Warning Signs For Relapse in Drug Users

Understanding Drug Relapses

The onset of addiction is a gradual process triggered by long-term changes in the normal function of your brain. Instead, a treatment program aims to help you establish initial sobriety and develop the mental, emotional, and behavioural tools needed to remain sober after your program participation ends. Unfortunately, several factors can offset the effectiveness of these new tools and drastically increase the odds that a return to active drug intake will occur. Examples of these factors include:

• Everyday stress
• Encounters with specific drug-using cues (e.g., people, places or things associated with drug consumption in the past), and
• Erratic use of the coping skills learned during treatment

It is estimated that roughly 40% to 60% of all people affected by drug addiction will experience a relapse after first achieving sobriety. Even though relapse is common, this should not discourage you from seeking treatment. In treatment, we will teach you how to overcome relapse when it happens so you can continue on your path to sobriety. Do not let the fear of relapse keep you from achieving your goals. It is possible to overcome your addiction.

Emotional Warning Signs

There is a sequence of the warning signs that point toward an impending drug abuse relapse. It is concluded that the first signs to appear are emotional and occur before a sober addict gives any conscious thought to abandoning sobriety. Examples of possible warnings include:

• A failure to express emotions
• Failure to attend at least some of the scheduled meetings of a post-sobriety self-help group
• Failure to actively participate in a self-help group meeting
• Increasing social isolation
• A tendency to emphasise other people’s problems over your own
• Failure to maintain a healthy diet or stick to a regular sleeping routine

If you or a loved one is experiencing these warning signs of relapse, contact UK Detox. We are here to help you in every step of your recovery journey and can help you get back on track with your sobriety.

Psychological Warning Signs

The next warning signs of an impending relapse are mental and appear when a recovering addict consciously considers using again. They may include:

• The presence of active drug cravings
• Active reminiscing about past episodes of drug use
• The glamorisation of past episodes of drug use
• An increase in lying and/or social bargaining behaviours
• Active plotting of ways to use drugs without getting out of control ‘this time.’
• Active plotting of an actual relapse and/or overt drug-seeking behaviour

Typically, when these warnings appear, relapse is the next step unless there is some form of timely intervention.

Contact UK Detox 

At UK Detox we work with a wide range of rehabilitation facilities and detox centres around the country to suit your needs and circumstances and provide home detox’s. We are a premier service with an extremely high success rate, offering addicts the opportunity to get clean and sober and live a successful life. We are living proof that it is achievable and now we are here to help you on your journey into recovery. Change your story, change your life.