A relapse into abusing drugs and alcohol is a very normal part of most people’s recovery from their substance use disorder. If you have completed a successful addiction treatment program, experienced a period of sobriety, and then fell into a full-blown relapse, please be aware that you are not alone. Experiencing a relapse is not uncommon. Most psychiatric doctors and other professionals in the field of addiction treatment will tell you that relapsing is a normal part of most patient’s recovery efforts. If your cravings and thought patterns turn into using drugs or alcohol again, it does not mean that you have failed at recovery. It is essential for you to maintain hope, as there are many resources available to help you. It is your reaction to the event of a relapse that is critical to your end goal of long-term sobriety. Express forgiveness to yourself or your loved one who may have recently relapsed. Learning from your mistakes is the best way to ultimately heal, as the path to sobriety is a long and difficult one. We know because we’ve been there.
“Treatment of chronic diseases involves changing deeply rooted behaviors, and relapse doesn’t mean treatment has failed.”
–National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
How common is a relapse for people who go through a drug rehab program?
It is estimated that 40-60 percent of people who maintain sobriety through rehab, treatment, and recovery will relapse into heavy use, while 70-90 percent will relapse and use again at least once. In the medical field, a relapse used to be treated as an uncommon thing, but this has largely changed due to the advances in behavioral science and addiction therapy. Sadly, many addicts are stigmatized by society as hopeless drug fiends or treated with the perception that they are a bad person for their substance use. Many of us here in the addiction treatment industry are advocating a different perspective. With addiction being a curable disease, you could compare it to the relapse rates of people with other medical problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma. The rate of relapse into these common medical diseases is close to the same as for people with a substance abuse disorder. Treating this as a medical condition will help erase the stigma associated with drug and alcohol abuse.
As we have seen the overdose epidemic explode in the United States, it is important for us to begin treating this as a serious medical condition, not a criminal activity reserved only for the ‘bad people’ in society. As you are reading this now, most of us know someone dearly who has struggled with some form of substance abuse. While we look to help those closest to us, deep down inside we know there is still a good person underneath the surface of their drug or alcohol addiction.
It is estimated that nearly 72,000 people in the United States died from a drug overdose in 2017. That’s nearly 200 people who die, each and every day. – Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Warning: your drug tolerance levels will change. Relapsing is an extremely dangerous situation.
It is extremely important to note here that many who relapse will overdose their first time because they think they can do as much of the drug as they had been doing before they went through detox and a period of sobriety. Simply put, your body cannot handle as large an amount of the drug, even though they had built up a tolerance over their period of substance abuse. Your tolerance has changed through recovery and you might not be able to handle the “usual dose” as you have in the past and you could immediately die. We cannot stress this enough, so please keep this in mind throughout your post-recovery stage as most people do not plan to have a relapse.
Learn more about relapse prevention and the specific relapse triggers to avoid from Riverside, California drug rehab: https://10acreranch.org/why-do-i-keep-relapsing-5-ways-to-become-stronger/
Suboxone® is a prescription medication, used in the treatment of opioid and heroin addictions. Every single day in the United States, 130 people die from an opioid overdose, on average. This is according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which closely monitors the worsening opioid epidemic. Drug overdose deaths are arguably the most alarming health care crisis that our nation has ever seen. Today, more people die from a drug overdose than do from car accidents, firearms, homicides, or HIV/AIDS. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. Fueling the dramatic increase in deaths that result from drug abuse is prescription and non-prescription opioids including heroin and oxycodone.
Prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Vicodin or Percocet were once marketed as non-habit forming and many doctors prescribed them for all types of pain. Many of these patients became addicted to the painkillers and some would even turn to street drugs like heroin or fentanyl, once their prescriptions ran out. Opiates are known for having painful, excruciating withdrawal symptoms which makes it hard to quit, even when the person really, really wants to.
Suboxone can significantly aid in drug rehabilitation efforts, as the United States faces an overwhelming opioid overdose epidemic.
Suboxone is a prescription medication that combines buprenorphine and naloxone. This life-saving medication has been shown in numerous studies to ease opiate withdrawal symptoms in patients who are beginning their recovery from addiction. These studies also highlight that the medication is beneficial in helping to reduce the likelihood of relapse in many of the patients who use it as a part of their addiction treatment program. Suboxone is known as a medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which is used in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy and other approaches to addiction treatment.
In 2017 over 70,000 Americans died from a drug overdose according to the Centers for Disease Control. Most of these overdose deaths were fueled by an ongoing opioid epidemic that appears to only be getting worse as time goes on. Opioids were linked to 47,600 of these deaths (67.8% of all drug overdose deaths). With the United States battling this epidemic, the need for effective treatment options is at an all-time high.
Suboxone and buprenorphine are relatively new, yet they are an effective form of evidence-based treatment for addiction.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved Suboxone® to treat opioid dependence issues in patients in 2002. Because Suboxone is itself an opioid drug, it should only be taken with a prescription from a doctor, under close medical care and supervision at an addiction treatment facility.
Since suboxone and buprenorphine do exhibit the potential for abuse and misuse, they should be considered carefully, as a part of your ongoing recovery efforts. Much like methadone and naltrexone, Suboxone or buprenorphine medications like Subtex® should only be a temporary form of treatment for addiction to opioids. A step-down approach or drug-taper, should be followed carefully to prevent a replacement addiction from occurring. Tapering off medication is when the patient’s dosage is incrementally decreased, over time to eventually wean patients off of habit-forming drugs.
How does Suboxone help people recover from opiate addiction?
