external circumstance that is bothering you, but in many cases this occurs when everything is going smoothly. This disturbing feeling is uncomfortable, and the old thinking – that a drink or a drug will make you feel better – will resurface. That thought is a lie, and you need to know how to deal with it so that you don’t relapse.

Tips for dealing with Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms

Being armed with information and a plan to combat this is your best defense against relapse. The following are a list of things that you need to know and do to keep from picking up a drink or a drug when the effects of Post Acute Withdrawal occur.

1. Know that this is a normal part of the recovery process – that it happens to just about everybody
2. Drink lots of water – this helps flush the substances out of your body faster
3. Talk to someone about it – immediately
   • If you are still in treatment, find a behavioral health tech or your counselor
   • If you are not in treatment, call your sponsor or a friend
4. Do not believe the lie that you hear in your head that tells you it’s ok to pick up – it’s not
5. Go to lots of support meetings – everyone in recovery can tell you that they’ve had days where they went to 10 in one day – and that they didn’t relapse
6. Surround yourself with people in recovery
7. Focus your attention on trying to help someone else
8. Ride it out – it will pass within 24-48 hours. If you pick up, you will just start the vicious cycle all over again – and you don’t want to go back to square one.

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.

The Federal Government spends over $15 billion dollars per year in the War on Drugs – almost $500 every second – and we have lost. The reason for this failure is that we are fighting the war on the wrong front. We have focused the battle on stopping the flow of illegal drugs, thinking that our enemy is the drug dealer or the addict. Law enforcement agencies make drug busts – big and small – taking product off the streets and putting dealers and addicts in jail. This doesn’t work because the addict still wants product there is always another drug dealer or pain clinic around the corner. The only true solution is to reduce demand – which means spending the money on Addiction Treatment.

Scare tactics like the DEA report (http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs31/31379/31379p.pdf) said that “Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations represent the greatest organized crime threat to the United States” and that “intelligence estimates indicate a vast majority of the cocaine available in U.S. drug markets is smuggled by Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations across the U.S.– Mexico border.” This type of report fuels the fire and encourages spending more and more money on drug interception – which doesn’t work – rather than substance abuse education, intervention and treatment – which has a much larger impact on demand.

The same report also cited a 2007 study that “nearly 7 million Americans are abusing prescription drugs — more than the number who are abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and inhalants, combined. That 7 million (figure) was just 3.8 million in 2000, (that’s) an 80 percent increase in just 6 years.” The “war on drugs” solution to this problem is twofold: 1- Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP), passed in 38 states (Florida is one of the states that passed this legislation with the caveat that they will purchase a computer monitoring software system when the funds are available; in these economic times, chances of that happening anytime soon are very slim) and 2- reducing the number of “rogue internet pharmacies” – internet sites that require little to no documentation for the purchase of prescription drugs. These do reduce availability, but they do nothing to reduce demand, as evidenced by the growth in the number of people abusing prescription drugs.

According to the same report, “the most widely abused drugs today are Prescription pain relievers. These are new drug users’ drug of choice, vs. marijuana or cocaine. (In addition), Opioid painkillers now cause more drug overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined. Misuse of these painkillers represents three-fourths of the overall problem of prescription drug abuse in this country, (and) hydrocodone is the most commonly diverted and abused controlled pharmaceutical in the U.S.” Clearly, the majority of abused substances in this country are prescription drugs – not illegal substances. This means that that the addict is not just the stereotypical dirty junkie living in a crack house, but is our neighbor the accountant or the doctor or the homemaker proving that no one is immune to the disease of addiction, and the problem affects everyone from park bench to Park Avenue.

With prescription drug abuse is rising at an alarming rate there are more addicts today than ever before, in fact, one study states that one in six Americans has a problem with alcohol and/or drug abuse – which does not including those with prescription drug abuse problems. Instead of attempting to win the war on drugs by taking away the substances, we have to focus more of our resources/dollars on reducing demand. This means recognizing and treating alcoholics and addicts as early as possible in the cycle of their addiction. It is only then that substance abuse can reduced in our society.

