How to Avoid Relapse

Whenever people become drug addicts, they risk being unable to carry effectively carry out their daily tasks. In most cases, it takes family members’ and friends’ intervention to help an individual quit taking drugs. They can do this by going to rehab or doing a home detox. Experts from My Recovery Corps point out that people can relapse after the detox programs. However, there are various things that a person can do to avoid a relapse.

The main reason why people relapse is the adverse effects of drug withdrawal. Among such effects are depression and anxiety. The best way to reduce these effects in the body is by taking the particular drugs that the person used to take. This will mean that they will relapse. Therefore, family members and friends need to help the individual whenever necessary to prevent them from relapse. For instance, they can engage them in recreational activities to help reduce the effects of the withdrawal.

An individual can also choose to engage in certain activities to keep themselves occupied throughout the day. When people are trying to recover from drug addiction, they shouldn’t stay idle. If they stay idle, the chances are high they will think of taking drugs again. Therefore, the person can look for a job to keep them occupied.

Many people tend to consume drugs with their friends. This means that the person trying to recover from the adduction might have friends who are still using the drugs. Hanging out with such prevents increases the chances of relapse. Hence, the person needs to stop hanging out with people who were still taking drugs. Once the person has fully recovered and can overcome the urge to take drugs, they can hang out with their old friends.

Another way of preventing relapse is by staying away from locations that remind them of their experience as drug addicts. These locations are a relapse triggering factor. If the person or family members can relocate, it is advisable to do so as soon as possible. The victim will no longer be in touch with the people they used to take drugs with. However, staying in the same location will constantly remind the individual of taking drugs. This increases their chances of relapsing.

It is recommended that an individual should enroll in medical detox centers. These places offer an individual the opportunity to recover fully before going home. The programs might be costly but are worth enrolling in as compared to detoxing at home. While detoxing at home, there are high chances the person will relapse. In medical detox centers, the detox is done under medical supervision and using procedures that have been proven to be effective in toxin removal. The patients are only allowed to leave the medical center after full recovery. This again reduces their chances of relapsing because they no longer crave drugs. If you wish to prevent your loved ones from relapsing, it is advisable to enroll them in medical detox centers. However, you need to ensure that such centers have all the resources to facilitate a quick recovery process.

According to My Recovery Corps, a person is highly likely to relapse during the early recovery stages. Therefore, the person should be kept away from ant trigger factors such as old friends, locations that remind them of drug addiction, and idleness. However, the person can interact with these factors in their later stages of the recovery process. During the late recovery stage, the person has already chosen to quit drugs and is no longer having cravings. Hence, their chances of relapse are very low.

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Ken

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