5 relapse prevention strategies that will help you overcome difficult situations and help you handle stress.
Stay Busy, Attend Meetings & Find Stability.
- Identify-and-Avoid-Triggers: At some point or the other, you will face high risk situations which may cause you to return to your addiction. If you can identify these situations in advance, you will be able to find a way to cope with them. List down three ways to handle such situations, so that you have different alternatives if one option does not work. Take time to practice your actions and words, so that you will feel confident and in control when the situation occurs and pressurizes you.
- Take Care of Your Health: Your food can affect your ability to handle pressure and stressful situations. Hence, it is important to pay attention to what you eat. Try to consume more fruits, cheese, vegetables, whole grains, whole grain breads, meats and fish. Each food that is rich in B vitamins to reduce your cravings for alcohol and help you manage stress. Avoid caffeinated drinks, sugary foods and beverages and nicotine as they can increase your stress levels and make you feel tense.
- Stay-Busy: Take a walk, read a book or pick up a hobby. Try to keep yourself busy, so that you can fill your leisure and free time. It may help to write a plan for each day, so that you know what you are going to do every single day to stay busy. This will stop you from thinking about your addiction or tempt you. When you are busy, you will feel as though you have achieved something every day and this will renew your confidence.
Attend-Meetings: Join a support group or speak to a counselor so that you can cope with the pressures you may feel during your recovery. Attending meetings can help you identify signs of relapse and also help you cope with stress and tension. Be sure to highlight your recovery goals, so that you can get support from your group to achieve them. - Find-Stability: Try to find stability by finding ways to balance your work and leisure time. Handle day-to-day problems as and when they occur. This way, you will not let pressure and stress build up and get to you. Spend quality time with your loved ones. Try to structure your life on a day-to-day basis, so that you feel more in control of it.