When an addict uses drugs or alcohol during or after a rehab program, the event is called a relapse. However, a relapse does not necessarily mean that the treatment is a failure and that the addict has no chance of recovery. Instead, the counselor will see to that the addict takes the relapse positively and learn from the mistake.
Many addicts get into depression when a relapse occurs thinking all is lost. They continue to abuse drugs or alcohol falsely assuming that the rehab treatment did not work for them. This is not so. Even if an addict relapses, there is a lot of wisdom to be gained from the experience. The counselor will trace back events that led to the relapse and correct those mistakes in the subsequent treatment.
There are three types of relapses:
- A slip is when an addict tries drugs or alcohol just once after the rehab treatment. While this is a mistake, it does not mean that the addict has relapsed into full blown addiction. When a slip occurs, the counselor analyzes the events leading to the slip and ensures that this is not repeated again.
- The second type of relapse is when an addict uses drugs or alcohol for a few days after the treatment. This is more serious than a slip, but even here the counselor will analyze the events leading to the relapse and intensify the treatment temporarily. The patient will also be persuaded to analyze what went wrong so that he or she can avoid similar relapses in the future.
- The most serious of relapses is when an addict goes back to full scale abuse of drugs or alcohol similar to the way they were using them before treatment. When this happens, the patient will need to undergo the full treatment from the beginning. He or she will need to undergo the detoxifying process as the withdrawal symptoms will be equal to or greater than what they were before the first treatment.