The psychological, emotional, and physical hurdles a person has to clear when they choose to seek treatment should never be overlooked. Yet, the miracle is that anyone stuck in addiction can receive help and become sober. Countless people have beaten the odds of addiction. However, this fact is what also makes a relapse so hard to digest when it happens. The feelings of dejection can be enormous. However, this can all be avoided if someone recognizes the early stages of relapse.
How Common Are Relapses?
According to the 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 one year of treatment.” While these statistics are pretty staggering, they need not be discouraging.
The key is to get motivated by statistics like these to ensure that a relapse doesn’t happen in your daughter’s recovery. How exactly can you ensure a relapse-free recovery? While there is never a 100% guarantee, being able to spot the stages of a relapse can be crucial. It is also critical to understand that a relapse is a process, not an event.
Understanding Relapse as a Process Rather Than an Event
Most people in the recovery realm now agree that relapse happens long before the literal drink drug enters the body. In 12-Step recovery, addiction is often referred to as a “three-part illness.” These parts include the “spiritual malady,” “physical allergy,” and the “mental obsession.”
When it comes to the process of relapse, mental obsession tends to be the most dominant. However, for many people, it starts with the spiritual malady.
What Are the Stages of Relapse?
The three-part illness described in the 12-Step tradition also correlates directly to the clinical model of the stages of relapse. Stages in the clinical version are the emotional, mental, and physical stages of a relapse. A relapse often begins with untreated emotional issues that start to rise to the surface. These emotions often arise, due to a lack of a healthy spiritual condition.
Stages of Relapse: The Emotional
Emotions of all kinds can lead to a spiritual malady. When feelings of unhappiness, restlessness, boredom, uselessness, depression, or fear arise, a spiritual malady will surface. Now, a spiritual malady does not have to specifically refer to a Higher Power or God. It can also be a term that is merely representative of getting too far removed from a set recovery plan by wayward emotions.
There is a concept in 12-Step recovery known as “one day at a time.” While this expression means to take it slow and not get overwhelmed in recovery, it also means that someone has a daily reprieve and opportunity to turn to a spiritual source. If this reality is ignored, many of the negative emotions that exist in active addiction may continue into active recovery.
When uncomfortable emotions arise, there is a good chance that the next stage of relapse isn’t far behind. This is the mental stage, which correlates with the mental obsession previously mentioned.
Stages of Relapse: The Mental
When a person is not well in their recovery practice, they often search for ways to make them feel better. If they are active in their recovery program, they will often find the solution there. However, if they are not, they will look for a solution elsewhere.
This is often when an individual starts thinking about drinking or using substances again. Once this happens, the mental obsession kicks in, and eventually, all one wants to think about is how that drink or that drug might make them feel better and might solve their problems.
Ultimately if the mental stage is not detected, there is a good chance that the last step is just around the corner. That is the physical stage of relapse.
Stages of Relapse: The Physical
The physical stage is when the obsession turns to intense cravings and ultimately to the act of drinking or using. Also, when this happens it triggers what is known as the “physical allergy.”
A physical allergy means that once a drink or a drug is consumed, the body has an abnormal reaction involving insatiable cravings. This is why catching a relapse before this stage can make the process of getting back on track so much easier.
Relapse as a New Beginning: Clearview
Here at Clearview, we understand that relapse is sometimes a part of recovery. However, it is important to not get discouraged.
After all, it isn’t how we fall in life. It is how we get back up. If your daughter experiences a relapse, just remember that it never has to be the end of recovery. We can help her make it a stronger, more substantial new beginning.
It is important to understand that a relapse is more of a process than an event. A relapse often begins long before the actual physical drink or drug is taken. Relapses happen in three stages: the emotional distress stage, the mental obsession stage, and the physical use stage. However, there are often warning signs that a release may be on the horizon, which makes intervening before one occurs a real possibility. If you feel like your daughter is struggling with addiction or is on their way to a relapse, we can help. For more information on the stages of relapse and what to do about them, please contact Clearview Horizon today at 866-584-4788.
