Ideally, all addiction patients who go through the recovery process will recover from their disease and never relapse. Unfortunately, the world is not perfect, and many times, patients relapse. After a relapse, many addiction patients may find it very difficult to return to the recovery process. However, it is important to remember than many people experience relapse, and it is never too late, nor is a patient ever too far gone to begin the recovery process again.
One of the most challenging things for a patient to do is face their family and mend broken relationships. Restoring broken relationships with the family is an important step in ensuring the addict has a strong support system to help with rehabilitation. Often, it is helpful for the addict and family to have an unbiased person facilitating the initial conversations. Many families do not fully understand addiction, and in some cases, may actually be enabling the addict in their disease.
Another step to successful recovery includes creating healthy boundaries within the family. This can be everything from financial boundaries, boundaries in what is discussed about treatment and the addict’s disease, and understanding sensitive topics. Every family is different, so these boundaries may differ. However, all addicts need boundaries to help them in their recovery. If things go back to exactly the way they were, they may run the risk of relapse again. This is also why it is also important for addicts to seek out support groups aside from their families who may better understand their situation such as Alcoholics Anonymous or similar groups.
It is important for addicts who have failed treatment to remember that as long as they are willing to try again, it is a misstep, not a failure. Many people in the world have relapsed multiple times. The beauty of addiction treatment programs is they always offer a place for addicts to start when they are ready to deal with their disease.
Typically, people who follow the rehabilitation program steps will have success in remaining sober. However, relapse usually occurs when one or more of the steps is not followed. If treatment recovery fails, the addict, the family, and the rehabilitation center need to figure out where the breakdown was, so relapse does not occur again. In some cases, it may be that the addict was skipping appoints, or reverted to an old friend group, and in other cases, it may be that the addict’s family was enabling them.
There is a multitude of reasons why treatment recovery fails. But, the important thing to remember is there is always time to start again. When an addict and their family are committed to fighting addiction, there is hope. Many rehabilitation centers encompass treatment for the patient, along with education for the family. Addiction is a terrifying disease and can do a lot of harm to a person’s life. It may take several tries before successful treatment occurs. The most important thing is to remember never to give up hope. There is always help right around the corner.
