Relapse Prevention

Relapse is when an 'ex-addict' reverts to their original abuse of drugs, alcohol, or whatever substance or behaviour they were addicted to. Relapse prevention then refers to the various methods and actions that can be taken to prevent this from happening. It is important to note that relapse prevention is treated as a good action under the assumption that relapse is a problematic behaviour. Relapse is a problematic behaviour because it is often due to the addict being unable to control themselves. Thus, this results in a gap between planned behaviour and actual behaviour (i.e. an alcoholic plans to stay away from alcohol, but cannot help himself when in a bar). Relapse prevention is an entire set of precautionary actions that limit someone who might be prone to relapse from encountering high-risk situations such as the one outlined above. These high-risk situations are then paired with an effective coping response that is designed to raise self-efficacy (the belief in one's ability to actually perform the intended action). This in turn lowers the chance of a relapse. The various techniques and specific strategies are unique to each situation, but this is the general approach of the model.