The iconic yogi and spiritual leader B.K.S. Iyengar famously said, “As animals, we walk the earth. As bearers of divine essence, we are among the stars. As human beings, we are caught in the middle, seeking to reconcile the paradox of how to make our way upon earth while striving for something more permanent and more profound.” These are prophetic words and can be especially pertinent to individuals in recovery. However, what if a relapse happens? This is often when important messages and advice go by the wayside. The good news is there are many effective means, methods, and modalities that can help one recover after a relapse happens.
Better Understanding Addiction
Millions of people struggle with addiction every day. This is especially true in the U.S. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “40.3 million people in the United States had an SUD in 2020. In 2020, only 6.5 percent of people with SUD received treatment.” Also, “In 2021, about 107,000 people died of drug overdoses.” These statistics are also just a reminder of how deadly addiction can be. It is one of the deadliest diseases affecting Americans today, and yes, addiction is a disease.
Many people mistake addiction as some type of moral failing or “choice.” This is not only false, but it also adds to the unnecessary stigma that often keeps people from entering recovery. The reality is that addiction has more to do with other chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease than it does with a “choice.” Addiction is also a “family disease.”
A family disease means that addiction affects more than just the individual who is struggling. It affects everyone around that individual. This is why addiction is often referred to as “a tornado that destroys everyone and everything that it comes into contact with.” However, while the family may be the most affected by a loved one’s addiction, they also often have the greatest opportunity to help their loved one get the help that they need. However, they must first be able to spot the signs and symptoms of addiction.
The Signs and Symptoms of Addiction
Now, the signs and symptoms of addiction (and mental illness) are always going to vary based on the individual. However, one can look out for many universal signs and symptoms of these addictions and mental illnesses. The following are just a few of those signs and symptoms:
- Having feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness
- Not being able to stop once starting drinking or using
- Experiencing physical ailments such as headaches, body aches, and gastrointestinal problems
- Feeling anxious, nervous, or overly “stressed out”
- Having trouble with sleep cycles, including sleeping too much and not sleeping enough (hypersomnia and insomnia)
- Losing interest in activities once enjoyed
- Loss of appetite and a lack of care regarding physical appearance and well-being
- Exhibiting excessive mood swings
- Isolating away from family and close friends
- Experiencing trouble at work or school
- Causing harm to oneself or others
- Having suicidal ideations
Now, many people can minimize addiction or falsely categorize it as that previously mentioned “choice.” However, as one can see, these signs and symptoms are significant and can be deadly. This is why reaching out for professional help as soon as possible is vital. Doing so could mean the difference between short-term side effects and long-term consequences. It can also help one avoid a relapse or know what to do if a relapse happens.
What if a Relapse Happens?
Many people don’t realize just how prevalent relapse is in the U.S. According to the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychiatry Reports, “It has long been known that addictive disorders are chronic and relapsing in nature. Recent estimates from clinical treatment studies suggest that more than two-thirds of individuals relapse within weeks to months of initiating treatment.” Also, “For 1-year outcomes across alcohol, nicotine, weight, and illicit drug abuse, studies show that more than 85% of individuals relapse and return to drug use within 1 year of treatment.”
Many people think that a relapse is just about an individual picking up the drink or the drug. Yes, of course, this is the literal aspect of a relapse, but a relapse happens in the mind long before drinking or using even takes place. This is why knowing the signs and symptoms of a relapse can be so important. It can stop a relapse before it even happens.
The Signs and Symptoms Before a Relapse Happens
Now, the signs and symptoms of a relapse can be hard to see if one doesn’t know what they are looking for. The following are a few of the common signs of a relapse:
- No longer connecting with one’s recovery program (such as attending therapy sessions)
- Avoiding other people in recovery
- Isolating away from family
- No longer attending recovery meetings
- If part of one’s program, no longer attending religious services
- No longer caring about one’s health or personal hygiene
- Romanticizing drinking and using
- Hanging out with friends who still use or drink
- Feeling depressed
- Being anxious when thinking about alcohol and/or substances
Now, this can all be very concerning. However, the good news is that there are many helpful places to turn to if a relapse happens.
Who Can I Turn to if a Relapse Happens?
Many people are embarrassed after they relapse. They worry that they may be judged or that people will not understand how they could drink or use again after going through all of the hard work in recovery. However, the reality is that people are much more understanding of relapses, but only after one is willing to get honest.
One cannot get the help they need if they are not honest about what they are going through. However, just getting honest is sometimes not enough for recovery. One needs to connect to an honest and helpful recovery center.
If a Relapse Happens: The Importance of Individualized and Comprehensive Addiction Care
The reality is that the recovery realm is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. While this may be good because there are more options for individuals to get the help that they need, there are also some negative aspects. Being such a lucrative industry also offers opportunities for bad actors to focus more on their bottom line than their client’s best interests.
These are often the same recovery centers that only offer overarching “one-note” treatment plans that don’t take the individual into account. They also lack comprehensive treatment options that are often essential for successful long-term recovery. Lacking these modalities also stops an individual from getting to the essential underlying issues of their addiction.
If a Relapse Happens: Getting to the Underlying Root/Core Causes of Addiction
It is important to understand that addiction is about much more than the drink or the drug. This is why many people in alcohol 12-Step recovery state that addiction is “about the thinking more than it is the drinking.”
