Relapse Prevention: Strategies to Avoid Triggers

Have you ever had that experience when you’re sick where you can’t remember what it feels like to not be sick? 1The most important moment before relapse isn’t the final decision to use a drug. For example, a trigger could be going to a party or walking through the liquor section at the store. But it’s not the worst thing that can happen and it certainly doesn’t mean your recovery was all for nothing.

Establish self-care strategies

Within the ever-evolving field of clinical psychology, this is the first comprehensive summary of the relapse prevention resources and interventions administered to patients after completing a GSH intervention in primary care. This scoping review provides an overview of the knowledge available, and the key features considered in developing a resource to tackle the global concern of patients with anxiety and depression relapsing following treatment. Additionally, essential gaps in relapse prevention skills the literature were identified predominantly surrounding the scarcity of relapse prevention interventions or tools specifically for individuals who have completed low-intensity treatments. The PAGER framework (Table 4) is used to guide the discussion and planning for future research and uses model themes (Bradbury-Jones et al., 2021). A relapse prevention plan plays a vital role in mitigating the risk of relapse and supporting individuals in maintaining their recovery goals.

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Creating an emergency contact list is a practical step in these situations. This list typically includes trusted individuals, such as close friends, family members, sponsors, or therapists, who can offer assistance, guidance, or a listening ear when needed. The list should be easily accessible, ensuring that help is just a call or message away during challenging times. A readily available support system can make the difference between maintaining sobriety and succumbing to relapse. The relapse prevention interventions described across the three peer-reviewed publications (Lucock et al., 2018, 2021; Wright et al., 2000) all included monthly telephone follow-up calls.

• Reach out to loved ones, join self-help groups, or seek professional assistance to build a robust support system.
• We go to a smoke-filled bar, or hang out with support group cynics, or phone a friend who berates anyone who exercises.
• Remember, every small step forward is significant in your healing journey.
• To these ends, comprehensive substance abuse treatment programs often include both therapeutic and pharmacological methods to promote and sustain recovery while working to minimize relapse and manage use triggers.

Monitoring And Adjusting The Plan

Developing healthy coping skills, engaging in self-care practices, and maintaining a strong support network are all essential components of building resilience. If you’re not sure how to move through the recovery process, follow one of the relapse prevention plan models that are available. Substance abuse and mental health expert Terry Gorski has a nine-step relapse prevention plan that can help you recognize and manage relapse warning signs.

Across all these relapse prevention interventions and resources, participants were asked to refer to a manual or workbook consistently following the completion of GSH to prevent relapse and practice various techniques independently. For this scoping review, GSH refers to any low intensity psychological interventions involving support from trained practitioners and utilising self-help materials (Shafran et al., 2021). Low–intensity treatments (i.e., GSH) are typically delivered across six to eight sessions lasting up to 30 min (Papworth & Marrinan, 2018), adhering to NICE guidelines (NICE, 2023). When you’re working on long-term recovery, having a strong support system can be key to helping prevent a relapse. Who or what you decide to include is up to you—but it’s important to have caring people and systems that can provide encouragement, understanding, and help as needed.

Recognizing Warning Signs

By staying committed to your recovery, actively engaging in support networks and recovery-oriented activities, and continuously refining your coping skills, you can build a strong foundation for lasting sobriety and overall well-being. Keep pushing forward and remember that you are not alone in this journey – together with experts at Lantana, we can overcome the challenges of addiction and embrace a healthier, happier future. This component involves teaching practical skills essential for maintaining sobriety, such as coping strategies for managing cravings.

Continued brief support after treatment – A follow-up was also an integral feature for relapse prevention as this component was included in five of six relapse prevention tools and interventions. Follow-ups are also recommended for low-intensity treatment to ensure patients are maintaining treatment gains, continue to implement their techniques and identify signs of relapse early (Papworth & Marrinan, 2018; NHS, 2024). However, continuous contact with a practitioner is often not feasible in routine care in the long term and previous research has demonstrated that motivation can influence the continuity of treatment (Runge et al., 2022).

Mindfulness Meditation

To aid relapse prevention, an integral feature across all tools and resources was helping individuals to develop the skills necessary to overcome and prevent any incidence of relapse, such that patients become independent in their recovery journey. The development and ongoing use of skills are common strategies in materials created to help overcome depression and anxiety. Having access to written information that is tailored to an individual’s problems has formally been identified as helpful in enabling self-management across various conditions (Dineen-Griffin et al., 2019; Liddy et al., 2014).

Prioritizing Self-Care in Recovery

Utilizing the right strategies and having a strong support system will help you prevent relapse and live a sober life. In addition to personal measures for managing relapse, seeking professional help from rehabilitation centers or counselors can be highly beneficial in helping you get through this difficult time. With professional assistance, you will be guided on identifying triggers and developing effective coping skills and systems of personal accountability that will keep you committed to your sobriety goals despite any setbacks. Knowing your triggers and identifying potential high-risk situations that might trigger a relapse is important. Once identified, create an action plan of what to do if a trigger occurs – deep breathing, attending a support group, reaching out to your sponsor – that can help get you back on track.

Join a Support Group

This review addresses relapse prevention for individuals with anxiety and/or depression symptoms after GSH through the inclusion of peer reviewed publications and other resources. Nonetheless the inclusion of reference checking supported the electronic database search, strengthening the findings of this scoping review. However, access to other grey literature databases was restricted; thus, future reviews may consider including multiple grey literature databases. In addition to avoiding triggers, it’s essential to develop healthy coping strategies to manage them when they arise.