What To Do After a Relapse: 5 Steps to Help You Get Back on Track and Sober

n this video, you will learn what to do after a relapse and 5 ways to get back on track and stay sober long term.

Check out the full blog post👇

How Do You Get Back On Track After A Relapse?
After a relapse, you can get back on track by realizing that relapsing is just a setback in your addiction recovery.

You might feel like you failed after a relapse. You might feel like you let your loved ones down. You might struggle to get back on track because you feel that relapsing means that recovery and sobriety are not meant for you.

You might feel hopeless after a relapse or that getting better is impossible for you.

woman-looking-sad

Addiction and relapse might make you feel like no one else shares your issues or understands what you are going through. Just like when you first got into treatment, remember that you met others struggling with addiction like you.

To get back on track after an addiction relapse, go easy on yourself. Remember that long-term sobriety is a process and not an end goal. Every long-term process will have setbacks along the way.

Addiction recovery is hard, which is why many avoid facing their issues. But you went through the process and faced your challenges. There is no shame in having a setback. Now, you can come back better than before.

Shame and self-blame will not be helpful after a relapse. Admit that a relapse happened and work towards figuring out what caused your relapse.

Life, for better or worse, continues during your addiction recovery process.

Maybe you were doing great, and then an unexpected life event threw you off the right path. You might lose a loved one, lose your job, go through a breakup, or another life event. A natural and unexpected event, like a pandemic or a hurricane, might uproot your entire life.

Sometimes, life is going great for a long time. Sobriety is easy. Then, you get bad news, and suddenly, you feel triggered. You go back to using or drinking as a way to cope with the unexpected. Suddenly, you are right back to where you were before you began recovery.

Other times, you follow all the rules of recovery for a long time, and you feel safe from relapsing.

You have been following your recovery plan for years. You have been sober and drug-free for a long time. You might stop going to support groups or stop making time for self-care. You feel like you are “cured” of your substance use disorder.

Many people relapse following long-term sobriety because they feel like they conquered their addiction. They feel like they can go back to using substances again because they won’t get addicted. Not again, they are cured.

Red balloon letters forming the word rules

You might fall into this mindset. Success can make you feel invincible. However, addiction is a disease, and you are still vulnerable to relapsing.

Whether you have been sober for 20 years or one month, drug and alcohol addiction are never really “cured.”

It would be best if you thought about relapse prevention, even when things are going well. Continue to take care of your mental health, attend support groups, and look out for other addictive behaviors.

Sometimes, relapsing might be a change from alcohol or drug addiction to another addictive behavior.

You might be sober and drug-free, but now you are gambling, eating, or working in excess. Relapse does not always mean a return to alcohol or substance abuse.

You can get back on the right path by reaching out for help.

You might need to go back to your support system and admit that you need treatment again. You might feel like you let your loved ones down. You might feel like you failed.

But, if you relapse, go easy on yourself. You are human and will make mistakes. Get help today and learn from your mistakes to prevent future relapses.

Knowing what a relapse is will help you understand when you or a loved one are in the middle of one. Being aware of relapse behaviors in earlier stages will help you prevent relapse from getting worse.

What Is A Relapse?
A relapse is a return to using harmful coping skills while in addiction recovery.

You might believe that relapse is a return to the same addictive behaviors that you have faced before. For example, if you had an addiction to opioids, a relapse is a return to using those same drugs.

#relapse
#sober
#relapseprevention

[danielleperez]

Thank you for this video, I’ve never had so much guilt and regret. This helped me a lot and adding comedy into it made me smile :) .. I know I can do this. I am stronger then this disease!! And anyone reading this I know you can do it too! ❤ also I was one of those people that thought I’d NEVER be strong enough to fight it but I have and I’m going to continue to do it. & the talking in meetings terrifies me because I don’t like public speaking/ talking in front of a large group of people but I know getting over my fears will help me.. if anyone has any advice on that it would be great. ❤

[alexkulka]

My 11 years sober don't count. I've been back in active addiction for almost 6 years. I'm making a change today. I've had enough! Dragging myself to a meeting

[nathaliecordova]

2 months of being sober and I’m starting over today. I’m very disappointed in myself and never want to feel like this again 😕

[nehalm]

I started using porn at 14, cigarette at 18, and alcohol, slowly building up quantity from my 21-23. My first succes is that I stopped smoking finally at my 25 after several relapses. I have been trying hard with alcohol and porn since the last 3 years (I am 29 now), since 2022 december I had 2x3 month soberness both with porn and alcohol, I finally was feeling normal, my sleep is normalized, my mood was stable, but the last week and week before it I was careless and I drank the weekends 5-6 bottle wine. Now I feel like Im back on square one, my sleep is awful, Im depressed, had to go on sick day. This video gave me confidence, that I have to keep my focus on point no matter what, and eventually it is going to be better. Thank you!

[mistyjomay]

I'm back to day 1 after 16 months sober 🥺

[Ikigai]

Thanks it brought a smile on my face relapse can be tough but u can get through this

[Edgar-zdhv]

I had more than a year clean from meth. I found some and that was enough for me to throw it all away .. I could have lost so much more but thank God I didn't, I stopped before I lost more. But I still feel like shit.. thanks for this video

[Lennylo]

I been in a major motorcycle accident I always been and addict but I did have 4 years no alcohol no pills little weed but it was the best 4 years of my life…it’s been 2 years sense my accident my elbow is gone all metal my back is beyond broken I’m back on pain killers and some times about 5 times this year I truly relapsed on crack out of depression I just gave up on life I just need help getting out this depression

[kinas]

Just wanted to share with people of same issue,

Relapsed two days sober now and I struggle with bing drinking! It gets to the point that it affects my work…. Ahhhh if only that would be so simple.
Strong willpower and emotional support 🎉

[Trollgod]

The longest I ever made it sober was 4 months 🥺. I just got another week of sobriety under my belt but yet again relapsed again. I just want to say videos like this really motivate me and even though I don’t have any long term sobriety I know one day I’m going to get this! I’m stronger then this addiction!!

[willwassenaar]

Thank you. Informative, entertaining and inspiring. "All those sober days still count" is going on my noticeboard. To everyone in the comments: I believe in you. Good vibes.

[Uvvibes]

I made it 2 weeks but drank last 4 days. Today is day 1 again

[Tarek.Ramara]

This was actually funny and informative at the same time

[SandstoneCare]

Check out the full blog post for even more details 👇

[Noah-nkqm]

Thanks for the video, had almost
2 1/2 years sober, relapsed about 3 weeks ago. Really optimistic and glad to be back.

[rman]

I was able to quite drinking 20 years ago, but i just replaced it with eating. Now it trying to quit the dangerous drug called sugar but i just slammed 5 candy bars and now I'm watching this.

[carmenbrown]

I wanted to talk to someone about my feelings but, drank instead. I'm going to try writing my thoughts down in replace of drinking and or phoning someone to talk in replace of drinking.

[ScottsThoughts]

I’ve been trying to get sober because I saw how it’s affected my family. Also I want to be in top shape for my wedding. I was going so strong for 4 days. Then out of nowhere after the gym I just got this hard craving. Told myself I wasn’t, and like I was on autopilot bought my usual suspects and now I’m back to square 1…. This is frustrating

[Ssm]

Had 2 years lost it early in the pandemic. Shit is getting fucked up lately, idk what to do

[rehanfarooqui]

Thank you so much to everyone involved with this. Amazing time and effort and beautiful result. Very helpful

God bless!