Strategies to Avoid Relapse to Drugs - Strategy Two, Fill the Gigantic Hole Left by Drug Addiction

Addiction to a drug or to alcohol is an all-consuming compulsion, one which demands attention, almost to the exclusion of all else. It can be a full-time job for the addict. Getting drugs or alcohol and consuming them, then being stoned or drunk occupies a large portion of their time.

In the case of drugs such as heroin or cocaine, using is definitely a morning to night occupation. The addict will wake up and look to see how much drug there is for that day's consumption. If the supply is low, the planning of how to get more of the drug takes up the morning's activities. Faked prescriptions, phone calls to borrow money, scams, and other methods of getting the price of drugs together is always first on the to-do list.

A professional, a regular father or mother with an addiction to prescription drugs must spend huge amounts of time and energy getting and using their drugs, and then hiding their activities.

Removing drug addiction from your life has the magnificent benefit returning all that attention and time. Freeing up the actions and the communication feels wonderful. All the feelings of guilt and shame begin to heal and the future is wide open.

Strategy 2

Get busy and use that new free time!

The first few months off of drugs is a very delicate period for anyone. The urges can come often and sometimes hard. Thoughts of using will be occurring at the most inopportune times.

What is the old expression? "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." Free time is NOT a good thing right now.

A new project, a hobby or plunging into work with a vengeance can make this period go by faster and much easier. Everyday you stay off drugs brings you closer to the time when your addiction is just a memory.

You might not feel like doing anything at all, but you need to pour the effort into it and get your butt up and make something happen. Being drug-free is great, even if it does not feel so great yet. But it is not worth much if you do not actually go out and accomplish something, something that you can be proud of. A little overwork could be a good thing to take your mind off drugs.

The pull of addiction will be much less if your attention is fully outward and you are focused on something that you are doing that is worthwhile. Remember, you have a life to rebuild and you cannot rebuild it when you are sitting around, trying to resist. You are actually intensifying the urges by wallowing in your cravings. The sooner you let those go, the sooner they will begin to let up.

Keep your attention outward and forward. More on that in the next article:

Next in this series: How to Keep the Urges at Bay

Tony Bylsma CCDC, is a rehabilitation counselor and drug prevention speaker in Los Angeles

tony@TheRoadOut.org
http://www.TheRoadOut.org

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Strategies to Avoid Relapse to Drugs - Strategy One, Control Your Environment

Do you, or does someone close to you keep falling back into using the same addictive drug, only to find that the addiction is even worse than before? This is called drug relapse.

A part of drug addiction is this on again, off again pattern of binging and abstaining, binging and abstaining. It can go on for quite a while and look like the addiction isn't progressing. The truth is the addiction only seems to be staying the same while it is continuing to worsen.

Periods of abstinence can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the outcome.

Getting away from the drug for a while can give an addict a chance to see the problem more clearly and to make choices for the future that seemed impossible while they were getting high everyday. These choices can lead their life into the light again and away from the grip of drug addiction.

On the other hand, taking a short "break" from addictive drugs might carry with it some dangers. With most addictive drugs, the tolerance built up by an addict's body to that substance can subside over time. So on the next relapse, the danger of over-dose is much higher because the former dosage might now be large enough to be deadly.

There are some actions to take that can reduce the possibility of reversion to drugs. Remember, drugs were once a way of life for the addict. Now life must change.

Strategy One:

1. You must surround yourself with drug-free people.

The life that the you led while getting stoned revolved around drug use and drug users. Those are not the circles a drug-free individual travels in.

But spending time with people who are not into drugs and the druggie life will do more than avoid reminders and temptations. There is a new life style to be learned and that can best be done by spending time with drug-free individuals and doing activities that do not involve drugs. Also, people who don't use and have your welfare at heart will support your efforts to stay clean. Often, friends and associates see the signs that an addict's resolve is slipping even before the addict sees it and can step in to help when it really counts.

It even happens that a drug addict gives up on himself more quickly than his friends give up on him. So these people can also be a lifeline in case apathy sets in.

Hanging around the places where the drugs are easily available is not likely to happen if the new "gang" is opposed to illegal drug use. So these people are good for your recovery, even if they do seem a bit "dorky" to begin with.

Before long, you'll start seeing the changes in yourself that your friends saw first. You're on your way to ending addiction and leaving the drug nightmare behind you.

Next in this series, "Filing the Gigantic Hole Left by Drug Abuse"

Tony Bylsma CCDC, is a rehabilitation counselor and drug prevention speaker in Los Angeles

tony@TheRoadOut.org
http://www.TheRoadOut.org

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