When you complete inpatient or outpatient rehab, it’s tempting to think you’ve fully conquered addiction. After all, you’ve done so much hard work to make it through your drug or alcohol addiction treatment program. However, the truth is that if you want to stay sober going forward, you still have more work to do. Ideally, that work will take place in an addiction aftercare program. This kind of program provides various significant benefits for your current and future sobriety.
Confronting the Chronic Nature of Addiction
Although it’s often discussed in other terms, addiction is a chronic brain illness. What does this mean? Once your brain undergoes the changes that establish an addiction, the risk for future problems cannot be eliminated. Instead, you remain susceptible to a relapse if you let your guard down.
Depending on the specific substance in question, relapse rates vary from roughly 40% to 60%. These may seem like extreme figures. However, they’re actually a bit lower than the relapse rates for other chronic health issues such as diabetes and asthma. Some people relapse shortly after completing rehab. Others relapse months or even years later.
Relapse Prevention and the Importance of Addiction Aftercare
Addiction aftercare is an umbrella term for various ways of providing ongoing support for your long-term sobriety. Methods of achieving this crucial goal include such things as:
- Undergoing periodic follow-up assessments in person or remotely
- Using a computer or phone app designed to reinforce your sobriety skills
- Joining a mutual self-help group
- Participating in an alumni program with others who have completed rehab
- Returning to formal treatment when other aftercare options aren’t enough
Aftercare was once considered a low priority in effective drug or alcohol recovery. However, experts now acknowledge the importance of addiction aftercare to your ability to remain substance-free. In line with this understanding, aftercare programs are now increasingly common.
Additional Benefits of an Addiction Aftercare Program
Relapse prevention isn’t the only reason to take part in aftercare. Other known benefits of an addiction aftercare program include the following:
- Fortifying your inner motivation to stay sober
- Helping you remain alert to the chronic nature of addiction
- Providing you with support in times of crisis that threaten your sobriety
- Giving you a support network of peers who also want to stay sober long-term
These advantages often overlap. Individually or together, they help you make the most of the hard work you did while in rehab.
Who Needs the Benefits of an Aftercare Program for Addiction?
How can you tell if you need aftercare? The answer to that question is simple. If you’ve completed drug or alcohol rehab, aftercare is a recommended next step. That’s true, no matter how seriously you’re affected by addiction. It also holds true regardless of the specific form of addiction present.
Well-designed rehab programs understand this reality. As a result, they emphasize follow-up care even while you’re still enrolled in primary substance treatment. The sooner you’re introduced to the aftercare concept, the better. That way, you have less chance of overlooking the benefits of aftercare programs for addiction.
Experience the Benefits of Addiction Aftercare Programs in Pennsylvania at Promont Wellness
Want to learn more about addiction aftercare programs and their many benefits? The experts at Promont Wellness are standing by to assist you. With our help, you can answer any question about this vital recovery resource.
Promont Wellness features aftercare programs as part of our holistic approach to addiction treatment. We’re dedicated to supporting your ongoing sobriety in ways that work for you. Contact Promont Wellness today at 866.939.4243 or reach out to our knowledgeable and compassionate team through our online form.