Helping to suppress cravings and often painful withdrawal symptoms, Suboxone has the potential to make the process of detox and recovery from opioid addiction much more manageable. Suboxone and buprenorphine have some distinct advantages over other medication-assisted treatments like naltrexone or methadone. Suboxone contains both buprenorphine (an opioid partial-antagonist) and naloxone (an opioid antagonist). The buprenorphine will allow the brain to think it is receiving opioids, while the naloxone component blocks the euphoric “high” associated with opioids. These components, in combination, will typically last for approximately 24 hours. Success rates, as measured by retention in treatment and one-year sobriety have been reported as high as 40-60% in some studies.
Learn more about the long term effectiveness of Suboxone in addiction treatment from Houston, Texas drug recovery: https://morethanrehab.com/2019/03/07/what-is-suboxone/
Addiction and mental health issues are deeply connected to the human brain. Roughly one in five adults in the United States was living with some form of mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. According to NIMH estimates in 2017, there were 46.6 million Americans living with at least one type of mental health problem. Many people turn to drugs or alcohol in an attempt to self-medicate their inner feelings from clinical depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, or other types of mental illness. Sadly, these people will go on living their lives, without a proper diagnosis from a doctor. Many of these patients will turn to drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism for their internal mental or emotional struggles.
Behavioral therapy, support groups, and other mental health services used to treat a dual diagnosis.
In the field of addiction treatment, when someone has a substance use disorder, coupled with another form of mental health issue, we call this a co-occurring disorder or a dual diagnosis. Sometimes addiction treatment alone is not enough. Many people who struggle with addiction also have a co-occurring mental health disorder that adds to their substance abuse problem. In a dual diagnosis treatment program, your treatment plan will be customized to meet your specific individual needs. A personalized addiction treatment plan is the best chance for a successful recovery in the case of dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorder.
Treatment for co-occurring disorders at a drug rehabilitation facility will commonly include a variety of physical, mental, and behavioral therapies. These are designed to work together on an individual basis, to help the patient with their mental health and to overcome their addiction. These will typically be conducted through a combination of individual and group therapy sessions.
Your treatment providers will work with you during your stay at rehab to formulate an aftercare plan that will help you stay focused on your recovery after you leave their direct care. Outpatient treatment programs, 12-step support groups and relapse prevention strategies will help you during this crucial, early phase of your recovery.
Detox from drugs or alcohol is the first step in diagnosing an underlying mental health issue.
Cognitive impairment from long term drug and alcohol abuse can often interfere with the proper diagnosis of mental illness. Once a patient undergoes a full medical detox, cleansing the chemicals from the body and mind, clinicians can start to assess the patient’s underlying mental health. This is a crucial part of addiction recovery, as many patients might not even realize they have been living with a mental health disorder. Some people have been using drugs or alcohol on a daily basis, filling up most of their daily life with intoxication. This can go on for years and years, without them ever realizing they have an underlying struggle with mental health.
When a patient finally experiences sobriety for the first time in a long while, the emotional stress can be very difficult to overcome. Stress, anxiety, sadness, and guilt are all commonly experienced when someone first enters addiction recovery services. This is why it is important for someone who struggles with drugs or alcohol to seek rehab from a professional treatment facility. These facilities should offer detox and recovery services for addiction treatment while a dual diagnosis drug rehab will offer help with emotional recovery, medication management, stress reduction, and other crucial mental health services. With the support of the right program, it is entirely possible to transform your life and rebuild yourself from the ground up.
To learn more about addiction treatment for people with underlying mental health issues, please visit Houston, Texas area drug recovery here: https://morethanrehab.com/2019/05/04/mental-health-and-addiction-treatment/
If you or a loved one is currently struggling with addiction, please understand that you are not alone. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), there are over 21.7 million people in the United States who currently need treatment for an issue concerning addiction or substance abuse. Many people who experience a problem with drugs or alcohol will not realize the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise. Living and eating healthy should play an important role in their recovery from addiction. Typically, when someone has abused drugs or alcohol over a long period of time, substance abuse has taken its toll on their physical and mental health. Through recovery from an addiction, a lot of emotional and mental growth is necessary to rewire the brain, helping to cure the symptoms of the addiction. The patient’s physical health should be a major concern as well. Developing healthy eating habits can help ease some of the early withdrawal symptoms. This will also provide a basis for total body, mind, and spiritual health.
For most people who have struggled with alcoholism or drug abuse, the disease of addiction has created other habits, besides just substance abuse. They will have likely developed some severe nutritional deficiencies as a result of their addiction. For someone who has abused alcohol, the client has usually replaced the calorie intake of food with calories from alcoholic beverages. Some who have developed an addiction to stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine may have skipped entire days of eating food altogether.
Focusing on eating healthy, nutritious foods early on in the initial detox phase of the recovery process is important not only to the physical well-being of the patient but also to the mental health of the individual as well. Replacing the use of illicit drugs or other substances with eating healthy meals, on a regular schedule, will help the person in recovery to develop new habits. This is the beginning of a whole new life, as these habits will play a major role in their successful recovery from addiction.
Food has a profound influence on the way the brain functions. As someone who has studied nutrition, we can assure you that eating unhealthy foods can cause a multitude of health problems. Some chemicals found in fast food can actually have addictive properties in themselves. It is fairly common for us to discover that many people who enter a drug rehabilitation program, sadly cannot remember the last home-cooked meal they ate. Most of these patients will admit that they would simply eat McDonald’s or Taco Bell every single day, that is if they even ate food at all. This is essentially malnutrition and it can have a profound, lasting effect on the mind and on the body.
What healthy foods should I eat while in an addiction treatment program?
A healthy diet in recovery will take into account the levels of serotonin and try to balance them through eating nutritious foods. Serotonin is a hormone produced in the brain that regulates mood and helps the body relax. There are many types of foods to consider as part of a healthy diet for recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. A healthy diet for someone in recovery should include the following:
