Common Relapse Triggers and How to Avoid Them

After completing a recovery program in Los Angeles, California, it is common for individuals to experience a relapse at least once during recovery. Often, triggers cause these relapses, making it difficult for recovering individuals to cope independently. Understanding these triggers and how to avoid them are essential to your recovery.

Here, we discuss the most common relapse triggers and how to avoid them:

• Stress
  Stress is a common cause of relapse, considering how many folks turn to addictive substances to cope with stress in the first place. To prepare for this trigger, evaluate the stress you are experiencing. Although you can’t remove all stressors in your life, you can take steps to avoid certain situations and persons that cause extreme stress.
• Negative Emotions
  After receiving substance abuse treatment, you must learn effective ways of tolerating, managing, and making sense of the negative emotions you encounter daily. Although alcohol, drugs, and addictive behavior offer temporary relief, they do not provide long-term solutions. Understand that negative emotions don’t necessarily have to be a setback. What matters is how you deal with those emotions positively.
• Times of Celebration
  Positive events can also be triggers. You may feel happy, confident, and in control during occasions like birthdays or holidays and think you can handle one drink or hit. Individuals who struggle with addiction may lose their ability to know when to stop. Hence, it helps to have a friend you can trust to help you when you are at risk of relapse.

We at New Hope Drug& Alcohol Treatment Program, Inc. offer a comprehensive recovery program. Set an appointment with a leading drug treatment center in California to learn more about case management and our outpatient services.