Relapse Prevention

The Cycle of Chronic Relapse

There are ranging levels of addiction; there are people who fully recover after one round of rehab, and there are people who have to constantly battle addiction every day of their lives. As with any chronic disease, chronic relapse is an ongoing condition that requires long-term treatment as a means of helping a person reintegrate with society free of temptation and uneasiness.

According to several organizations, such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations (SAMHSA), and Harvard University, the overall relapse rate for addiction is between 40-60%, and less than 20% of people who complete drug and alcohol treatment remain sober for an entire year. Depending on the substance, relapse can also be more or less common. 90% of alcoholics suffer from at least one relapse within four years of recovery. On the contrary, once people stay clean from drugs for two years after addiction treatment, it is likely that they will remain clean.

The cycle of chronic relapse is when a person continuously enters in and out of sobriety, and undergoes a constant cycle of attempting to recover and falling back into old habits. There are many implications of chronic relapse on a person mentally, physically, and financially as well. The financial stress of consistent need for help may feel unrealistic for some people, making them feel helpless and causing them to spiral even more.

Although everyone’s experience with addiction and relapse is different, there are common warning signs of chronic relapse you could look out for. Some of the most common signs of a chronic relapser include mentions of hopelessness about becoming clean, lack of preparation to return back to the real world after treatment, failing to ask the right questions, not knowing your triggers or coping mechanisms, lack of direction in life, poor mental health, socializing with people who abuse substances post-treatment, not completing an addiction program, attending rehab only to appease others, undergoing many rounds of treatment but failing to complete rehab in its entirety, lack of desire to remain sober, refusing to face underlying problems in your life, not taking rehab seriously, and dishonesty. There are many cases in which a chronic relapser not only lies to their loved ones, but also lies to themselves.

As the loved one of a chronic relapser, their behavior can be extremely frustrating and upsetting, which is why it is common for people to say that you need to first admit you have a problem in order to recover from an addiction. If someone does not want to admit that they have a problem, even to themselves, it will be impossible for them to dig deeper and take therapy and rehabilitation treatments seriously. Rehab is not meant for people to simply go through the motions. For rehab to work properly, a person must want to recover, which is uncharacteristic of a lot of chronic relapsers.

The cycle of chronic relapse can be emotionally exhausting and upsetting not only for the addict, but also for the loved ones of an addict. Addiction is a disease, but it is treatable, which is why it is so disheartening when the process does not work for someone. Rehab is never a one size fits all situation, and there is a different formula for success for each person, but a person needs to want the treatment methods to work in order to make a full recovery.

Drug and alcohol relapse occur in three stages: emotional relapse, mental relapse, and physical relapse. Emotional relapse is the first stage of chronic relapse, and it entails isolation, bottling up emotions, poor self-care, poor eating and sleeping habits, and lack of attendance at support group meetings. The second stage of chronic relapse is mental relapse, and this occurs when a person is actively thinking about using substances again. The components of mental relapse include lying, bargaining, cravings for drugs or alcohol, seeking out opportunities to relapse, planning for relapse, glamorizing past experiences with drug use, and minimizing the negative effects of substance abuse. Last is physical relapse, and in this stage people officially relapse and start using substances again. At this point, it is common for people to hide their relapse due to embarrassment and shame.

Prevail Recovery Center is a rehab for chronic relapsers. We believe in treating each person individually, and our goal is to dig deeper and get to the root of the problem. For our methods and therapies to work, our patients need to be open to working with us.