“Fortunately I have a son, my beautiful boy
Unfortunately he is a drug addict.
Fortunately he is in recovery.
Unfortunately he relapses.
Fortunately he is in recovery again.
Unfortunately he relapses.
Fortunately he is not dead.”
― David Sheff ‘Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction’
The above quote accurately sums up the experience of someone who is in recovery from addiction and the experience of a caregiver. Addiction can take over one’s life and turn it upside down for everyone who cares about the person. Relapse is often common when we talk about recovering from addiction.
Let’s understand more about addiction, lapse, relapse and recovery.
Addiction is a long-term psychological condition which involves the compulsive intake of a substance or the persistent performance of an activity in spite of harmful and negative outcomes. A person can get addicted to substances such as alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, illegal street drugs (marijuana, heroin, LSD, PCP) and prescription drugs. Viewing pornography, shoplifting and gaming can also be addictive activities and cause serious damage to a person’s life.
Addiction involves developing tolerance for the substance i.e. a state where the person needs more of the substance to get the satisfaction or another substance. When the person gets addicted and develops tolerance, the person will be dominated by the addiction and will constantly think about using. The impact of addiction is very prominent on all areas of life. When the person thinks of quitting and tries to, they will experience withdrawal symptoms and go back to using.
Intensive psychotherapy (CBT, Motivational) is required to treat addiction. After rehab, the person will return to their daily life and responsibilities. There will be many old triggers – people, places, situations – which will tempt the person to use substances again. Abstinence is hard to achieve and harder to maintain.
A ‘lapse’ refers to a single event where the person engages in problematic behavior (e.g. drinks alcohol) after quitting. When the lapses become regular (e.g. drinking alcohol daily) then it is called a ‘relapse’.
Therapy for addiction consists of developing plans for relapse prevention.
Following are some of the strategies for sustaining long-term recovery:
1. Cognitive Restructuring
Cognitive therapy helps in modifying irrational beliefs about addiction, relapse, recovery and what it says about the person. For e.g. “I am not fun without using (the substance)”, “Recovery is too much work”, “I will relapse as I am weak”, “I need to hide my relapse”, “I am worried that my addiction has broken me”. All these thoughts are maladaptive thoughts and will be modified in therapy. Healthier and adaptive thought patterns will help in long-term recovery. The client is also taught relaxation techniques for managing their anxiety.
2. Lapse management
A high-risk situation is a situation where the person’s ability to abstain from the substance is threatened. In therapy, the client is asked to make a list of both low and high-risk situations. To prevent relapse, the client has a contract with the therapist to immediately inform them of any lapses and to limit the use. The situations can be evaluated in sessions and relapse prevention plans can be constantly modified.
3. Managing Fear
After rehab or after some relapses, the client can develop a fear of relapse, fear of not knowing how to live without using the substance, fear of failure, etc. All these concerns and fears will be dealt with in therapy.
4. Developing Healthy Coping techniques
Coping refers to tolerating emotions and situations without losing your emotional stability. Substance use often starts from a need to numb or repress difficult emotions. Substances provide an escape from reality by making the person feel something else or nothing. Healthy coping skills can include reaching out to your support system, gratitude journaling, exercising, relaxation, going to therapy regularly, etc. These skills will help in expanding the emotional tolerance capacity.
5. Changing Perception of Fun
During therapy and recovery, the client will be under a lot of stress. They tend to think lovingly about their early phases of addiction (unhealthy coping). Hence, redefining fun and discovering fun in other parts of their life is important for their recovery.
Relapse prevention and recovery are continuous and complicated processes. The right kind of interventions are needed and important to sustain long-term recovery. Veda is the best rehabilitation centre for the treatment of addictions – alcohol and drugs. Veda Wellness has various residential programmes for de-addiction treatments.