How to Help Your Addicted Loved One Avoid Relapse

Family members can help their addicted loved one to identify the signs of relapse before they happen and help her to connect with the resources that will help her stay sober.

Watching your loved one suffer from drug or alcohol dependence is one of the most torturous experiences imaginable. Though it is a treatable medical disorder, it is also a condition that is commonly characterized by brief returns to using alcohol or drugs. This symptom of the disease, called relapse, need not drag families on an emotional roller coaster throughout their addicted loved one’s attempts to remain clean and sober. Rather, family members can help their addicted loved one to identify the signs of relapse before they happen and help her to connect with the resources that will help her stay sober.

Triggers for Relapse

Why do people relapse? The answer to this question is unique to each patient. Depending on the user’s past with drugs and alcohol, her current stressors, her issues with trauma and/or co-occurring mental health symptoms, any number of things can cause her to crave drugs or alcohol. Some common triggers for relapse include:

• Interacting with others who are under the influence or regularly abuse substances
• Interacting with people or places where she used to get high or drink
• Seeing someone get high or drink (even on TV or in a movie)
• Hearing someone talk about using drugs or alcohol in a way that romanticizes it
• Experiencing an acute stressor (e.g., getting fired, the breakup of a romantic relationship, the loss of a loved one, etc.)
• Dealing with ongoing mental health issues (e.g., depression, anxiety, paranoia, etc.)

Though family members cannot control any of these things and may or may not be able to provide a buffer between the addicted person and her experience of any of these issues, being aware that any of the above can trigger cravings will help family members recognize when it’s time to pay closer attention and amp up their level of support.

Intervention

Once you realize that an addicted family member in recovery is dealing with a trigger or triggers and may be on the verge of relapse, you have the option of intervening. In serious situations where relapse has occurred – perhaps repeatedly – a formal intervention and a return to drug rehab may be needed. In most cases, simply acknowledging the difficulty of the situation without judgment and offering support can be helpful. You may:

• Offer to attend a 12-step or therapy meeting with your loved one.
• Make it clear that she is welcome to call or come over any time of the day or night if she feels vulnerable to relapse.
• Encourage her to make a specific change that will reduce the impact of the trigger if not remove it entirely.
• Encourage her to re-engage or amp up her commitment to recovery through increased holistic, alternative, or traditional treatment options.

Connect With Therapeutic Assistance Today

If your loved one is continually relapsing in recovery or if she is in need of a return to active treatment, we’re here to help. Contact us at The Recovery Village now to discuss options in medical detox, therapeutic treatment and ongoing care in addiction recovery.