Imagine how much could be done to treat and educate addicted people if for one year if we took all the money we spend on the war on drugs and used it for intervention, education and treatment. Millions of people could get help and that would mean fewer buyers.

When an addict becomes a recovering addict, demand goes away – it’s that simple. To me, this is the only way to win the war on drugs, one recovering person at a time. When enough people begin to believe this, the war on drugs and drug addicts will cease and the campaign for Recovery will begin.

Join me in my campaign for Recovery.

James F. Davis, CEO

Recovery First Inc.

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.

There are many Inpatient Drug Rehab Centers, and knowing what to look for when you need one can make the difference between success and failure. When you are looking for addiction treatment for yourself or a loved one, it is important to know enough to ask the right questions.

What is Inpatient Drug Rehab?

True inpatient drug rehab centers are facilities where the client lives and goes to treatment in the same place. Be careful to ask about this, because there are many centers that offer a hybrid type of program that provide treatment during the day at one location, and house their clients in apartments that are located somewhere else. You can easily be confused and get the impression that they are inpatient centers when in fact they are not. This type of program is called “partial hospitalization” or “day/night treatment.” Insurance companies consider this an outpatient service. This may be appropriate for a certain type of client but it does not provide the kind of 24 hour a day 7 day a week care that the individual gets in a residential inpatient facility.

Clients in a residential inpatient drug rehab program receive more hours of treatment per week than they receive in hybrid or outpatient programs. And, because they are monitored around the clock, they receive much more personal attention then they do in other settings.

Residential programs typically run for 28-30 days, and there is an important reason for that: it takes at least 21-28 days to break a habit and create a new one. This is especially true for addicts and alcoholics who have a long history of substance abuse. Treatment interrupts their usual routine and replaces it with one that will support them in staying clean and sober when they graduate. Being in a different environment helps too; getting away from the people, places and things that went along with using drugs and drinking can make a huge difference in their future success.

How much treatment and what kind of treatment does the client receive during their stay in your Inpatient Drug Rehab Center?

This should be the first question you ask when you call for information, and it is ironic that it’s not. Remember, you are not shopping for a vacation spot or an extended stay at a spa. Recovery happens in the group room – not at the pool or on the tennis court.

Great substance abuse treatment programs combine group and individual therapy sessions, with specific work on Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome, Denial Management and Relapse Prevention. Residential programs should have a minimum of 50 to 60 hours of therapy per week. They should also include activities of daily living, family sessions, exposure to community self help groups, and weekly outings for some much needed recreation.

Will my medical insurance cover the cost of treatment?

Many insurance companies do cover the cost of substance abuse treatment, but not all policies are built the same way. Some policies cover the cost of everything at 100%, while others have a maximum lifetime dollar or day limit, and in some cases only cover the cost of medical detoxification. Have the facility check the benefit for you since they are the experts.

Ask the facility if they are an “in-network” provider for your insurance company. This is important because if they are not, you are probably going to have much higher deductible, co-insurance, and co-payment expenses (out of pocket expenses) than you would with an in-network provider.

Get an estimate of what your deductible and other out of pocket expenses will be. They may not be able to give you an exact figure, but they should be able to tell you what your worst case scenario would be.

What happens after I leave treatment?

All good treatment centers provide a detailed aftercare plan for their clients upon discharge. This is called a discharge plan. It will include the following: an appointment with a psychiatrist or psychologist in their home town if indicated, a recommendation to attend an intensive outpatient program or aftercare program, a list of local AA or NA meetings and a relapse prevention plan.

Relapse prevention is the key to continuing to stay clean and sober. A good treatment center has worked with their clients during their stay to develop an individualized plan of action that will help them not drink or use drugs again if they start to go off track. This is a crucial element in their post treatment continuing recovery.

