Luxury Rehab | How to avoid Relapse
How frequently do people relapse? This is one of the inevitable questions new patients ask us as they register at Moffitt Wellness Retreat, our luxury rehab facility.
What is relapse? Relapse can be defined as “resuming the use of a drug or a chemical substance after one or more periods of abstinence” (Wikipedia). According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) relapse rates often range between 40%-60% nationally. Drug addiction is extraordinarily tough to defeat and often people who suffer from drug addiction are genetically or physically predisposed to addiction. They also may live around “triggers” which encourages their drug use, and/or have been raised in an environment where drug use was the “solution” to manage difficult life situations.
Most luxury rehab centers understand how important it is for its patients to transition into a new life after rehab. After all, the last thing we want is for our patients is to successfully detox, complete their total rehab treatment, and then get thrown back into the exact same situation from which they left.
At Moffitt Wellness Retreat, one of the best luxury rehab facilities available, we aggressively strive to ensure that these factors are systematically addressed during private and group counseling sessions, and that relapse prevention is at the top of the list during discussion.
Relapse Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
Below is a list of five of the most common mistakes shared by people who struggled first with addiction and then with relapse, along with how you can avoid them.
1. Loneliness
During your addiction rehab treatment, you are surrounded by supportive staff and patients all helping each other. However, when you finish your rehab treatment and return home, you may suddenly experience a void of friends and/or supportive individuals. You may feel all alone while trying to fight to stay sober. Unfortunately, this very sense of loneliness may cause you to turn back to your old ways and seek the company of “friends” who abused drugs and alcohol with you previously.
Some excellent ways to fight loneliness when you have just returned from your luxury rehab treatment are:
- Do not be alone; participate in counseling and your rehab center’s aftercare program.
- Reach out to a friend or mentor to act as your sober companion. Surround yourself with people who care about you and your wellness.
- Take classes at a local community college. Pursue your dreams of learning something new or acquiring a new skill.
- Go to the gym or get involved with sports teams. Remember that half-marathon you always wanted to do, now is the time to start training for it.
- Volunteer with local charities. Serve others and make a difference in their lives.
- Find a group or community activity to participate in. There are many activities that your city may host, for example, a picnic on National Outdoor Day, a hike for Earth Day, handing out flags on Independence Day, etc. Many of these activities are low cost or free volunteer activities.
- Get involved in a new hobby. Always wanted to play with clay, take up ceramics. Or, what about cooking, knitting, dancing, golf, bicycling or learning a new language. This also gives you an opportunity to meet like-minded individuals who are interested in the same things you are.
- Get involved in the arts or music.
2. Expecting too much, too fast
Once out of luxury rehab, you are seeing the world through drug-free eyes. It may feel like you can conquer all your problems in one big step. Instead of trying to solve every problem you ever had immediately; take it one step at a time. Set progressive goals. Accomplish one, and then move onto the next.
For example:
Goal 1 - Change my cell phone number, and remove old friend contacts.
Goal 2 - Get my family to speak with me again.
Goal 3 – Rebuild your reputation at work.
Once you have your goals set, work toward them each day and check your progress at the end of each week.
3. Refusing to communicate
Just because you have had your own realizations about your substance abuse does not mean that your family and friends automatically know and understand what you went through. They may not completely grasp where you are now mentally, physically, emotionally, and even spiritually.
Frequently, after rehab, you may be upset with friends or family that still does not trust you. And to teach them a lesson, you start using again. This behavior or response is not a solution. The best way to approach this problem is to take a minute and remember why you are upset. Talk to your aftercare advisor, your support group, or other family members and decide on the best plan to regain their trust. Finally, put that plan into action. It can be hard to rebuild a new life, but it is worth it.
4. No longer reaching out for help
Just because you have graduated from your luxury rehab treatment doesn’t mean you won’t need help with anything. Your rehab was only step one. In fact, now that rehab is over, you have a whole new set of challenges to overcome.
The best way to meet those challenges and come out on top is to reach out and get help from the people who want you to succeed in your goals, to live a clean, sober, healthy, and happy life. One previous patient adopted a “Sharing is Caring” philosophy. Because he cared about his family and friends he made a point of sharing his experiences, his successes, and his struggles with them. This allowed them to be involved in his recovery and be there for him.
5. Giving up
Life is too hard! It is so easy to feel like life after rehab is too hard.
But realize that millions of people in the world encounter situations in life they don’t know how to overcome all of the time. However, almost any obstacle can be overcome if you reach out to the people who care about you. Just think of your friends, family, support groups, your aftercare advisor, and others who are invested in seeing you succeed.
Summary
The above five points on how to avoid relapse after your luxury rehab treatment is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more ideas to research. But a central theme we have heard from almost all past patients is the importance of surrounding yourself with people who care about you.
If you or a loved one is searching for freedom from alcohol addiction or simply need guidance in discovering the benefits and importance of healthy living, now is the time to start your path towards healing at Moffitt Wellness Retreat.