Does a Relapse Erase Progress? What You Need to Know

While setbacks can be discouraging, they’re a totally normal part of the recovery process and the recovery journey. In fact, they can be a hugely helpful opportunity to identify stressors and triggers, take advantage of professional help from healthcare providers, and build an even stronger support network or support system.

Relapse is a chance to learn, grow, and keep taking steps toward the best version of yourself, ensuring long-term recovery and lasting recovery.

Does Relapse Remove All Progress?

Relapse, in the context of addiction recovery, is a return to drug or alcohol use after getting sober. The American Psychological Association defines relapse as the “recurrence of substance abuse after a period of abstinence.”¹

After all the work you put into your early recovery, you might wonder what happens if you relapse. The recovery journey isn’t linear and feeling like you’re taking a step backward can be discouraging, but it doesn’t erase the progress you’ve made.

Instead, it’s a chance to identify underlying triggers, strengthen your coping mechanisms and coping skills, and recommit to staying sober. It's a common hurdle on the road to recovery from an alcohol addiction or other substance use disorder.

Why Did I Relapse? Exploring the Causes of Relapse

Understanding why you relapsed can help you prevent problems down the road. Common triggers can be internal or external. This is where recognizing the stages of relapse is key.

• Internal triggers usually have to do with emotional distress like anxiety, depression, or boredom. These can lead to overwhelming urges to use substances to cope. This is the stage of emotional relapse. These triggers can also lead to negative thoughts and feelings of low self-esteem.
• External triggers can include social situations where drugs or alcohol are present, people from your past who enabled your addiction, or places you associate with your past substance use. Returning to old habits and addictive behaviors often precedes a physical relapse.

Identifying your specific triggers is a hugely helpful step toward preventing relapse. By recognizing triggers and developing skills for coping with them, you’ll empower yourself to stay focused on your life in recovery and learn how to handle relapse.

What’s the Difference Between a Slip and a Relapse?

While a slip-up might involve one instance of unplanned substance use, a relapse is a more serious return to old habits. A slip does, however, serve as a warning sign and one of the early signs of relapse that you may need to adjust your recovery plan.

A relapse, on the other hand, indicates a more serious setback. It involves a return to regular or problematic substance use, often accompanied by the behaviors characteristic of a mental relapse before moving to a physical relapse. A relapse might involve using for a longer period or neglecting other areas of life and may require you to restart formal treatment programs.

While both slips and relapses can be discouraging, they can also be valuable learning experiences that challenge misconceptions about the process. By acknowledging what happened and getting help to correct its cause, you can return to your path with renewed determination and perspective.

How to Handle Relapse

If a relapse does happen, it doesn’t have to derail your entire recovery journey. Plenty of resources are available to help you get back on track.

Professional Help

Reconnect with your rehab center. If you attended inpatient treatment, your rehab likely has resources available for alumni. These might include refresher courses, retreats, or connections to groups in your local community.

Look for a short-term or outpatient rehab program. A short-term stay at a rehab of your choice, or an outpatient program at a treatment center near you, can give you the time and space you need to stabilize yourself and adjust your recovery plan.

Reach out to your therapist. Let your therapist know what you’re going through. Consider increasing your session frequency for a while to give yourself additional support during this vulnerable time. Together, you can explore the triggers that led to the relapse and develop ways to address them.

Social Support

Surround yourself with positive people who support your recovery. When you feel safe to do so, let your trusted loved ones know about your relapse and lean on them for strength and accountability. Beyond friends and family, your support network might also include your AA sponsor, recovery peers, or other people from your sober community.

Proactively Preventing Relapse

Thankfully, the causes of relapse aren’t a mystery. Research shows that these factors make relapse more likely:

• Low self-esteem
• Failure to complete residential substance use disorder treatment²
• Social isolation

Causes of relapse among women include difficulty severing ties with their substance-based social networks, how their self-worth is affected by relationships with men, and interpersonal conflicts that increase negative thoughts.³

Conversely, these factors protect against relapse:

• Professional relapse prevention planning
• Support from family and friends
• Addiction-related knowledge and coping skills

You Can’t Change the Past, But You Can Rewrite the Future

No one wants to relapse, but the clarity you gain from tough moments can be transformative. Kara reflects on how her perseverance empowered her to build a better relationship with her daughter:

The legacy that I am able to leave behind is one of a woman who really messed up in a big way but never gave up. And now I’m affecting my life and her life and our family’s life as a whole. I can’t change the past, but we are rewriting the future. And it’s the most amazing experience.”

You, too, can rewrite your future. Find a treatment center that helps with chronic relapse and regain control of your life.