Multiple Addiction Relapses: Treatment Solutions To Consider

When it comes to addiction recovery, relapse is an ever-present risk, one that becomes far greater when a person is overconfident, stressed, tired, or in an environment connected to previous substance use. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 40-60% of people with a substance use disorder (SUD) experience relapse at some point, many of whom will have not just one but several periods of relapse in the days, months, or years following their first round of treatment.

Relapse should never be seen as the end of a person’s recovery. Instead, drug or alcohol relapse is increasingly viewed as a normal and expected part of the recovery process, one that can be anticipated and planned for to allow those who experience even multiple relapses to recognize a potential relapse before it occurs, limit the damage from these setbacks if they do occur, and carry on in their recovery journey as swiftly as possible. 

This is not to say that relapses are not dangerous or a serious concern. They are. Even multiple relapses can be treated with new approaches. 

Why People Relapse

When you use opioids, amphetamines, alcohol, or other drugs, they interact with your central nervous system, and your brain especially. How you are affected depends on the type of drug and how much you take, but all substances of abuse have the potential to produce pleasurable effects by releasing surges of neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin. 

This cycle of drug use for pleasure will, over time, train the body and the mind to desire and powerfully crave these substances. This is what makes drugs so addictive, especially when they also involve physical dependence, producing painful withdrawal symptoms when someone stops using them for a period of time. 

Even if a person makes progress in recovery, going weeks or months without using a particular substance and developing positive coping mechanisms, it can be easy to fall back into a pattern of instant gratification and relief.

This is especially likely to happen when a person is:

• under stress
• in pain
• bored
• lonely
• tired
• around situations that remind them of substance abuse
• around other people who are using drugs or alcohol

For people in these situations, returning to substance abuse often feels like the path of least resistance. It is easy, comforting, even automatic, but harmful. Overdose is of particular concern because the body is no longer used to the substance, but so are all the other negative effects of addiction.

However, continuing in sobriety may seem, at the time, the more difficult thing to do. This tension can lead to cycles of sobriety and relapse that can be painful, damaging, and discouraging for the person in recovery and their loved ones. 

Treatment Solutions For Multiple Relapses

Effective addiction recovery services are multidisciplinary, addressing the person’s physical health, mental health, relationships, and environment in order to promote long-lasting recovery. This is especially true when it comes to treatment for people who have experienced a number of relapses in the past. 

Specific treatment approaches that may be recommended to help people who have experienced multiple relapses include the following.

Step-Up Treatment

If you are not receiving the level of support and treatment that you need, it makes it that much more likely that you will eventually fall into old patterns and relapse.

Step-up treatment is an approach that increases the level of care you are receiving in recovery, whether this means moving you from:

• an outpatient treatment program to an intensive outpatient program (IOP)
• an IOP to a residential treatment program 
• a residential program to a high-intensity residential program or inpatient care

Your treatment can also be modified in a variety of other ways to increase the amount of time you spend with treatment professionals, the intensity of the services you are receiving, and more. 

Mental Health Treatment

Many people living with an SUD also have another mental health disorder, and many people with mental health disorders also struggle with substance use and SUD. In fact, according to the 2023 NSDUH, 34.8% of Americans over the age of 18 who have some form of mental health disorder also have an SUD, including nearly half (46.6%) of those with a serious mental illness (SMI). Similarly, around 44% of Americans ages 18 and older who have an SUD are also reported to have some form of mental illness. 

If these commonly co-occurring disorders are not properly treated, it dramatically increases the risk that the person will relapse in the future. So, if multiple relapses are occurring, the person experiencing them may want to consider speaking with treatment professionals who offer dual diagnosis treatment, such as those at Ohio Recovery Center and many other rehab centers across the U.S.

Medical Treatment

Along with unmet psychological needs, physical problems can contribute to relapse in a number of different ways. Medical treatment can help identify these underlying physical issues, like chronic pain, high blood pressure, insomnia, and more, and provide effective solutions to help people better manage them.

Like mental health disorders, these problems are often invisible until diagnosed, so getting yourself checked out and treated can make a big difference. 

Lifestyle Changes

Along with medical treatment, lifestyle changes and healthier choices can give you renewed health, energy, and a better mindset as you recover, making it easier to move past cravings and avoid triggers.

Positive changes that may be recommended include things like:

• improving nutrition
• developing a healthy sleep schedule
• getting regular exercise
• limiting social media 
• finding positive uses for your time 
• helping others
• moving to a safe and supportive home environment
• developing meaningful hobbies
• exploring spirituality 
• building a positive circle of friends
• reducing daily stress
• developing healthy personal boundaries

Relapse Prevention Treatment

According to experts, relapse is a gradual process with stages that, through education and counseling, you can learn to recognize and address as they develop.

These stages include:

1. emotional relapse: which is defined by poor self-care, negative emotions, not participating in treatment, and isolation
2. mental relapse: which begins when a person begins thinking about substance use and the people and experiences that were a part of it, including making plans to use substances again
3. physical relapse: which occurs when someone begins using substances again, but which can end when that person reaches out for help and is honest about their relapse

Relapse prevention training can help prepare you for these stages and the different warning signs and strategies you will need to manage them. It can also help change your focus to see the entire process of recovery differently, as a personal journey full of milestones and stages that all come with benefits. 

Self-Help Programs

There are people out there who have gone through what you are going through. Self-help programs, also known as peer support groups or 12-step programs (among other options), can help supplement professional treatment in meaningful ways, encouraging you to be honest, to be accountable, and to stick with your recovery day after day. 

Risks Of Relapse

Relapses are common, but they are also dangerous, with risks that include the following.

Overdose

Every time you detox from opioids, amphetamines, alcohol, or another drug, you reset your body’s tolerance for that particular substance. This means that your body may not be able to handle the drug or the amount of the drug used, leading to an overdose, which can be fatal in certain circumstances.

Full-Blown Relapse

“Just once” is one of the biggest lies that feed into drug or alcohol abuse. If substance use following recovery does occur, there is a far greater chance that you will continue in substance use as you did in the past, or even increase your use to new and dangerous levels. 

Full-blown relapses can go on for years, doing tremendous physical, mental, and social harm to those who have already put a great deal of effort into their recovery.  

Mental Or Physical Health Complications

Substances like alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and even prescription drugs all have the potential to be extremely toxic and to produce major chronic health complications. While recovery offers the body a chance to detox, heal, and recover from this toxic exposure, relapse can quickly undo this progress. 

Other Consequences

Relapse can cause all sorts of other avoidable, potentially life-changing consequences that you may ignore or not realize in the moment. Consequences like broken trust, a loss of close relationships, failed drug tests, job loss, DUIs, arrest, incarceration, and more.

What Recovery Really Means At Ohio Recovery Center

Recovering from substance abuse and addiction means more than just living without drugs and alcohol. As NIDA defines it, “Recovery is a process of change through which people improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential.”

At Ohio Recovery Center, we want to help you bring your potential into reality. Whether you have experienced a relapse, multiple relapses, or have never participated in a treatment program before, our team of treatment professionals can help you develop the tools and understanding you’ll need to live a substance-free life. 

Located in Van Wert, OH, our modern, comfortable residential treatment center offers a wide range of evidence-based treatment services for all forms of substance use disorder as well as mental health conditions, along with a variety of amenities and alternative treatment programming to help you feel comfortable and at home every day of your treatment program.

To learn more about our treatment services or to get started with your own personalized treatment plan, please reach out to our team today.