5 Ways to Prevent Relapse

Avoiding Temptation After Rehabilitation

It is a huge accomplishment to complete a treatment program and it’s a chance at a new life. After successfully graduating from rehabilitation for drug or alcohol abuse and addiction, it is a time of celebration and a time to put to use all of the tools you were provided for recovery. Now is the time to prepare for any situations that can threaten your sobriety and to create a plan of action moving forward. 

The team of drug and alcohol rehabilitation specialists at Orange County’s Fresh Start of California provides tips and words of advice for preventing relapse and staying in recovery. Knowing what to look out for, what to avoid, and how to protect your sobriety will help you keep from giving in to temptation and relapse. 

If you are living with drug or alcohol abuse or addiction and you want to get help, contact the team at Fresh Start of California today. 

5 Ways to Prevent Drug or Alcohol Relapse

Consider this the fight for your future; completing detox and rehabilitation is the beginning of your new life and preventing relapse is the key to continue moving forward. Protect your sobriety and recovery with the arsenal of tools you were provided in rehabilitation along with the tips listed below.

5 ways to prevent relapse and protect your sobriety are: 

1. Change your environment. You cannot stay well in the same environment that you were sick. If this means moving, changing friend groups, leaving behind toxic familial ties or family living in addiction, it is a sacrifice worth taking. Consider your sobriety as something that is worth any changes necessary- because it is. You must leave behind the environment that fed your addiction and embrace an environment that feeds a healthy, sober life. 
2. Create a schedule. Employ the comfort and stability that a routine provides and create a manageable schedule. Schedule time to eat, to exercise (even gentle exercises and walks), attend meetings, work, and sleep. Keep your schedule simple and add things as your confidence and energy grows. Include things that will help you clear your mind such as meditation, journaling, art, music, or other mindful practices.  
3. Eat a healthy diet. Feeling good, physically and mentally, can help you stay strong and prevent feeling lethargic, prevent avoidable mood and energy swings, and avoid nutrient imbalances that may lead to depression. Also, taking the time to mindfully choose your meals and cook them will connect you with what you are putting into your body in a whole new way. 
4. Avoid becoming complacent. Drug and alcohol addiction recovery is a grand task that deserves recognition and attention. Treat this accomplishment as it deserves by remembering the struggle and the strength it took to make it through to the other side. Continue to attend meetings and work the program that you subscribe to because choosing not to actively work your recovery is a risk that may lead to relapse. 
5. Build a network of support. The value of people you can depend on when you are in need is immense. A support group or several, and a few friends or mentors who you can call day or night can get you through the toughest of times. Addiction is often a disease of isolation, therefore, in contrast, recovery is about connection. Enlist the trusted help and support of a sponsor, mentor, friends, and family so that you always have someone to call. 

Protect Sobriety as if Your Life Depended On It: It Does!

If you are worried about facing the rest of the recovery path alone, you are in luck. The specialists at Fresh Start of California have the resources and tools to help you and our team can point you in the direction of support. Knowledge is power. Keep the ways to prevent relapse listed above in mind and place them in your virtual toolbox for when you feel tempted. Call your sponsor, do something meaningful and rewarding, be sure to eat healthy meals and get outside for some fresh air. The things that can prevent relapse are the things that will make you feel most alive while sober. 

If you have completed rehab but are feeling anxious about maintaining sobriety, contact our team. We can help you make it through to a new day. Call our Orange County drug and alcohol detox and rehabilitation facility today.