7 Strategies for Staying Sober After Rehab
- Recovery from substance abuse is a continuous journey
- The importance of building and maintaining a strong support system
- Survival strategies crucial for managing stress and achieving long-term sobriety
- How to focus on physical and mental wellbeing, and recognize relapse warning signs
Congratulations! You’ve just completed rehab and are on your way to a new, happier life without substances. But you still have a way to go—the path to addiction recovery doesn’t end the day you leave rehab. In fact, completing inpatient treatment is only the start. This can sound daunting, but even more daunting is the chance of relapsing.
It would be a shame to fall back into substance use, especially after having gone through the arduous process of rehab. Don’t be disheartened, and rest assured that even addiction recovery experts don’t see relapse as completely unavoidable. Even if you do relapse, it doesn’t erase and or minimize your courage and the substantial progress you’ve achieved to be sober.
But to make the most of your new self and maintain sobriety, here are 7 strategies to conquering life after rehab:
1. Live in the Present
Maintaining sobriety can feel exciting, but also overwhelming. You might feel that the threat of relapse is constantly looming over you, that life will just throw a curveball at you when you least expect it. Many recovering survivors feel the same way, and it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. But don’t let that feeling consume you.
It’s important that you not live in fear, but instead, live in the present. Might you relapse tomorrow? Maybe, but what matters is what you can do today to stay sober. Live in the moment, take recovery day by day, and you’ll find that maintaining sobriety will feel less overwhelming.
2. Avoid Your Triggers
During rehab, you will have the opportunity to explore what triggers your urge to use substances. Triggers might include certain places, people, and social situations. But no one is completely immune to their triggers, even after rehab. Many survivors, however, in thinking they have mastered sobriety, actively seek out their triggers instead of avoiding them as much as possible. This can be, of course, very dangerous.
It is very important that after rehab, you do your best to be aware and avoid your triggers. This might mean not associating with certain enabling friends, or avoiding settings where substances are readily available. Maintaining appropriate distance from your triggers minimizes the possibility of relapse.
3. Rebuilding and Maintaining a Support System
Isolation poses a significant danger to individuals in recovery from addiction. Many people find that it was a contributing factor to their substance abuse issues in the first place. Therefore, it is critical to have a strong support system upon leaving rehab. However, this can be especially challenging for individuals in this stage of their recovery journey.
During addiction, individuals often surrounded themselves with enablers, neglecting once healthy, supportive relationships with friends and family. Deception and manipulation become ingrained in your interactions with loved ones, leaving a trail of fractured connections.
After completing rehab, it becomes imperative to assess and rebuild your support system. Some existing relationships may be salvageable, while others may need to be released. It is highly suggested to distance yourself from individuals who contributed to your addiction, unless they are family members who actively engaged in family therapy alongside you.
At Inner Healing Sanctuary, we offer recovery support meetings where you will be able to make new friends, and build a support system that will lead you to complete recovery.
4. Prioritize Your Physical Health
Aside from the effects substances themselves have on the bodies, substance abuse can generally lead to behaviors that further damage the body, such as unhealthy eating and little to no exercise. Therefore, it’s important that you nourish your body with healthy food and plenty of sleep and exercise, to make up for some lost time. The better your physical health, the more resilient you will be against relapse.
Use your time during and after rehab to establish healthy habits. If you need some external motivation, consider consulting a personal trainer or a nutritionist. Whatever you choose to do, the key is to adopt habits that you enjoy and can easily manage. This way, you’ll stay motivated to stay in good physical shape.
5. Nourish Your Mind
6. Be Aware of Survival Strategies
Ideally, you would possess the ability to remain calm and unaffected during challenging moments, allowing cravings to effortlessly come and go. However, as an individual navigating the pressures of the modern world, expecting such tranquility is akin to wishing for a miracle. While strategies that strengthen your ability to withstand harmful urges are important, there are times when you simply need straightforward methods to feel better.
Below are five crisis survival strategies, laid out by the principles of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT):
- Distraction — As the name implies, doing something to distract your mind from the crisis.
- Self-soothing — Using physical sensations to relax, whether it be taking a warm bath, listening to soothing music, drinking herbal tea, etc.
- Improving the Moment — Shifting your perspective on the situation or finding ways to make the situation more bearable for you. Some techniques include finding meaning in the situation at hand, visualizing calm scenarios, and taking a “vacation” on a blanket in the garden.
- Pros & Cons — Using reason and logic to weigh the benefits and detriments between courses of action. This is especially useful when faced with the urge to use substances. Through making a pros and cons list, you’ll find that using substances will bring you detriments that outweigh any possible benefit.
- TIP Skills — Changing your body chemistry to reduce extreme emotions fast. These skills include dipping your head in cold water, rapid and intense exercise, paced breathing, and paired muscle relaxation.
For a comprehensive life of crisis survival strategies, and further guidance on how to utilize them, take a look at this handout.
7. Stay Alert for Warning Signs
While there is no absolute guarantee against relapse, you can learn to identify the warning signs. Relapse doesn’t occur suddenly, especially when you’ve dedicated significant effort into your recovery. Often, you can discern when you might be susceptible. Here are some signs that you might be at risk of falling into relapse:
- Recurring addictive patterns of thought
- Engaging in compulsive, reckless behavior
- Being around substances or users
- Considering substance use
If you notice any of these warning signs, it’s best to reach out to a loved or a professional for help.
As mentioned, no one is completely immune to relapse after rehab. It’s important that you are mindful of your vulnerability, and adopt habits and healthy behaviors that will keep you away from your old ways. By implementing the strategies outlined above, you can maintain your sobriety and significantly reduce the likelihood of relapse.
