If you successfully completed your treatment at the rehab to quit drinking but had a relapse, you are not alone. Most of the people have at least one relapse before achieving long-term sobriety.It may only be a momentary lapse or even a full-blown relapse.
A relapse is when a person has given into old behaviour, that is,if a person has been sober for some time,slips back to consuming alcohol but is able to rapidly self-correct. In the end, the person may regret the decision.
So, here are simple tips to prevent you from an alcohol relapse.
Table of Contents
Distract yourself
Idleness, being overly stressed or feeling overwhelmed—all are common triggers for a relapse.Therefore, make a list of things or people you would preferably turn to when you feel the urge to relapse. This may include anything like doing something fun, or calling a friend. There are a number of activities you can engage in to occupy your time without increasing your stress, such as looking for new hobbies or engaging in older ones, joining a book club, joining a mild workout program if you are healthy enough, taking a new course or class, etc.There are also recognized distraction techniques prescribed by the doctors that can be learnt, and help to distract from the craving such as counting the number of birds in the sky, or counting the number of flagstones on the pavement.
Confide in supportive friends and family
Becoming completely clean even after completing treatment from alcohol rehab center in Boston needs time. It often requires the assistance of supportive family, friends, and peers in the post-recovery phase. Supportive environmental settings are equally important. So, if you have just returned home from an alcohol rehab center, it is probably a good idea to talk out your fears and triggers with those who support you, and getall alcoholremoved from your surroundings.
Change Old Routines and Habits
It is obvious that even if you quit your alcoholism, but continue to hangaround the same toxic people and places, and continue with your same routine and behavior, without making any changes in your situations, it is highly likely that you will slip back into your old drinking habits.
Try Grounding Techniques:
Stress, anxiety, and overthinking are the biggest obstacles when it comes to recovery. However, another most popular trick that helps relapsing is called a grounding technique called a 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique. This takes you to the five senses to focus on a particular moment and avoiding negative talks, drugs, anxiety, and more. This will further help you focus on the senses to help you gain self-awareness and also increases mindfulness.
Realizing That Negative Thinking Is Normal:
People often in the recovery process fantasize about the positive effects of alcohol. While the use of alcohol might have one-time benefits to these people, the regular use posses negative effects. Remembering the past usage of alcohol is more like a craving, which doesn’t allow people to let go their alcohol disorder. So, if you are thinking about the positive aspects of alcohol, you should also consider the negative aspects of the abuse.
So, one of the immediate changes that you will need to make is to change your social circle and avoid hanging out with old drinking buddies, since it is probably not the best place to start your sober life. This may include changing your route to work or home to avoid any unwanted encounters with people, places, or things that trigger you to drink again. Many people also change jobs after returning from rehab if they felt their old job was a direct or indirect trigger for their alcohol addiction.
Therefore, it is recommended that instead of adhering to old influences, you should hang around more with your family, supportive peers, other individuals in your recovery, or people from social support groups for alcohol addicts.