There are many causes of negative underlying issues that can lead to addiction. However, the predominant ones often have to do with trauma and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
Many people don’t realize just how prevalent instances of trauma are in the U.S. According to the peer-reviewed journal Psychological Medicine, “General population studies have shown that a large proportion of people in developed countries have been exposed to at least one TE [traumatic event] in their lifetime (estimates from 28 to 90%), with the most common events being the unexpected death of a loved one, motor vehicle accidents and being mugged. Much more limited evidence for less developed countries suggests that fatalities due to injuries and accidents are more common in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries….” The good news is that day treatment can help with these underlying issues.
If a Relapse Happens: Better Understanding Day Treatment
Day treatment can be an ideal option for individuals to recover after a relapse happens. This is especially true if one catches a relapse early. This is because the effects of treatment are often still fresh in an individual’s mind.
Day treatment can also be ideal for individuals who are able to keep one foot in their everyday lives. This is helpful if people have family or financial responsibilities that they need to be present to attend to. However, this does not mean that day treatment is less intense or effective than residential addiction care.
Most day treatment programs require an individual to take part in their recovery eight hours a day, five days a week. It also often requires an individual to attend 12-Step recovery meetings and participate in alcohol and substance testing. Day treatment also regularly includes psychotherapy.
If a Relapse Happens: Better Understanding Psychotherapy for Recovery
Psychotherapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) can be highly effective at getting to those previously mentioned underlying issues. CBT and DBT can help one to see the negative way that they have been viewing themselves and the world around them. Once these underlying views are discovered, one can begin to shift the negative addictive behaviors associated with them.
CBT can also be highly effective because it is not a passive form of therapy. It makes the individual an “active participant” in their own recovery. According to the peer-reviewed journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, “Consistent with the medical model of psychiatry, the overall goal of treatment is symptom reduction, improvement in functioning, and remission of the disorder. In order to achieve this goal, the patient becomes an active participant in a collaborative problem-solving process to test and challenge the validity of maladaptive cognitions and to modify maladaptive behavioral patterns…. Although these strategies greatly emphasize cognitive factors, physiological, emotional, and behavioral components are also recognized for the role that they play in the maintenance of the disorder.”
DBT is also highly effective because it focuses on mindfulness and acceptance. According to the peer-reviewed journal Psychiatry (Edgmont), “In DBT, several interventions and skills are geared toward conveying acceptance of the patient and helping the patient accept him or herself, others, and the world. One such intervention is mindfulness…. Some of the mindfulness skills involve attending to and nonjudgmentally observing the current experience, describing the facts of the current experience or situation, and fully participating in the activity/experience of the present while attending to one thing at a time (“one mindfully”) and focusing on effective, skillful behavior.”
If a Relapse Happens: Better Understanding Experiential Therapy for Recovery
Experiential therapy can also be highly effective for recovering after a relapse happens. There are many types of experiential therapies. Perhaps the most well-known are art therapy and nature immersion therapy.
Nature immersion therapy offers many benefits for long-term recovery. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Besides improvements to physical and psychological well-being, exposure to natural environments has been shown to bring about positive impacts on cognitive functioning… While cognitive restoration and physiological well-being are the prominent and renowned benefits of nature exposure, there is one important construct that is often overlooked in environmental psychology research studies – that is, the human-nature relationship, also known as connectedness to nature (CN).” This “CN” can also be experienced via holistic healing methods like yoga and meditation.
If a Relapse Happens: Better Understanding Holistic Healing Methods for Recovery
B.K.S. Iyengar also famously said, “Yoga allows you to find an inner peace that is not ruffled and riled by the endless stresses and struggles of life.” Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years. However, it was only recently that yoga was introduced into the realm of recovery.
Yoga offers a myriad of benefits for recovery after a relapse happens. According to the International Journal of Yoga (IJOY), “Therapeutic yoga is defined as the application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions. Yoga therapy involves instruction in yogic practices and teachings to prevent, reduce, or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional, and spiritual pain, suffering, or limitations. Yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.”
Meditation can also be vital for long-term success. It also goes beyond mere physical wellness. According to the International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda (AYU), “In physical exercise, the mind does not tell the muscles to get stronger; rather, the muscles are strengthened automatically by the exercise process. Likewise, in this exercise of consciousness, that is, meditation, the results are achieved automatically, not by controlling the mind or any other mental manipulation. The process of meditation goes beyond the mind to the deepest level of the inner Self.”
If a Relapse Happens: Working With Others for Long-Term Recovery
Working with others is also essential for long-term recovery. It is one of the best ways to stop a relapse from happening.
Working with others is so important that there is even a chapter dedicated to it in the primary text of 12-Step recovery (commonly referred to as the Big Book). The chapter states, “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking [and using] as intensive work with other [people in recovery]. It works when other activities fail…. You can help when no one else can.”
A Focus on Long-Term Success at Northstar Recovery Center
Here at Northstar Recovery Center, we believe in long-term success over short-term “fixes.” This is also why all of our treatment plans are individualized and comprehensive, with a focus on the future.
B.K.S. Iyengar said, “There is no progress toward ultimate freedom without transformation, and this is the key issue in all lives.” That transformation does not have to be halted just because a relapse happens. There is always a chance to get better, always another chance to recover. A relapse is never the end.
Recovery is out there. It’s time to go and get it! We’ll be here when you do.
Millions of people relapse every day. The good news is that there are many options where one can turn if they are about to relapse or if a relapse has already occurred. These options include many effective means, methods, and modalities that can help one not only recover but also stay recovered. If you feel like you or a loved one is struggling with issues of addiction, mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, we can help get you on the right road to long-term recovery right away. You don’t have to go through this process alone. For more information about avoiding relapse and how to best recover, please reach out to Northstar Recovery Center today at (888) 311-0911.