Making the right choice

After you have asked these questions, and are satisfied with the answers, you are ready to make a decision. If the center is a true inpatient facility that has 50-60 hours of treatment per week, focuses on post acute withdrawal syndrome, denial management, and relapse prevention, is in-network with your insurance provider, has given you an estimate of your out of pocket expenses, and provides a thorough discharge plan, you need to ask one last question: “do these people really care?” If the answer is yes, your chances of making the right choice and having a successful outcome are excellent.

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.

Addiction Treatment professionals agree that Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (P.A.W.S.) is one of the most difficult challenges that Alcoholics or Addicts face in the early stages of their recovery. It is a multi-faceted group of symptoms that cause the individual to crave a drink or a drug even though everything is going well for them and they are following thru with all their recommended post treatment activities. Unfortunately, this relapse precursor is especially difficult to deal with, because it is not emphasized enough by most treatment centers during treatment; without education about this topic, the substance abuser has no defense against it. Recovery First is one of the rare exceptions that does focus on this area.

The discomfort of the initial withdrawal from drugs or alcohol is managed through a medical detoxification process commonly referred to as “detox”. Symptoms are minimized during the initial 3 to10 day period when the body is in acute withdrawal and adjusting to not having these substances. Detoxification does not eliminate all of the substances from the body, nor does it repair the damage to brain, organs, central nervous system, or neurotransmitters that have been caused by drinking and drug abuse.

The biggest mistake that alcoholics and addicts make is to think that the detoxification process is the end of the withdrawal process; that once you leave detox all of the substances are out of the body and you’re cured. Nothing could be further from the truth; detoxification actually sets the stage for the onset of Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome.

Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome – What it is and Why it Happens.

After detoxification, for reasons science doesn’t completely understand, the body can react as if it was still on drugs. One part of the explanation for this phenomenon is the body’s own natural cleansing process. As it flushes the chemical remnants of alcohol and drugs from organs and intramuscular hiding places, it hits the bloodstream and triggers a physical craving – much like the sensation of smelling popcorn and then wanting to see a movie.

In addition to this physical component, any type of mental, emotional or physical stress can trigger a desire to drink or use drugs. When an alcoholic or addict feels pain or is stressed out, they remember one thing: if they pick up a drink or a drug, the pain and stress will go away. This is because the area of the brain that affects judgment has been damaged and they do not remember how bad things were. Most importantly, they do not connect their substance abuse to what they are feeling at that moment, and so they very often relapse.

Symptoms of Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome

Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome produces a wide variety of side effects and symptoms that make no sense to the addict experiencing them, or to the friends, family and employers observing them. These symptoms include but are not limited to:

• Lack of coordination
• Walking into things
• Dropping things
• Thinking “I’m crazy”
• Feeling scared
• Forgetting things
• Impaired judgment
• Disorientation
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Craving
• Mood swings
• Anger
• Depression
• Increased sensitivity to pain

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.

Denial is a defense mechanism that allows a person – despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary – to deny that something is true, when in fact, it is true.  It is one of the most powerful and difficult problems that Alcoholics and Drug Addicts face before, during, and after treatment, because it is always the thinking that precedes the act of picking up a drink or a drug.

Physical components of Denial

Over the course of time, drinking and using drugs can cause changes in the brain that affect thought processes and emotions.  For example, when the hippocampus, which controls memory and judgment, is damaged, the Alcoholic or Addict has great difficulty remembering the bad things that happen when they drink or use.  This coupled with impaired judgment allows them to actually believe that drinking or using drugs is ok.

Poor judgment is further compounded by the over stimulation or inhibition of two important neurotransmitters: Serotonin and Dopamine.  Serotonin affects thinking and emotions, while Dopamine affects the pleasure and reward center of the brain.  When a person drinks or uses drugs excessively, these neurotransmitters are over stimulated, and the body develops a tolerance to them.  This causes the individual to need more and more of the substance while they get less and less of an effect.

Non-addicted people find it very difficult to understand the thinking and actions of the addict or alcoholic.  They just don’t “get it” because their brains have not been damaged so their thinking is not organically impaired and they have the capacity to differentiate between truth and falsehood.

