In: Root » Health » Men and women
Having a relapse after quitting drinking can make a person feel hopeless and weak. Having a plan of attack for regaining sobriety can help people regain control of their lives. Many people who enter alcohol rehab to quit drinking will experience at least one episode where they fall "off the wagon" and begin drinking again. In fact, this is incredibly common - a 2005 study showed that 30 to 50 percent of people who quit drinking have at least one relapse that interrupts their sobriety. However, even with this knowledge many people struggling with alcohol addiction will go into a "shame spiral" that leads them to begin drinking heavily again. The first thing a person can do after a relapse is to stop drinking immediately. If they have gone through rehab at an alcohol abuse center, they should get in contact with a counselor immediately to discuss their situation. In many cases, talking with a rehab counselor along with getting help from a support group such as AA will be enough to get a person back on track, although in some cases the relapse could be severe enough to warrant checking back into rehab for further alcohol treatment. It's also important for a person to understand why they had a relapse. If they were exposed to certain environmental triggers such as friends who drink or being in social situations that made them uncomfortable, they should think about how they can avoid those triggers or review strategies for how to deal with triggers that they learned in their addiction treatment program. There can be other reasons that people have a relapse, such as pressures being put on them including work, family or financial stress. Having distance from the relapse gives a person a chance to calmly and intelligently understand why they made the decision to have a drink and address the underlying problems that could impact their future recovery. A relapse doesn't mean failure and it doesn't mean that a person needs to check back into a rehab center. It's a very common part of the process that many recovering alcoholics need to go through in order to achieve long-term sobriety. - Annabeth Morrison is a freelance writer living in Port Royal, Pennsylvania. She has written for major magazines, newspapers and online news sites.
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