In fact, 40 to 60 percent of people relapse after treatment. To prevent a relapse from occurring, it’s important to identify what risk factors could contribute to a relapse and what steps people can take to prevent one from occurring.

While studies seem to be inconclusive about the role things like gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status plays in relapse – certain drugs make people more vulnerable to relapse than others. People addicted to opiates experience the highest rate with one study finding as many as 91% of those in recovery from an opiate addiction experience a relapse. The study also found that at least 59% of those who experienced an opiate relapse would do so within the first week of sobriety.

Subsequently, according to The Butler Center for Research at Hazelton Betty Ford Foundation, 68% of people who were able to successfully complete a substance abuse treatment program for alcohol or marijuana maintained their sobriety. The reason for this has to do with the degree of intensity that certain substances like heroin have on the brain. Tommy Streeter, a community outreach coordinator for Allendale Treatment and Fort Wayne Recovery says that getting the drugs out of his body was half the battle. “The physical withdrawal I was experiencing was so intense that I would spend the rest of the day finding a way to score more heroin,” says Streeter. “So, getting out of that environment and going to a treatment center was the only way I was able to get sober.”

Understanding what triggers make someone more vulnerable to experiencing a relapse is often the first step in preventing one from occurring. Inpatient and outpatient treatment programs will help people in recovery learn how to identify these triggers and develop a plan when they encounter them. Streeter says that It’s also important for the person to continue to work on their sobriety after leaving treatment by staying active in programs such as AA or community support groups. “When someone comes to me for advice after they relapse, I always ask them what they were doing to stay sober. Most of the time they say they were focused on their job or spending time with family but they weren’t participating in any kind of recovery program which can be the key to preventing a relapse from occurring,” says Streeter.

People will also need to learn how to establish boundaries in their lives from situations or people who put them at a greater risk of relapsing. For example, if they feel pressured by friends or family members to drink at a family gathering or smoke marijuana, then they need to know that it’s okay for them to stay away from that situation.

It’s important to keep in mind that when someone is engaging in a recovery program like 12-Step they need to be committed to maintaining their sobriety by working on things like relationship issues and learning new techniques to manage stress such as practicing mindfulness. They should also establish both short- and long-term goals to keep them engaged in their recovery. “If you just focus on staying sober from drugs and alcohol, you are not going to make it,” says Streeter.