If you’ve either finished a drug rehabilitation program or are about to begin one you’re no doubt wondering what you can do to enhance your drug addiction recovery chances.

Successfully recovering from addiction means the adoption of new behaviours that will initially go against the grain and be entirely foreign to what you’re used to.

Asking yourself whether you’re entirely ready to do whatever it takes may be a good way to test your willingness to make the required changes. Below is our list of things that you can do to improve your probability of a long and happy drug addiction recovery.

How To Enhance Your Drug Addiction Recovery

1) It’s important to recognise that much evidence is pointing to addiction being a brain disease. This doesn’t mean that you’re helpless and cannot get better; it just means that there are certain things you need to take responsibility for in your recovery.
If I’m allergic to strawberries – I DON’T EAT STRAWBERRIES! So if I fully concede to my inner most self that I have a drug addiction or alcoholism then I just don’t use drugs or alcohol, not even a little bit.

One is too many and one thousand never enough. Once addicted there’s no such thing as just one drink or just one hit. Using alcohol or other drugs will stop my recovery instantly and can send me right back into a downward spiral.

The potential for cross addiction in recovery is huge so that means recovering drug addicts can’t drink and recovering alcoholics can’t use drugs. Using chemicals other than our ‘drug of choice’ will impair our judgement at the very least.

2) Finding the correct drug rehabilitation center is a vital component in the path to addiction recovery. Find a treatment center that provides a comprehensive aftercare programme including group therapy and individual counselling to ensure that in conjunction with 12 step meetings and fellowship you have enough support to reduce the chances of relapse occurring.

3) Make it a priority to attend and regularly participate in addiction recovery support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous as well as the rehabs aftercare groups.

By doing this you will be surrounded by people in a similar situation as yourself and will help you remain on the straight and narrow once you have left the drug rehabilitation center. Allow your loved ones to also assist in the recovery process as they can help ensure that you remain sober.

4) Living in an environment or with people that are unsupportive of your new drug free lifestyle will not be beneficial in the addiction recovery process.

If you are not certain that you will be able to recover where you currently reside or it reminds you of life when you were addicted, look for a home that will support and enhance your sobriety efforts.

Hanging out with dangerous people, places and things is only a recipe for relapse and will not enhance your drug addiction recovery odds. Book into a sober home, halfway house or tertiary care home if you want to do all you can to ensure you stay clean and sober.

5) Take responsibility for your own recovery. By researching and knowing all there is to know about your drug addiction, you will negate the chances of a relapse occurring. Remember, the only person that can enhance your chances of a successful addiction recovery is you!

6) Honesty being the best policy is no less true in the context of drug addiction recovery.

Being honest with everyone involved in your treatment, care and support is an absolute necessity because lying will only hamper your chances of recovering from your addiction successfully and this leads to relapse.

You have to be honest about YOURSELF and not others. It is key to remember that you’re in the recovery process, not anyone else.
7) Understanding how a relapse occurs and what causes it can greatly improve your chances of avoiding relapse during your drug addiction recovery.

The cause of a relapse will differ from person to person, however feelings such as unhappiness or resentment, physical and emotional pain and amongst the more common.

One has to note that relapses do not make you helpless and don’t have to divert you off your path to drug addiction recovery. Speak to people who can help you regain your focus to get clean and sober again.

To try and make sure that it doesn’t happen again, learn from your mistakes. Find out what caused it and what you can do to avoid it from happening again.