Staying off

Staying off can be harder than getting off, and is seldom easy. Your frame of mind is important: being positive about being clean and knowing that there will be hard times and times when you feel like using again (but that these will pass) will all help.

To start with you’ll probably find that each drug-free day feels like a week. Often, after only a few days, people feel like they’ve been off for ages and deserve a ‘treat.’ If you give in to the desire to have a ‘treat,’ your chances of it being just the once and staying clean are very slim - and the risks of overdose are very high.

People don’t often finish a detox feeling great. In theory you should be free of drugs and have more money to spend on other things. In practice this rarely happens. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth coming off!

Being around people who have just given up is often nearly as dangerous as being around people who are still using. If you start remembering your using days together it probably won’t be long before you are both craving and ready to lapse. A lapse with another person happens more easily if you kid yourself by blaming them rather than taking responsibility for yourself.

Use all the help and support you can get. Some drug agencies run groups and relapse prevention programmes to help people following detox - these can increase your chances of staying clean.

Related topics