Why Accountability is so important for relapse prevention

sites • Nov 04, 2020

Why Accountability is so important for relapse prevention

“Addiction is a chronic disease of the mind” is something I was told repeatedly when I was in treatment. However, it took a while for me to really understand what that meant. Was I not making the choice to use every time I popped a pill? On the face it seemed and felt that way. In a large part that is why addiction brings the baggage of shame and stigma. It seemed like I was consciously choosing to be an addict, and I couldn’t muster an argument that would refute that. I thought I was in control of being out of control. 


However, upon further reflection, it became obvious. Who in their “right mind” would keep doing what I was doing with all the attendant consequences? Why did a prescription for pain killers from a doctor turn into a $300 a day habit for me, but when my wife had oral surgery, she didn’t even finish her prescription? The truth is that using stopped being a choice, whether I realized it or not, long before I overdosed.


Like all other chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, etc), disease management for addiction requires at the very least long-term lifestyle changes, and possibly medication. However, most treatment programs for addiction last between 30-90 days with little proactive follow up for disease management. In addition, the post treatment referral based follow up programs that do exist are prohibitively expensive for most.


We believe everyone should have all the tools at their disposal to help reduce the chances of relapse and enter remission from the disease of addiction. Below are 3 reasons why an accountability program is important and why we launched You Are Accountable as an affordable “Accountability as a Service” platform that puts the recovering person in the drivers seat.


1)      Making lifestyle changes is hard     


How many people do you know that are constantly trying new diets? Research shows that continuing care provides better outcomes for all types of disease management, including addiction. 


2)     The disease of addiction impacts the entire family


The anxiety of being concerned about a loved one’s recovery can be crushing and can make keeping healthy boundaries impossible. Random toxicology screening, and treatment plan follow up by a third party gives the loved ones of the recovering person piece of mind that their loved one is doing well, and that if they slipped it will be caught quickly.


3)     Relapse can be extremely dangerous if unchecked


In my case, my relapse resulted in a near fatal overdose. Many others haven’t been as lucky as I have been. Catching relapses sooner very literally saves lives. 

Worth the Wait: Megan's Path to Lasting Addiction Recovery and Purpose

By Megan Miller, CAC • 29 Oct, 2024
I grew up full of fear. Everything terrified me. I never felt comfortable in my own skin. It wasn’t until I started smoking pot at 14—because I was too afraid to stand up to peer pressure—that I finally felt a sense of freedom and relaxation for the first time. I chased that high for the next 16 years. Somehow, I managed to graduate college with an OxyContin addiction, and after that, with nothing tethering me to the real world, things got a lot worse. I went to detox for the first of many times in 2005. I left there thinking I wasn’t an addict and that my use had just gotten out of control. That denial kept me in and out of treatment for the next decade. Heroin became my entire life. I couldn’t hold a job, I overdosed, I got Hepatitis C from sharing needles, and I didn’t care about anything except getting high. I was so full of shame at what my life had become, but I just couldn’t stop. I was great at trying to stop, but I couldn’t stay stopped. The gift of desperation came to me in April 2012. I couldn’t keep living the way I was. I finally wanted to live instead of die. That compulsion to use left me when I finally surrendered to it. Today, I wake up grateful for the life I have. My 6-year-old daughter is the greatest joy of my life, and she has never seen me use. Today, with the support of my wonderful husband, my family, and my recovery network, I live a full life of joy and purpose. There is no more rewarding feeling in the world than sharing the gift of recovery with others.

Overdose Awareness Day: A Reflection on Hope and Recovery

By Dave Aumiller, CPS, NCPRSS • 03 Sep, 2024
Overdose. It’s a word that catches in my throat and a topic that stops me in my tracks. As a person in long-term recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD), I have overdosed many times. I have been revived by paramedics three times. Waking up in a hospital bed with no idea how I got there—scared. Or in the back of an ambulance, sick and angry for being Narcaned, a crazed hostage of my addicted mind. Or in a front yard, soaking wet from someone throwing me in a cold shower, unsuccessfully trying to revive me before leaving me outside—confused. These experiences don’t account for the countless times I have overdosed and been revived by a concerned party—now scarred by the trauma of my disease in its final stage, trying to carry out its final act, resulting in an untimely death. Overdose. After all of this, it was the kindness and care of others that made the difference between another chance and another day. Another dose of hope and life. An opportunity to begin again. On a day like today, reflecting on a topic that is so close to the heart of everyone connected to this reality, I am grateful. I am hopeful. I am humble. Because I know how lucky I am. How undeserving I was. And I live my amends and gratitude by doing my best to embody and live the values of a recovery that works. I also keep close to my heart, at the forefront of my mind, and on the tip of my tongue, the names of the countless others who weren’t as lucky as I. In honor of Overdose Awareness Day, I will say the names of my friends who weren’t fortunate enough to receive as many chances as I did, and I will live in their names—sober today and willing to extend a hand to anyone who needs it in their journey to recover and spread hope to both the sufferer and the caregiver.  Today, let us remember those we have lost, cherish the moments we have been given, and continue to fight for a future where overdose is a distant memory. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can spread hope.

Overdose Awareness Day: Survivor's Guilt Transformed into Hope

By Shannon Schwoeble, CPS • 29 Aug, 2024
I was devastated when I heard that another close friend I'd made in treatment was gone. Seven friends in my first six months—two had come into treatment, left, and passed away while I was still there. In the years that followed, many others who had walked this path alongside me were lost as well. Nine in my first year of recovery. I found myself asking, "Why am I still here? Why didn’t they ‘get it’?"  Survivor’s guilt was not something I expected to experience in recovery. It hit me hard and fast when I began my journey in 2011. I was terrified. I would sit and think about friends I had just seen or spoken to—did they seem different? Did they sound off? I was so scared of who I would lose next. Through my work with a therapist and finding my own voice, I learned to transform my survivor's guilt into hope. I realized that by using my voice, sharing my story, saying their names, and talking about the profound impact each of them had on me—in life and in death—I could help others understand that recovery is possible. Perhaps, something I share will give someone struggling a glimmer of hope that they, too, can find recovery. On Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, we remember and honor those we've lost to this devastating disease. In loving memory of Ben, Pat, Krista, Harry, Christina, Brook, Dustin, Jeff, Jamie, and everyone we have lost—you are remembered and loved, today and every day.
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