Recovering from addiction is an ongoing process. Even after attending rehab, former drug and alcohol addicts have to work hard to stop from falling into familiar, unhealthy habits.

Today, we’re sharing some addiction relapse triggers to watch for, whether you’re a recovering addict or a friend, family member, coworker, or employer of someone struggling with addiction.

Addiction Relapse Triggers

An addiction relapse trigger is any sort of stimuli that can kickstart a recovering addict’s desire to turn back to addictive behaviors. Often, relapse triggers come in the form of a memory, emotion, person, place, or situation that is reminiscent of experiences the addict dealt with during the course of their addiction.

Many treatment programs prepare recovering addicts to face their triggers by exposing them to the triggers during the course of their treatment. Still, it’s important for addicts and their support systems to recognize and understand how to manage potential addiction relapse triggers.

Stress At Home or At the Workplace

Whether occurring at home or at work, stress is a major addiction relapse trigger for many recovering alcoholics or drug users, especially if stress was the initial trigger that drove them to addiction in the first place.

To handle this addiction relapse trigger, rely on your recovery support system, including friends and family, your addiction recovery group, or your mentor. If you’re a friend, family member, coworker, or employer of the recovering addict, work with them to eliminate stressors and accommodate them to prevent stress from becoming overwhelming.

People

Sometimes, people can act as addiction relapse triggers. These could be people that addicts once abused drugs or alcohol with, or just people that elicit an emotional response in the recovering addict.

To stop this trigger from taking hold, addicts should make a list of the people who they feel could challenge their recovery process, then (whenever possible) avoid contact with these individuals. Sharing the list with your recovery support group will help them prevent you from contacting these people, or allow them to best support you if you do happen to come into contact with them.

Places

Certain places may also serve as addiction relapse triggers. This includes places addicts used to frequent during times they abused drugs and alcohol, even if the abuse did not occur there; it could also include places similar to or associated with other environments that are linked to memories of addiction. Bars, casinos, certain neighborhoods, or even an addict’s childhood home could bring up memories that spur addiction.

Again, as an addict it’s key to be aware of the places, areas, and environments that might be addiction relapse triggers, then try to avoid these places. Inform your loved ones about these potential trigger areas so that they can help you avoid them and also understand why you may not want to attend events in certain places.

Help With Addiction Recovery

Addiction relapse is a reality that many former drug and alcohol users face. If you’re worried about a friend, family member, coworker, or employee falling back into old habits, drug testing at ARCpoint Labs of Salem can help confirm or calm your suspicious. We offer a variety of drug tests, including sweat patch drug testing to provide constant monitoring.

To learn more about our drug testing services, call (540) 404-1204 today or contact ARCpoint Labs of Salem online.