Developing stress management techniques can help you get the most of your meth addiction treatment. When you’re not stressed, you eliminate one of the triggers that can cause you to relapse during and after your treatment for meth abuse.
The relation between stress, addiction and relapse:
Stress is a big factor in the development of meth addiction as well as in relapsing after a meth abuse treatment in the rehab. Researches have proven that stress triggers a relapse to many substances including methamphetamine.
Long time use of meth can change the way the brain perceives stress, leading to more meth addiction and return to this habit even following a treatment for meth abuse. People who have a long time exposure to a variety of stress or those with PTSD are highly sensitive to stress, making them highly susceptible to use meth again.
It is why people in recovery should learn and practice different stress management techniques every time. The techniques help recovering individuals to be ready for the upcoming events in their lives.
What are the stress management techniques important during the meth addiction treatment:
After a stint in the rehab, the recovering individuals are exposed to stressful situations and people that may have influenced them to use meth in the past. Before they received their cure for meth addiction, these situations and people are the ones that have triggered them to abuse drugs more.
The following are proven ways to help fight stress among recovering individuals:
1. Counseling: Counseling or therapy helps people to manage their stress through continued education during and after a meth abuse treatment. Sharing and talking to people with similar experiences can make them feel secure and not alone about their problems.
2. Support system: Having a support system such as family, friends and therapist can help recovering individuals fight stress that is a trigger to a relapse. These people are a great source of love, care and support, particularly during the methamphetamine addiction treatment. When you know that you can depend on someone, you’ll be away from using meth again even you’re faced with problems.
3. Exercise: Exercising is a great way to release stress and manage stressful situations. You may start by engaging in your favorite sports or recreation such as hiking, boating, going to the gym or running.
4. Hobbies: Developing a new hobby or enriching your hobbies is a good way to keep your boredom at bay. It also helps recovering individuals to forget about using meth again as their hobbies keep them preoccupied after their meth addiction treatment. Some of the hobbies that you may get interested with are: writing, knitting, learning to play a musical instrument, painting, driving and listening to music.
5. Meditation and yoga: Meditation, mindfulness and breathing can help recovering individuals to concentrate on the present and stop getting anxious with the future. It helps remove the worries and keep people energized. These techniques also help people to feel relaxed. The most common breathing exercises and meditation techniques include 4-7-8 breathing and belly breathing.
You have to identify which stress management techniques would work for you during and following your meth addiction treatment. Stress would always be there and applying different stress management techniques does not guarantee that you would not encounter stress. You just have to learn to use it properly.
