Relapse Prevention Programs in Milwaukee, WI (877) 804-1531

Drug addiction is a disease that a person struggles with for a lifetime. Even if a person has achieved sobriety, it is always possible that he or she could relapse or return to drug or alcohol abuse. For this reason, it is important that a person participate in relapse prevention programs.

Relapse prevention prepares a person for the potential temptations that a person can experience throughout the course of his or her sobriety. For help, contact Milwaukee Drug Treatment Centers at (877) 804-1531.

Statistics of Relapse

Relapse prevention programs are of great importance because the chances for drug abuse after a period of sobriety are 50 percent, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). These rates are similar to those of other chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. There are many ways that drug addiction is like other chronic illnesses, including the facts that addiction has both biological and behavioral factors -- it is a physical addiction as well as a mental one.

What are the Stages of Relapse?

Relapse tends to follow a progression of thoughts and actions that leads to an eventual return to substance abuse. It is not an inevitability, and if it does occur, it does not mean that a person cannot become sober again.

Emotional relapse is the first step in the process. If a person can identify this step early, he or she may be able to stop negative thoughts and actions before they progress further. Entering this stage does not mean a person is thinking about abusing drugs or alcohol again. Instead, he or she may not be taking as good of care or himself or herself, which can lead to negative thoughts and feelings.

Signs a person is going through this phase include:

Anxiety or tension
Denial, convincing himself or herself that everything is okay
Exerting control over a person's life by attempting to over-exercise, go on a strict diet or control a person's thoughts
Memory loss
Trouble sleeping

During the mental relapse phase, a person does begin to contemplate using drugs again or may even start creating a plan to use drugs. The person may start to think of his or her drug use as "the good old days" and start associating with people the person once abused drugs with.

Characteristics of this phase include:

Beginning to contemplate drug use and/or justifying that using drugs again is an acceptable option
Denial that a person is experiencing difficulties related to drug or alcohol abuse
Feeling as if drugs may be the only way for the person to feel better
Feeling out of control
Refusing to reach out for help from others
Starting to resume old habits, such as hanging out with people the person used to do drugs with

Physical relapse occurs when a person gives in to addictive thinking and starts to use drugs or alcohol again. This does not have to mean a person will always use drugs for a long time period. Instead, a person may quickly correct the lapse and return to sober living.

What Relapse Prevention Programs Aim to Do

Because sobriety failure is often a progressive occurrence, teaching a person to recognize symptoms as early as possible can help him or her prevent recurrent substance abuse from ever occurring in the first place. By offering education, programs and therapies, the Milwaukee-based drug treatment center aims to help a person identify signs of sobriety failure as early as possible to avoid future issues and concerns.

Examples of strategies and programs a prevention program can provide include the following:

Attending counseling sessions
Attending sober living meetings or programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous
Finding an aftercare program for a person to prevent drug abuse
Finding a sponsor who can support a person struggling with addiction
Identifying high-risk situations and warning signs that could lead to drug abuse
Identifying warning signs that could indicate a person is heading toward drug abuse
Starting beneficial therapies, such as yoga or writing in a journal

Just as drug and alcohol addiction treatment therapy should be individual, so should relapse prevention programs. Offering a variety of services means people can find the ones that best suit their needs. Call Milwaukee Drug Treatment Centers for help today. Dial (877) 804-1531.