Relapsed During or After Treatment? What Happens Next, and Whether You Need Outpatient or Inpatient Care

No. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says relapse rates for addiction are similar to those for other chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure and asthma.

It describes addiction as a chronic condition, and relapse as a sign that treatment needs to be resumed, changed, or replaced with something different. In other words, a relapse is information about what your treatment plan needs, not a verdict on you.

The same research body is clear that detox on its own is not treatment. It says detox without further treatment generally leads back to drug use, which is why the step after detox matters so much.

Source: Treatment and Recovery, Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction, National Institute on Drug Abuse.

When you have been off a drug for a while, and especially with opioids. Your tolerance drops, so a dose you used to take can now cause an overdose.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse warns that relapse can be very dangerous, even deadly, for some drugs, because the body is no longer used to the old amount. The National Library of Medicine adds that most opioid overdose deaths happen in people who have just detoxed. If opioids are involved, keep naloxone nearby and do not use alone.

Alcohol carries a different risk. If a relapse turns into days of heavy drinking, stopping suddenly again can bring dangerous withdrawal. The National Library of Medicine advises going to the emergency room or calling 911 for seizures, fever, severe confusion or hallucinations.

Source: Opiate and opioid withdrawal and Alcohol withdrawal, MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine.

Choose inpatient care if you need medical help with withdrawal or keep relapsing in outpatient care; otherwise more outpatient support may be enough. An assessment decides.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says treatment should be tailored to each person’s drug use and their medical, mental and social problems. In practice, a higher level of care is worth considering when:

If none of those apply, stepping up within outpatient care, with more sessions or added medication, may be enough. The detox vs rehab page explains the levels of care, and residential treatment and sober living are the options above outpatient.

Stay in treatment, and ask about medication. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says medication should be the first-line treatment for opioid addiction, usually combined with counseling.

Medicines are also approved to help people stop drinking. Beyond medication, the basics matter: keep going to sessions, tell someone when cravings build, and plan ahead for the people, places and times that have led to using before. The after detox page explains the support available once detox is done.