Once you have completed a stint in rehab and are ready to go into the real world, you will find that there are no guarantees that you will not relapse. However, there are a few tools that you can use to give you a much better chance of sticking to sobriety and these have been detailed here.
One of the most important things to remember is that you must stick to the rules and the recommendations that were given to you in rehab. If you think back to the tools you were given to help you cope, you will have a much better chance of sticking to sobriety.
Also understand that there will be times when you are alone, when you are feeling alone and depressed and at these times, the need to take substances may feel overwhelming. However, with a strong support network of friends and counsellors, a quick phone call make all the difference. Your treatment in rehab may have been a very positive experience for you, but it should not end simply because you have left the centre. You should still be working on healing yourself and ask for help from others.
One of the easiest ways to slip back into old bad habits is to not manage your time. When you have too much time on your hands, you may start looking for ways to fill it and find yourself focusing on the wrong triggers. However, if you try to fill those times with work, friends, and even hobbies, you will find it easier to push your addiction issues to the back of your mind and focus on your health.
It is so important to remember when you leave recovery that if you do make one mistake, and end up back where you started, you have not failed.
Don’t let it progress. Keep trying and you will succeed.
Failure is when you give up, not when you make a mistake, so if you do, focus on getting back onto the right path and ensuring that you go back to the treatment and the healthy habits you developed in rehab. There is no such thing as failure as long as you are willing to get back up and try again.