How to Prevent Relapse After Detox

Relapses are a normal part of detoxification processes. Despite this “normality,” the fear of relapse is an inherent phase in the final stage of detox treatment. Avoiding relapse after detox is part of the journey.

Once we feel “clean,” the fear of falling back creeps in. Is it real? Yes — and unpredictable. Months or even years after stopping consumption, relapse — for example, in drug use — is always a possibility we should not underestimate.

Quitting drugs means becoming aware that many risks still remain. To understand them better, here’s how to prevent a relapse and avoid falling back into drug use.

A relapse is basically “returning to square one.” It means going back to using and abusing the substance you were addicted to. Ultimately, it means returning to the state you were in before recovering.

Even so, we must not lose hope — we are no longer the same person. Now we know the way out. We know we are capable of reaching it, and that makes all the difference.

Relapses after treatment are often part of detox processes, which is why we should not view them as a defeat but rather as another obstacle on our path.

Addictions develop within a specific personal context. The behaviors around them often become rituals for the person. These behaviors — really habits — are hard to abandon and very easy to return to.

The trigger is usually a situation right on the edge of what we should or shouldn’t do, one that makes us see a risky decision as harmless.

Any decision — even a small one — that breaks the agreement we made with ourselves can pull us back and force us to create a new pact, one that must include avoiding the danger we now recognize.

It happened. We were clean… and now we’re starting again. But even if it doesn’t feel like it, we are much closer to success than we were at the beginning.

A risky situation appeared, and we chose wrongly — either because we didn’t recognize it or because we allowed a loophole in our personal agreement.

And here we are again, back at the start. But don’t despair — most of the contract is already written. Now we just need to add the clause that will help us avoid what we now know we cannot allow if we want to avoid falling again.

Every recovery involves a personal pact. After making a firm decision, it’s important that this pact be as clear and detailed as possible.

We must identify all situations that could become temptations and eliminate them completely.
Zero contact. No options. There is no negotiation at this point.

As mentioned, what binds us most to our addictions are the habits tied to them. When we give up an addiction, an empty space opens — and we must fill it as soon as possible.

We need to create new habits to replace the ones we’ve eliminated. When these new behaviors involve healthy activities, they stop being addictions and become hobbies — our lifeline.

It’s possible that before these new behaviors become habits, an unexpected risky situation may trigger a relapse. But we must not get discouraged. We must persist in our new habits and take note of what we overlooked so it doesn’t happen again.

Ultimately, detailed planning — both of what we must do and what we must avoid — along with respecting the decisions we’ve made, will be the pillars that sustain our success.