Control Holiday Stress & Prevent Relapse

Addiction recovery is a life-long process, and even after treatment, you face challenges throughout the calendar year. The holidays, in particular, are often filled with situations that cause holiday stress and can put your recovery at risk. At Beaches Recovery, our mindfulness-based relapse prevention program can help you learn the coping skills you need to prevent relapse that can occur during the holiday season.

Common Causes of Holiday Stress

While you might be looking forward to the holidays, the same situations that bring joy can also produce anxiety and stress. Family reunions and gatherings with friends often involve intense emotions.

Additionally, in many of the gatherings you attend, alcohol will invariably be served (and in large quantities). This might also raise memories of similar events related to alcohol and drug use from your past.

Flashbacks of past behavior can derail even the most successful recovery efforts. For that reason, you need to be prepared when recollections of old habits suddenly hit you.

Finances might be strained with additional expenses for gift-giving and travel. Money issues around the holidays can cause stress, which is another trigger for relapse.

Travel itself can throw off the routines you depend on to keep sober. The season might prove stressful because it is so busy, and you might find yourself falling back into unhealthy habits without even realizing it at first. Lack of sleep, unhealthy or excessive eating, and coping with a rush of intense feelings might all create anxiety. As a result, many people in recovery look at the holidays with a sense of apprehension. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Preventing Relapse During the Holidays

Relapse doesn’t have to be a part of your holiday celebrations. You can stop holiday stress from derailing your recovery journey. Having a plan on how to deal with the holiday season challenges is the first step to staying sober. Stick to this plan, and you’ll have a wonderful holiday.

This plan should include a strong connection to your recovery community through conversations with your sponsor or with your therapist. You might also attend support meetings, particularly before and after events where you know alcohol and drugs might be available. Sometimes, you need to share your concerns about temptations during the holidays with others who completely understand your situation.

Your attitude about the holiday season can help you cope with stress. Try to keep your mind open and positive. Another way to deal with stress is to use the holiday season to volunteer to help others. As you help others, you usually help yourself as well.

At Beaches Recovery, you can also learn to cope with holiday stress through our mindful therapy treatment program. Through this program, you can participate in a range of therapeutic practices, including yoga, tai chi, mindfulness, and skills training. You also learn how to handle negative emotions and cravings, which often play a role in relapse, and which can surface during the holiday season.

Other Treatment Services to Prevent Relapse

Our staff designs your personalized treatment to help you return to normal life with the skills necessary to confront tough situations, such as the holiday stress season. At Beaches Recovery, we use a variety of evidence-based practices to treat and prepare you, including:

• Dual diagnosis treatment
• Individual therapy
• Group therapy
• Family therapy
• Mood disorders treatment

Addiction doesn’t have to be stronger than your will and desires. You can fight your addiction and the holiday stress that often jeopardizes your hard-won sobriety by seeking the support provided by our compassionate medical professionals. Call Beaches Recovery today at 866.605.0532 and find the support you need.