Drug rehab is tough – but actually the first weeks and months post-rehab might be even tougher. In rehab there was a 100 percent supportive environment committed to your recovery and well-being. After drug rehab, life in all its complexity is there every morning and evening loaded with triggers that can trip up all your best intentions. Just accepting that this is how life is can be a major step toward staring down the fear and anxiousness that normal life can bring. Still, there are a few practical strategies that can also help make the passage smoother.

1. Enlist the help of another

Call this person a sponsor – or don’t – but, find someone you can trust whom you can call when life’s pressures feel like they’re pressing down on you.

2. Use HALT

Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired – each of these can be a trigger for an intense emotional reaction and therefore for a relapse. Eat well, get plenty of regularly scheduled sleep, stay around encouraging people and deal quickly and appropriately with anger.

3. Find somewhere to give

Giving to others is fulfilling. Find a place to volunteer feeding the hungry, visit the elderly, take time to engage with the handicapped. If you can’t volunteer, be sure to build one new friendship – thinking of how you can be the giver in the relationship.

4. Have some fun

Take an exercise or art class and just have some fun. Take the dog to the park at least twice a week and throw a Frisbee or play fetch. Attend free library events. Share the funny papers with someone. What did you enjoy when you were a kid? Can’t you still enjoy it?

5. Improve existing relationships

Find ways to work on relationships that were damaged during your addiction. Confess to the person how your choices hurt them and allow them to tell you more. Verbalize your strong commitment to making changes beyond drug rehab. If their words are too painful at first – contact your ‘sponsor’ for some support.

For young people who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse, the concern for their well-being does not stop there.

A recent article has information about a study conducted in Australia, that one in three youths who struggle with drugs and alcohol have also tried suicide. Those who work with rehabilitating young people also realize that there is more to their addiction than over consumption.

Read More

Dilaudid is one of a few brand names for a compound called hydromorphone. Other brand names for this generic, prescription drug are Exalgo, Hydrostat, and Palladone. Hydromorphone is a habit-forming prescription that is indicated for moderate and severe pain as well as painful coughing. It is often prescribed instead of morphine because it has less severe side effects and in place of fentanyl for those who experience hallucinations as a fentanyl side effect.

Read More

Opioid narcotics – prescription painkillers – are the most frequently prescribed medications in the country today. The amount of pills being recommended to patients by their doctor is staggering having increased four times over the number of prescriptions just ten years ago.

Read More

Poison control centers are fielding a record number of calls about “bath salts” while the Federal government efforts to ban the chemicals have been halted. In 2011, nearly 7,000 people called in to poison control centers with emergencies related to this synthetic marijuana. That was more than double the number from the previous year.

Read More

Those on the road to recovery from a substance abuse problem would like to believe their journey to wellness will follow a straight and true path to its final destination. The reality is, however, that there are many forks and unexpected detours on this long and twisting road, which makes it incredibly easy for recovering addicts to stray off course.

Read More

Those who have an addiction to alcohol or another substance often suffer a relapse soon after completing treatment in drug rehab. The skills learned in treatment through therapy often provide many tools for handling the temptation to return to using a substance, but patients still struggle to avoid using the substance again.

Read More

A medication-free method for helping people retain their drug recovery and resist cravings may be on the verge of becoming part of treatment programs, and it’s based on interventions to behavior that are tied to memories of past drug use.

Read More