Many people make the mistake of thinking that once they are out of inpatient rehab they don’t have to worry about addiction. That isn’t the case, though. 40% of all people who overcome an addiction end up relapsing at some point in their life.
It’s important to make sure that you transition back to your normal life properly after finishing inpatient rehab if you want to have your best chance of staying clean and sober for the rest of your life. Here are a few tips you can use to better your chances of avoiding relapse and becoming another statistic.
Avoid People in Active Addiction After Inpatient Rehab
There are many times when people go back to the people who they once felt most comfortable with after inpatient rehab, but this is not normally the best idea. Being around people who are high can lead to you relapsing because you have it available to you. You may even envy the fact that their life seems so carefree in comparison to yours.
It’s best to make new friends and build a clean and sober support group. There are plenty of ways to meet people in recovery, you can start by joining a fellowship.
Manage Your Stress
Once you are sober, stressful situations can seem more intense because you haven’t had to handle them in a long time. There is a good chance that you got high whenever things got tough and thus the stressful times can seem even more stressful when you’re clean.
Do everything that you can to minimize the stress in your life to avoid a relapse. Some people find that yoga and meditation can be very effective at managing their stress after inpatient rehab. It can also help to create a schedule for yourself to manage your time wisely. Feeling like you constantly have to rush can add to your stress levels.
Make Amends
It can be very difficult to admit when you’re wrong. Most people do things that they aren’t proud of when you were addicted to drugs. This can cause some bad feelings with your friends and family. Eventually, there is a good chance that you may feel guilty for those things that you did.
Many people allow the guilt to eat at them until they cannot handle it anymore and they turn to drugs to try to numb the pain. It’s best to try to start to mend damage relationships after you get out of rehab so that you don’t have to carry around that regret and guilt. If you feel too ashamed to talk to someone face to face, you could send them a letter or a card or even make a phone call to tell them that you’re sorry.
Get Counseling
When you are done with inpatient rehab you’ll experience a lot of new emotions. There are many people who have mental health conditions that they didn’t know they had and once they go to counseling, they can get the right treatment for those conditions.
This allows you to take control over your life and not use the drugs to numb or mask your feelings. The counselor can help you learn why you feel what you feel, identify some of the triggers you may have that cause you to want to use drugs and even help you get a better understanding as to why you turned to drugs in the first place.
Be Honest About Your Past
When you start on your road to recovery, there are new relationships that will come into your life. You need to be upfront and honest about what you have been through so that the people you have in your life can respect your struggle and not put temptations in your way.
There are some people who don’t want to live their life without drugs or alcohol. They need to know that you don’t want those things in your life so that they can make a conscious decision if they can handle giving those things up too or at least are able to not bring them around you.
Get Established as Quickly as Possible
You need to get back on your feet after inpatient rehab if you want to stay clean for the long haul. You need to get a job, your own home, and your own vehicle so that you can start to feel established. Once you build a life for yourself, the temptation to use again will become greatly diminished because you will actually have things that you don’t want to lose.
The key to getting and staying clean is to take life one day at a time. Know that you can’t change the past and that the future depends on the choices that you make. You can build a bright future for yourself if you are willing to work hard and give yourself the dignity and respect that you deserve. Everyone deserves a second chance at life and getting things back on track when you get out of rehab is a great way to do it. It will be a struggle from time to time, but it will be well worth it when you can look around and be proud of everything that you were able to accomplish simply by giving up your addiction to drugs and alcohol.