Thought patterns of Denial

The essential and most basic of all Denial thinking is this:  “I don’t have a problem with alcohol or drugs, and the things that are wrong in my life don’t have anything to do with my drinking or using.”  This erroneous belief gives rise to all sorts of strange twists and turns of thought that are common in Addicts and Alcoholics.

Substance Abusers blame others for the negative things that happen in their lives and lie about where they have been and what they have been doing.  They live in a fantasy world where they have convinced themselves that their lives are “not so bad” despite the loss of jobs, marriages, family and friends.  They say that if only they had more money or if the people in their lives would understand them, that everything would be ok.

They do not acknowledge, nor do they connect the fact that drinking and using drugs have become the root cause of their current problems; this is Denial.

Emotions and Denial

Alcoholics and Addicts vacillate between feelings of superiority and inferiority, mania and depression, and typically suffer from tremendous anxiety and fear.  They use drugs and alcohol to cope with these strong and painful emotions, but this only provides temporary relief and is counterproductive because when the effect wears off the feelings are still there, and are compounded by shame, guilt, and remorse.  For the alcoholic/addict, the usual response to these new emotions is to drink or use again. The fact that it did not solve anything does not register with them.

In addition, substance abusers almost always have low self-esteem and deep seated emotional issues that are rooted in childhood.  They often say things like “I never felt like I fit in” or “I never felt good enough.”  They do not know how to deal with negative emotions.  When they had their first drink or drug that changed.  Instantly, they had relief from the painful feelings; they felt like they fit in, and didn’t feel bad about themselves anymore.  This is where emotional denial begins.  While under the influence, problems and painful emotions don’t exist; it seemed to be a real solution, because it worked.  What they did not know, is that instead of being the solution, it was the road to self-destruction via the highway of Denial.

Behavior Patterns of Denial

Family, friends and employers notice changes in the behavior of an alcoholic or addict long before the person with the disease does.  This is the first indicator that someone is in denial about their disease.  Tragically, as it progresses, the individual barely notices the changes and deterioration because they happen gradually, day after day and seem normal to the sufferer.

Typical behaviors include, but are not limited to: being late to work, inability to hold a job, getting arrested, ending relationships when people criticize their drinking or using, spending rent money on drugs or alcohol, not keeping commitments, driving under the influence, poor personal hygiene, frequenting dangerous neighborhoods, and living on the street.

Again, the alcoholic or addict does not notice or pretends not to notice that these behaviors are related to their substance abuse, when clearly they are.  

Summary

Denial is one of the biggest roadblocks to recovery.  It is an elusive and dangerous pattern of thinking that is extremely difficult to break because it has so many different causes and manifestations.  The first clue that someone is in denial is that their behavior and dialog changes dramatically and they develop a litany of excuses for this that do not include drinking or using drugs.

This is further compounded by physical damage to the brain and its chemistry, which exacerbates poor judgment, increases tolerance, and enhances denial.  The fundamental problem of denial is that the alcoholic/addict actually sees substance abuse as the cure not the cause.

It is only when a person has a moment of clarity; where they see through the fog of denial and connect their problems to their drinking or using drugs that they will seek help.  When this happens, recovery is possible.

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.

Relapse is the number one problem that drug addicts and alcoholics face in the early years of their struggle for long term recovery.   This phenomenon is baffling not only to addicts and alcoholics themselves, but to their family and friends as well.  When they are clean and sober their lives improve physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.  It is tragic to watch it crumble when they pick up or drink again.  The haunting question is this:  Why does it happen?

For those not in the field of addiction, the answer has historically been that the sufferer has some type of character deficiency; a lack of self control, low moral standards and/or not loving the family enough to stay clean and sober.  Although these characteristics are present in most addicts and alcoholics to some degree, they actually play a very small role in relapse.  The major causes of relapse are physical, mental, emotional and behavioral complications that surface after the detoxification process and the initial period of treatment have been completed.

In truth, the real answer lies in understanding what the addict or alcoholic is going through prior to a relapse. 

