What to Do When Relapse Seems Inevitable

Sep 25, 2022

After overcoming the obstacles of treatment and managing recovery on your own, you may feel like your world is on an uphill path. While there are many positive encounters you have yet to experience during recovery, you are not in the clear. You will still have various obstacles to overcome during your lifelong recovery journey. 

When you feel stuck in a downward spiral, relapses can seem inevitable. This is why it is important to have knowledge of relapse prevention strategies that you can use during the moments you feel triggered to use again. 

Managing the Downfalls

When you are experiencing new obstacles and feel that you are in a downward spiral, it is greatly important to keep your faith strong. Keeping a strong faith in both yourself and God, you can overcome any obstacle that hinders your path to lifelong success. A great way to calm down and alleviate your stress of a potential relapse is to find a safe, comfortable space and pray. There are many benefits of prayer during difficult times:

  • Prayer can be considered a form of meditation, which is a great way to reset your mentality and clear your state of mind from the fear of relapse.
  • Gain a clear focus, moving forward. Prayer is a great way to reassess your needs and goals.
  • Prayer is a great way to improve your mental state.

Your coping mechanisms are another vital aspect that can make all the difference in how you handle the negative obstacles that life throws at you. Throughout the process of recovery, you have gained various coping skills to help with different situations. Review the coping skills you have learned and contemplate which skills could be implemented to help you best overcome your current obstacle. If needed, you can create new coping mechanisms that better apply to your current situation to avoid a relapse.

Emotional regulation is a highly beneficial skill. As you are experiencing great amounts of negativity, it can be easy to fall into the assumption that relapse is the only option to move forward. By regulating your emotions and looking at a realistic solution, you can fully grasp the obstacle in front of you and make a healthy decision to move forward. It is okay to feel negative emotions at the time. We are here to help you respond to them and overcome them in a healthy way rather than continuing to spiral downward into a state of relapse.

Accepting the Potential of Relapse

At times, when relapse feels inevitable, it is important to address those feelings. You should not rely on relapse as the only option to move forward; however, relapses do occur at times. If you fail to overcome a relapse, take the opportunity as a learning experience and use the knowledge to avoid reaching a state of relapse again in the future. Nobody is perfect. Being aware that relapse is a potential outcome and doing your best to avoid it is all that you can do.

When you experience bad days, try to look at your future goals and picture yourself in a state of achievement. Think about how you will feel when those goals are accomplished. There are always multiple roads to success, meaning that relapse is not the only option available. If you do experience a relapse, it is possible to come back from it as long as you stay committed to your recovery. Multiple pathways can lead you to success in your future.

Remaining in Recovery

To remain in recovery and continue your success, it is important to overcome the mindset of relapse being inevitable. Remaining in recovery takes a commitment to betting yourself continually for the rest of your life. While the concept of this seems overwhelming, it is an essential viewpoint for success for everyone. Even outside of addiction recovery, there are always aspects to improve. Having a growth mindset can encourage you to remain in recovery and build an enjoyable life for yourself.

Your health should always be a top priority. By taking care of your mental and physical health, you can avoid dwelling on these assumptions that will set you back. Health is a great way to continue building your foundation for success and building a positive future for yourself beyond recovery.

If you feel you are straying away from the path of recovery and fear falling into a mentality of relapse being the only option, it may be time to reassess your recovery plan. Exit plans that are built upon release of treatment are typically catered to your needs at that time. While the plan can often be used throughout the remainder of your recovery journey, you may need to implement changes to keep you on the right path. If you notice aspects that need to be added, don’t hesitate to reach out to your treatment team and adjust your exit plan as your needs evolve.

Relapse is always a potential concern to be aware of when working through the lifelong journey of recovering from an addiction. Through treatment, you have likely gained many skills to help you overcome these feelings and worries. However, during difficult times, relapse can feel inevitable despite all of the skills you have gained to avoid it. If you feel that relapse is inevitable, it is important to address those feeling rights away. Relapses can occur and can turn into a positive learning experience after the encounter, but that is not the only pathway to success. Using these skills and techniques, you can overcome the mentality that relapse is inevitable and overcome these feelings without reaching the state of relapse. To learn more about managing these feelings and overcoming the downfalls of addiction, reach out to Renaissance Ranch today at (801) 308-8898.