How Stress Can Effect Relapse

Stress affects everyone. It does not discriminate based on age, gender or ethnicity, it is just a part of life. However, stress does affect different people differently. For example, some people may have a heart conditions, anxiety issues and even substance abuse disorders. Stress can affect all of those differently and in different ways. In recent studies, stress has been shown to influence substances abusers to relapse and backspin in their progress. Although this is not new information it has become more obvious in research done lately. In animal studies, animals that were exposed to stress and stressful situations have shown to be more vulnerable to taking drugs after the stressful situation. Animal studies have also shown a consistency in both drug abuse and the event of early stressful experiences in that baby animal’s life.

It is also a prominent cycle that the coping styles of the substance abuser are not healthy. As a result, in order to handle stress, the abuser tends to go to their substance of choice to calm their nerves and put a “pause” on life. In people who are trying to quit and also have bad coping skills, relapse is highly possible when facing stressful life events.

In conclusion, stress is a highly influential factor in the event that a substance abuser may relapse. The research has been shown through animal testing that stress can in fact back pedal ones efforts to conquer their substance abuser disorder. Therefore, coping styles are a very important part of being able to get over a drug addiction and resist the temptation to relapse.

 

Resource

Sinha, R.(2001). How Does Stress Increase Risk of Drug Abuse and Relapse?. Psychopharmacology 158, 343-359.