Physical Components of Relapse

When a person stops using drugs or drinking alcohol, the body goes into withdrawal.  This can be extremely uncomfortable.  Withdrawal symptoms can include but are not limited to:  sweating, shaking, dehydration, seizures, fever, stomach pain, muscle cramps, chills, disorientation, and hallucinations.  These symptoms can be so bad that the person drinks or uses drugs again to stop them, which puts the person right back where they started. 

The physical discomfort of withdrawal can be eased by medical detoxification. This procedure reduces the discomfort and allows the person to get the majority of the substances out of their system.  What is not common knowledge is that it can take as much as 3 – 6 months (and in some cases a number of years) for all of the substances to be flushed from the body through its natural cleansing process.  As the substances are exiting the organs and intramuscular hiding places, they trigger a physical craving for the substance.  This is called Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (P.A.W.S.), and is one of the primary contributors to and causes of relapse.

Mental Components of Relapse

After years of use and abuse, the brain has taken a beating, and the thought processes of the addict or alcoholic have become severely compromised.  It can take up to 18 – 24 months for the neurotransmitters to stabilize and the brain to have normal functioning.  Short term memory loss, inability to handle stress, poor judgment and depression are just a few of the mental side effects of long term substance abuse. 

The way alcoholics and addicts think about things is difficult for the average person to understand.  The fact that their lives have been damaged by their drinking and using seems to elude them.  Common sense and good decision making do not exist; spending their paycheck on drugs or alcohol instead of paying the rent actually makes sense to the addict or alcoholic.

The primary twist of thinking for the substance abuser is a pattern of “Denial”.  It is the belief that something is true – when it is absolutely not true.  It is the refusal to acknowledge or admit that you have a problem with drugs or alcohol, and that it is causing damage in your life and the lives of those around you.  Simply put, you are lying to yourself, and it is one of the major precursors to relapse.

Emotional Components of Relapse

Alcoholics and Addicts generally have extreme difficulty processing and coping with strong emotions of any kind.  They have developed over time a set of emotional reactions to everyday events that are filled with feelings of insecurity, resentment, fear, hopelessness, helplessness and the like.  They love to play the victim, and have difficulty taking responsibility for their actions. 

Most substance abusers have the emotional age and skills of a child or teenager, and their go-to coping mechanism is to pick up a drink or a drug.  Therefore, it is not surprising that when these feelings surface, the first thing that the Addict or Alcoholic thinks about is picking up a drink or a drug to make the bad feelings go away. 

Relapse can be precipitated by any strong emotion, and without an effective strategy for dealing with those emotions, the Addict or Alcoholic is vulnerable to it.

Behavioral Components of Relapse

Over the course of time, Alcoholics and Addicts develop behavior patterns that center around drinking and using.  They tend to associate with people that are like them, and spend most of their leisure time drinking and using.  Their work suffers; they are late, miss work, don’t complete tasks, and are fired regularly for their inability to perform.  They spend money that they don’t have, and commonly put themselves in dire financial positions because they are buying alcohol and drugs instead of food.  

It is not easy to change behaviors that have been deeply rooted and practiced for years, and if these patterns resurface after treatment, devastating results usually follow.   Old behaviors can and do lead to Relapse.

The answer to the question is this:  physical craving that surface as a result of Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome, combined with poor thinking and an inability to deal effectively with excessive emotions lead to the old behavior of drinking or using drugs to feel better.  These elements, in combination or alone, are the cause of every relapse.  

James F. Davis, CEO of Recovery First, Inc. Substance Abuse Treatment Center, says that “anyone can stop using or drinking for a period of time – be it an hour, a day, a week, or even a year.  The trick is to stay stopped, and to do that, you have to address the physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral triggers that cause it – before the relapse happens and the vicious cycle starts all over again.”  This is why addiction professionals say that the biggest problem and challenge to recovery for the Alcoholic or Addict is Relapse.

Call us now at 800-706-9190

or Ask a Question Online

Recovery First offers several levels of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Our most intensive level of treatment is the Inpatient Substance Abuse Program, but we also have other treatment options for drug addiction and alcoholism like our Day/Night Program or Sober Living.