Long-term sobriety is the overarching goal for many of our clients here at Asana Lodge. This may be your goal, with the intentions to complete drug and alcohol rehab, and embark on a reality that reflects the long-term benefits of sobriety.
Approaching rehab with this mindset is a great starting point. However, in order to stand a chance of maintaining sober living, it’s vital that you understand what’s ahead, prepare for it, and commit to the requirements of such a goal.
Returning home after rehab can be an exhilarating yet vulnerable time, as you learn to lead a sober lifestyle. Your life will change, where your relationships will likely adjust, where your routine will most definitely change, and where your outlook will seem worlds apart from your current mindset.
However, through this step, obstacles, known as cravings, known as triggers, and known as relapse risks can present themselves, which you must be prepared for.
If you’re therefore wondering how to balance this transition, where you can maintain long-term recovery efforts, join us as we look at how to maintain sobriety long term with some proactive, easy to normalise tips.
The commitment to long-term recovery can seem significant. However, it is a significant change, which can benefit you, if you allow yourself to experience sobriety. Do so with our maintenance tips, with sustainability in mind.
What To Expect After Rehab?
Your life now may feel controlled and consumed by drugs and alcohol. You may feel negative, you may feel unhealthy, you may feel unstable, and you may feel surrounded by toxicity. This can soon change by completing rehab, which will offer a fresh, stable start towards sobriety.
When returning home after rehab, you can therefore expect change, opportunities for self-development, and a chance to exist without drugs and alcohol. We’re sure you can already envision how life-changing and how fulfilling this step will feel. However, with the good, you should be prepared for the not so good, which can be defined by relapse risks.
Every recovering addict will experience relapse risks. In fact, around 90% of people, recovering from addiction do experience a degree of relapse. You may struggle with drug and alcohol exposure, you may begin to fall into old habits, or you may experience commonly noted anxieties around such change.
Down to the fact that obstacles do exist, it’s therefore important that you’re prepared and that you’re armed with tips to maintain sobriety for the long term. Offering assurance, offering control and offering accountability, you can work to highlight the good, and suppress those obstacles to normalise and enjoy sobriety.
The Role of Relapse Prevention Planning
A big part of rehab which assists with independent maintenance of long-term sobriety is relapse prevention planning. Alongside a wealth of addiction treatment services, which you can complete here at Asana Lodge, the development of a relapse prevention plan, personal to you, will take place.
The role of relapse prevention planning is to assist with maintaining sobriety long-term, by providing a security blanket in the event of obstacles, which have been shared higher up. The plan will firstly help to minimise the risk of relapse, which of course will strengthen personal capabilities of sobriety.
Moving forward, in the event of potential cravings, of exposure or of relapse, this plan will help to guide individuals through such consequences, with the aim to restore and realign recovery efforts.
Of course, relapse is something that you’ll hope to avoid. However, as it’s the key causation for post-rehab anxiety, and the obstacle for long-term sobriety, it’s vital that a structure is in place, along with independent maintenance.
How To Maintain Sobriety Long Term
As change is imminent on a post-rehab basis, it’s very important to make adjustments and embrace them on an efficient basis. Here’s where we look at how to maintain sobriety long-term, with some proactive tips which can easily fit into and direct your new reality.
Follow a sustainable plan
In tandem with a relapse prevention plan, it’s vital that you have a sustainable daily plan in place. This will stand as your routine, which should focus on promoting health and wellbeing. By keeping to this plan, which can be fulfilled each day, you’ll have a greater chance of building up resilience, along with reducing the risk of obstacles.
Accept aftercare
Aftercare is a complimentary service that helps to ease the post-rehab transition. Services will usually focus on ongoing therapy and accountability sessions, to help you maintain motivation and attachment to your goals.
Aftercare sessions should fit into your above plan, to help you consistently build up the strength and traits to maintain sobriety long-term.
Know your personal triggers
Addiction triggers are personal, standing as the key motivator of substance abuse. If you know your persona triggers, you’ll be able to avoid their enablement, and also, you’ll be able to spot the signs of a potential obstacle before it materialises into negative impacts.
Avoid becoming complacent
Once your plan becomes sustainable, and sobriety is normalised, it’s easy to become complacent. You should however remember that recovery is for the long-term, which means that you should always be alert, that you should always be committed, and that you should always work on developing yourself.
Keep in the loop
Whether that’s with loved ones, with your peers or with your therapist, it’s wise to keep in the loop. By maintaining engagement, honesty and communication, you’ll have a support network to guide you, along with people around you to potentially spot the signs of relapse.
Support is very important when aiming for long-term sobriety, as the post-rehab road can be tough, yet worthwhile.
Know the signs of relapse
Knowing the common signs of relapse will be encouraged, paired with those of your personal triggers. By understanding the possibility of an emotional, mental and physical relapse, you’ll have control over your responses, and if necessary, when to activate your relapse prevention plan.
Being ahead of the game, being aware and being prepared are all very important when looking to maintain sobriety long-term. At Asana Lodge, we hope that the above tips, along with the offering of relapse prevention planning helps to ease this transition for you.
You’re at a noteworthy time where you’ve excelled through rehab. Now is the time to fully embrace how to maintain sobriety long-term, to continue your life-changing results. We’re here for you to alleviate this time.
Source
https://www.verywellmind.com/warning-signs-of-an-alcohol-or-drug-relapse-67895
