Addiction Relapse And The Family Much like understanding that drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, for families of the addicted individual there needs to be an understanding that relapse is part of recovery. Relapse from drug addiction and Understanding Relapse Can Make A DifferenceThere is no such thing as instant recovery. Recovery from alcohol or drug addiction is a lifelong process. What the initial recovery does is essentially get them out of the habit of abuse or addiction but continues well past that point o to sober living and a continuum of care. Bringing them back into the family, helping them through this is also a continual process. Granted you can't be with them every moment of their lives but knowing that they will more than likely relapse at least one means the difference between staying a supportive family member rather than one who would say, "I told you so." The risk of relapse is highest during the period when a person first begins to stabilize and some semblance of a sober of begins to break through. Some of the things a person goes through during this stabilization period include
Relapse Prevention -- The Struggle To Make It Stick
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recovery doesn't happen in a vacuum. Quite the contrary. There are many contributing factors that can cause a person to fall back into their habit despite the amount of work and time spent to get him through recovery. What is important for the family to understand is that no matter how frustrating this may feel, no matter how disappointed you are, this is not a failure. For effective relapse prevention to work everyone involved has to work together and communication is key. Relating relapse to failure will not help anyone. At Mark Houston Recovery we're accustomed to some of our residents experiencing a relapse. By using effecting relapse prevention methods and working together with our residents and their families we can help them find their way back on the road to recovery.
According to many studies and statistics, about 1/3 of people who go into recovery reach permanent abstinence after their first serious attempt at recovery. One-third. What's crucial here is to keep in mind that relapse is not something that will go on endlessly. It may take a few attempts but eventually success will be achieved. Certainly they'll deal with brief periods of relapse but ultimately in the long run, sobriety will be the norm. It's as much a struggle for the families. The back and forth, the anger, frustration and resentment toward the individual amounts to sometimes low morale and a lack of motivation to want to help. The folks at Mark Houston Recovery have all either been the person in recovery or someone having to deal with a family member in recovery. We understand the struggle with relapse that compounds the feelings you had prior to them getting into recovery. We're here to support you and there are many other groups out there whose sole purpose is also to provide you support. Helping you and your loved one stay the course is our main goal and we are willing to try more than once. Success isn't always so simple and often times difficult but the reward of recovery and sober living will ultimately make it all worthwhile. 
