What are the common red flags to look out for Relapse in Substance Use Disorders?

• Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person's brain and behaviour and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication.
• Substances such as Alcohol, Marijuana (cannabis), Nicotine (cigarette), Opioids, Cocaine, Stimulants, Inhalantsetc can all be abused for its psychoactive effects.
• Relapse in substance use disorders is a rule rather than an exception.
• There are multiple reasons for relapse and each factor requires careful evaluation for successful treatment outcome.
• Does relapse to drug use mean treatment has failed?
• The chronic nature of addiction means that for some people relapse, or a return to drug use after an attempt to stop, can be part of the process, but newer treatments are designed to help with relapse prevention. Relapse rates for drug use are similar to rates for other chronic medical illnesses. If people stop following their medical treatment plan, they are likely to relapse.
• Relapse occurs when someone returns to substance use after a period of abstinence. It is a common setback among people recovering from addiction. In fact, many individuals in recovery experience more than one relapse in their lives.
• According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between 40 and 60 percent of people recovering from drug addiction relapse.
• Poor family support, unemployment, recent life events, medical and psychiatric comorbidities, genetic vulnerability, poor compliance to treatment, being single/divorced, stressful job etc can all be risk factors for relapse.
• The following Warning Signs need to be explored which can lead to relapse;

• Relapse is a part of the journey and hence requires adequate understanding of the factors for satisfactory management.

References:

1. https://www.drugrehab.com/recovery/relapse/why-do-people-relapse/
2. https://drugabuse.com/drug-relapse/