Perhaps the hardest thing about substance abuse recovery, behind finding the courage to go in the first place, is learning ways to cope with your triggers and avoid relapse. One important part of this is obviously avoiding drugs or alcohol whenever possible, and in fact twelve step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous advocate for complete abstinence from any substances. Some people argue, however, that it’s perfectly possible to live a life of moderation, not abstinence, and remain in recovery.
If you’ve ever gone on a diet, you know how difficult trying to cut something out of your life completely can be. If you’ve spent your entire life eating whatever you want – pizza if you’ve had a late evening, ice cream when you’re feeling down, that box of donuts that someone brought into the office – suddenly cutting out everything that tastes good is probably going to end in disaster. Imagine you spend a month consuming nothing but baked chicken and protein shakes. It’s bland and boring, and you no longer have food to look forward to when things are rough. Then one day you can’t take it anymore. Maybe you lose your job, or a relationship ends, and you’re casting around for some way to cheer yourself up, and lo and behold, there’s a grocery store, just brimming with all your favorite comfort foods. Everything looks so amazing that you buy more junk food than you could consume in a week, and then you go home and try to cram it all into one night so you can be “good” again tomorrow.
This same scenario can happen with alcohol or drugs. There’s probably a reason you started using in the first place, whether it’s depression or anxiety or some life-altering event, and if you don’t have the tools to cope when one of these triggers hits you again, you’re likely to binge. This is all the more dangerous because many people remember how much of a substance it took to feel the full effects before they went into recover – after they had built up a tolerance – and forget that it’s been a while and their bodies aren’t used to that amount anymore. It’s a good way to end up accidentally overdosing.
Advocates of moderation say that addicts can learn to only drink one glass of alcohol or take just one prescription pain pill. Obviously, this isn’t the best idea for someone who was addicted to illegal drugs, but for socially acceptable substances it could be a way to prevent going on an all-out bender. On the other hand, most experts agree that relapse is extremely common even with coping skills and a support network in place, and there’s no need to tempt fate.
If you or a loved one need help with quitting drugs or alcohol, consider Asana Recovery. We offer medical detox, along with both residential and outpatient programs, and you’ll be supervised by a highly trained staff of medical professionals, counselors, and therapists. Call us any time at (949) 438-4504.
