What to Do If You Relapse: A Complete Guide to Recovery After Setbacks

Though relapse can be a traumatic experience, it gives you the opportunity to learn about yourself, your disease and what’s required to take back control. With the help of your social support network and addiction treatment specialist, you can reflect on what your relapse has taught you and what you can do to improve your health. A deep period of reflection will be a satisfying and liberating stage of your recovery.

Supporting a Loved One Who Has Relapsed

• With the help and resources, you can still achieve recovery.
• If you’re experiencing a lapse or relapse, be kind to yourself; it’s not the end of your journey.
• The process of learning to stay sober is complex and involves changing deeply ingrained habits, thought patterns and ways of coping with life.
• In a full-blown relapse episode, the person returns to their previous patterns of substance abuse.

Once you’ve taken steps toward recovery, it’s important to address the relationships that may have been damaged during relapse. Explain what occurred and what you are doing to get back on track. It’s important to also explain how your relapse doesn’t mean Sober living house you’ve failed, and you will be taking further action to prevent relapse from happening again.

What to Do Right Now If You’ve Relapsed

Focus on what you can do today to contribute to your sobriety, whether that’s resisting a craving or attending a meeting. Treat each day as a fresh opportunity to demonstrate your commitment. Having a support network breaks feelings of isolation and reinforces your commitment to recovery. Valuable support comes from caring individuals who are reliable, nonjudgmental, and willing to provide guidance or encouragement when needed.

Recognizing Physical Indicators

Recovery is not defined by the completion of drug and alcohol detox or discharge from drug and alcohol rehab. Life outside a residential treatment center is markedly different. Without ongoing support, this transition can feel overwhelming. Treating substance use disorders is like managing diabetes, high blood pressure or other chronic health conditions. Even after patients are out of imminent crisis, the work is ongoing.

Many times, thoughts of relapse or changes in lifestyles occur well before the incident. While there might have been one incident that pushed an individual to relapse, it’s possible risk factors had been there for a while. addiction relapse Since a lack of self-care can cause some to develop substance abuse habits in the first place, pouring caring energy back into yourself is a vital part of sustained recovery.

However, utilizing your support system is important throughout the recovery process, as this can provide reassurance that can help you get back on your feet. Returning to neighborhoods, bars or homes where you previously used substances can activate cravings and old habits. Even seemingly positive situations — such as celebrations or achievements — can sometimes lead to relapse if you haven’t developed healthy ways to process these emotions.

Without follow-up care, your partner is walking out of detox with raw nerve endings, fragile hope, and none of the tools to handle stress, shame, or emotional triggers. It’s not willpower that sustains recovery—it’s support, structure, and new skills. Mental health and substance use often interact, and untreated mental health issues can increase the chance of relapse. Telehealth services have expanded access to therapy and outpatient drug rehab.

• If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, getting help is just a phone call away, or consider trying therapy online with BetterHelp.
• You go back to using or drinking as a way to cope with the unexpected.
• Funding considerations following relapse require realistic assessment of available resources.
• Thankfully, you can get back on track after a relapse happens.
• Instead, a relapse can be a sign that you need more support, treatment, or education to achieve your goals.
• This complexity is why effective treatment programs focus not just on stopping substance use but on building coping strategies and relapse prevention skills as well.

Relapse is a threat to everyone with an alcohol or substance use disorder.

You’re now better equipped to handle your recovery and achieve success, because you know what not to do and what to look out for. Not only do you need support during and following treatment, you also need support when a relapse occurs. Reaching out right away to your support network will greatly influence whether or not you take the steps to get back on track after a relapse.

Overlooking PTSD can lead to relapse, with risk of overdose and death.

You might stop going to support groups or stop making time for self-care. You feel like you are “cured” of your substance use disorder. Just as with these other illnesses, the risk of addiction relapse decreases among those who carefully manage their disease and stick with their designated treatment plan. Continued care provides stability, reinforces coping strategies, and supports mental health.