![]() ![]() According to Melemis, this return to using also leads to a return to obsessive, uncontrolled thoughts of using-a pattern which is difficult to break and makes it harder to re-enter recovery. Because people in addiction are not generally able to stop after a single indulgence, it is more difficult to regain sobriety after this point. ![]() This is when a person actually returns to using the substance they have been trying to avoid. As a result, it can be especially helpful for a person in this stage to talk to their sponsor and attend recovery meetings, therapy, and/or substance abuse counseling. If a person stays in this stage for too long, without healthy coping skills to get themselves out of it, then they are far more likely to move into the physical relapse stage. They start to think about using just to escape, but it is still easier to reverse a relapse at this point, than after a person actually partakes of their drug of choice. When individuals exhibit poor self-care and live in emotional relapse long enough, they begin to feel restless, irritable, and discontented. A person who is ignoring their own basic needs and feelings is setting themselves up to make poor choices that could lead to returning to their drug of choice. Physical: The person uses alcohol or another drug.ĭuring emotional relapse, people may bottle up their emotions, isolate themselves from others, focus on another person’s issues, and have poor self-care.Ī simple reminder of poor self-care is the acronym HALT: hungry, angry, lonely, and tired.Mental: After prolonged, poor self-care, the person is starting to think more and more about using and how to justify it if they do use.Emotional: Individuals are not thinking about using, but their emotions and behaviors are setting them up for relapse.Melemis also identified three stages of relapse in his article: These negative thoughts, especially when allowed to repeat unchecked, can convince a person that they will not succeed in maintaining sobriety or that sobriety isn’t really important enough for them to put in the hard work to maintain. I’m worried I have been so damaged by my addiction that I won’t be able to recover.If I stop, I’ll only start up again I have never finished anything.My cravings will be overwhelming I won’t be able to resist them.I can’t make all the necessary changes.I’m worried I will turn into someone I don’t like.I don’t think I can handle life without using.Melemis shared a list of negative thoughts which frequently sabotage sobriety: These thoughts can lead to anxiety, resentments, stress, and depression, all of which can lead to relapse.” Melemis, in his article for the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, Relapse Prevention and the Five Rules of Recovery, “The negative thinking that underlies addiction is usually all-or-nothing thinking, disqualifying the positives, catastrophizing, and negatively self-labeling. The time before a person starts to use again is often marked by negative thought processes, which further increase their odds of returning to substance abuse.Īccording to Steven M. However, relapse can actually begin days or even weeks before a person breaks their abstinence from alcohol or other substances. ![]() People who have never entered recovery often assume a relapse starts when the drug of choice enters a person’s body after a period of abstinence. One of the primary goals of recovery is to obtain and maintain sobriety. ![]()
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