Relapse Prevention in Evanston, IL
If you are currently suffering from a drug or alcohol addiction and are exploring your treatment and recovery options, then it is possible that you might feel stressed out and overwhelmed thinking about all of your many options. However, you do not need to stress yourself out unnecessarily. When you are looking into treatment options for your addiction, you need to be sure you are seeking out treatment centers that offer programs for relapse prevention in Evanston. Relapse prevention treatment can help you with your addiction treatment and recovery in a variety of ways. So, before you become overwhelmed with all of the treatment options out there, get to know more about how relapse prevention programs can benefit you and why the treatment center you choose needs to offer treatment for relapse prevention in Evanston.
What Is Relapse Prevention?
To know why seeking out relapse prevention treatment is so important, it is vital to know and understand what relapse prevention entails. Relapse prevention is a form of addiction treatment in Evanston that keeps in mind the very real fact that most recovering addicts suffer from relapse at some point after they attempt addiction recovery. The idea is to make recovering addicts acutely aware of the possibility of relapse, what relapse is and entails, and to provide recovering addicts with tools, resources, and skills that they need to avoid relapse once their treatment is complete. These relapse prevention programs address addiction in multiple ways. Breaking the person's addiction in the immediate moment is just one component of this type of treatment. Focusing on the long-term and the endgame of avoiding relapse entirely and living a life of sobriety is the main goal of relapse prevention treatment.
Relapse Statistics Amongst Addicts and Alcoholics
Many people that are thinking about relapse prevention programs may actually choose not to seek out a relapse prevention treatment center because they assume that relapse really is not that big of a problem. This is faulty thinking at its worst though. Relapse is a very real issue for recovering addicts and the statistics are much higher than you would think. The truth of the matter is that relapse affects anywhere between 40 and 60 percent of recovering drug and alcohol addicts. This means that you have a high percentage chance of suffering from relapse if you are not extremely careful and extremely well-prepared with the help of a treatment program for relapse prevention in Evanston.
Warning Signs and Symptoms of Relapse
One of the most important things to learn through relapse prevention in Evanston is to learn how to identify the warning signs and symptoms of relapse. Some of the many signs and symptoms of relapse include:
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Secretive behavior
- Being unable to account for whereabouts
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Reminiscing about drug abuse
- Skipping therapy or group meetings
- Attempting to gain access to drugs
- Anger and aggression
- Lying about behaviors
- Lack of personal grooming and hygiene
Stages of Relapse
One of the common misconceptions about drug and alcohol relapse is the idea that relapse is a singular moment or instance of substance abuse. Relapse actually occurs in stages and does not always have to result in drug or alcohol abuse. The three stages of relapse are an emotional relapse, mental relapse, and physical relapse.
Emotional Relapse
The first stage of the relapse process is an emotional relapse. Emotional relapse is a process that can be hard to notice and detect because it is not necessarily directly related to substance abuse and drug addiction in Evanston. When a person goes through emotional relapse, they begin to succumb to negative feelings and emotional states that can be triggering to a person with an addiction. For example, feeling depressed or anxious can lead a person to engage in habits that are self-destructive or damaging. Other signs of emotional relapse can include mood swings, sleep disturbances, changes in eating habits, lack of personal hygiene, and even changes in housekeeping habits. All of these are signs that something is emotionally amiss that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
Mental Relapse
Mental relapse is the second stage of relapse and is easier to detect than emotional relapse. When a person is going through mental relapse, they begin to think a lot more about substance abuse. They may start to dream about using drugs or alcohol again, start to think about and plan how they can get drugs or alcohol, and spend a great deal of time thinking and obsessing about substance abuse again.
Physical Relapse
Physical relapse is the stage in which a person begins abusing or using drugs again after they have gone through treatment. This is the stage that most people know and understand and often requires a return to detox and possibly other treatment programs as needed.
Now that you have a greater understanding of relapse prevention in Evanston as well as relapse in general, you can be sure that you make the best possible addiction treatment decision for you and your needs. Call Evanston Drug Addiction Treatment Centers now for help (877) 804-1531.