Addiction is a compulsive need to continue using drugs or alcohol despite repeated negative consequences. You may want to quit using, but addiction can cause powerful cravings that make it difficult to quit without help. Cravings can continue for weeks or even months after you stop using. Since addiction is a chronic condition, you must learn how to manage and control your symptoms throughout your life. Rehabs can help you address co-occurring disorders through dual diagnosis, develop coping strategies, and create a relapse prevention plan.
Substance abuse disorders, addiction, and alcohol affect more than 20% of Americans. However, only a small percentage ultimately seek help and treatment. Treatment can substantially improve your chances of achieving recovery.
At Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston, we are committed to helping our clients manage their recovery in a healthy manner. One of the most practical ways of doing this is helping them create a relapse prevention plan that they can rely on outside of our detox program. To learn how our residential treatment center can support your recovery from drugs or alcohol, please contact Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston today at 866.516.8356.
What Is Addiction?
Addiction is a chronic, incurable mental health disorder that causes you to use drugs and alcohol even if you desire to quit or experience negative consequences from using. Drugs and alcohol compel your brain to release excessive amounts of neurotransmitters. These chemicals cause the euphoric and powerful highs you experience during intoxication.
Unfortunately, when the substance wears off, your brain is depleted of things like dopamine, GABA, and serotonin. This depletion can cause you to feel depressed or anxious. Over time, your brain becomes dependent on drugs and alcohol to release neurotransmitters and begins craving your substance of choice. Your brain begins rewarding you by releasing pleasurable neurotransmitters, making recovering from addiction difficult.
Addiction is a progressive disease, meaning that early signs of substance use can significantly differ from symptoms of addiction.
Some signs of addiction can include:
- Changes in appearance, such as pale skin and weight loss
- Changes in behavior, such as avoiding social engagements
- Sudden or unexplainable financial problems
- Regularly losing jobs
- Inability to control your drug or alcohol use
- Using drugs or alcohol alone
- Experiencing blackouts and memory loss when you use
Fortunately, while addiction is a chronic condition, there are treatments available. We use many of these treatments at our residential detox center.
How Common Is Relapse?
Unfortunately, relapse isn’t uncommon in patients trying to recover from addiction. Substance use disorders are chronic diseases that include relapsing and remitting cycles. Therefore, most addiction treatment experts agree that those in recovery are, in fact, in remission when they experience no symptoms of addiction. When the symptoms of their addiction return, they relapse.
It’s vital to remember that relapse doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It simply means that you need further support to reinforce the coping skills you’ve learned in treatment. These coping skills include:
- Attending support group meetings.
- Exercising regularly.
- Practicing emotional regulation using the skills you learned in dialectical behavior therapy.
- Eating a healthy diet.
- Practicing mindful meditation.
Each of these skills can help prevent relapse. In addition, we provide a relapse prevention program to all of our clients.
What Is a Relapse Prevention Plan?
Following treatment, your drug and alcohol tolerance drastically decreases, which can make relapsing particularly dangerous. Returning to drug or alcohol use after a period of abstinence increases your chances of experiencing a fatal overdose. A relapse occurs when you resume abusing drugs or alcohol following a period of abstinence. A relapse treatment center can help you create a relapse prevention plan, which prepares you for things like cravings and triggers.
Cravings are typically caused by triggers. Many times, relapse prevention Houston offers teaches you ways to deal with negative emotions, like stress, in a healthy manner. For example, if feelings like stress cause cravings, you may learn during treatment that working out or meditating can help you relax. To learn more about how we create a relapse prevention plan, please reach out to Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston today at 866.516.8356.
Are You Recovering from Substance Abuse?
Recovering from a substance abuse problem or addiction is a life-long process. Developing an effective relapse prevention plan and participating in treatment greatly improves your chances of recovery. Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston, a leading substance abuse treatment center, offers you a supportive, compassionate environment led by a dedicated and experienced treatment team. We offer detox services for a wide array of addictions. For instance, our treatment programs include:
- Alcohol detox program
- Heroin detox program
- Prescription drug detox program
- Cocaine detox program
- Meth detox program
Don’t put off getting treatment any longer. If you or a loved one would like to learn more about our treatment programs, call us today at 866.516.8356.
