Knowing what it is and how to handle it can help keep you on the right path to a lasting recovery. When the abstinence violation effect is occurring, the user is already blaming his or her lack of coping skills for the relapse. As the use continues, it is unlikely that any work is being done to reestablish old skills or develop new ones, which robs the user from the opportunity to overcome situations that can continually trigger substance abuse. Someone struggling with the abstinence recovery effect tends to blame him or herself for the relapse and every subsequent use that occurs after the initial relapse. This blame game erodes at one’s self-esteem, as feelings of guilt, shame, and worthlessness set in. With little to no self-esteem, overcoming active addiction can have the added challenge of depression, requiring professional therapy.

Reframing use as something other than failure requires a change in perspective. Referring to use following a period of abstinence as a “lapse” rather than having “F-ed up” presents individuals with the opportunity to “act on” their use rather than “react to” it. In addition to reframing, it is also helpful to invite individuals to appreciate the temporal nature of such experiences. Be that as it may, a perennial threat to recovering, especially if abstinence is perceived as the prerequisite of changing one’s substance using behavior, is to use, even once. In formal treatment circles, this sense of failure is referred to as the abstinence violation effect or AVE and is perhaps the single greatest contributor to a return to active involvement in one’s SUD. When one of these occurs, the person who has relapsed experiences a twisted mindset that has him or her thinking that, since relapse has already occurred, there is no point in stopping their use now or trying to salvage their recovery.

Relapse Prevention

Although there may be practical reasons for your client to choose abstinence as a goal (e.g., being on probation), it is inaccurate to characterize abstinence-based recovery as the only path to wellness. Effect,” which results from a state of cognitive dissonance regarding the nonabstinent behavior and the individual’s image of being abstinent. This dissonance can be reduced by either changing the behavior or changing the image, and characteristically in this population is resolved by the latter. Internal and stable attributes for the slip also lead to further lapse behavior.

• In particular he stresses the need to enhance depressed patients’ sense of self-efficacy, and suggests strategies to foster this.
• Social-cognitive and behavioral theories believe relapse begins before the person actually returns to substance abuse.
• According to the abstinence violation effect, highly controlled drinkers tend to overindulge following an initial slip.

Despite the fact that relapse can be all-consuming, it does not have to be. It may be a single occurrence where someone decides to use the substance again. A single AVE instance can result in a long-term relapse for the individual. Knowing the different stages of relapse and how to avoid them is therefore crucial. The Abstinence Violation Effect is when there is any deviation from a desired behavior goal and this deviation is viewed as a total failure.

Relapse Rates by Drug Type

Distal risks, which are thought to increase the probability of relapse, include background variables (e.g. severity of alcohol dependence) and relatively stable pretreatment characteristics (e.g. expectancies). Proximal risks actualize, or complete, the distal predispositions and include transient lapse precipitants (e.g. stressful situations) and dynamic individual characteristics (e.g. negative affect, self-efficacy). Combinations of precipitating and predisposing risk factors are innumerable for any particular individual and may create a complex system in which the probability of relapse is greatly increased.

It is for this reason that someone’s tolerance declines following a period of abstinence and that they may overdose if they start using again at the same level as before. That one instance can lead the individual to experience AVE, which could then trigger a longer relapse. It is, therefore, paramount to know the different stages of relapse and how to circumvent it.

Kanter’s Law and Change

While a person may physically abstain from using drugs or alcohol, their thoughts and emotions may have already returned to substance abuse. This school of thought is heavily based on Marlatt’s cognitive-behavioral model. This model asserts that full-blown relapse is a transitional process based on a combination of factors. abstinence violation effect refers to the negative cognitive and affective reactions one experiences after returning to substance use after a period of abstinence. As a result of AVE, a person may experience uncontrollable, stable attributions, and feelings of shame and guilt after a relapse.

You can receive 24/7 text support right away and at your convenience. There is no obligation to enter treatment and you can opt out at any time. The abstinence violation effect is also considered an immediate factor of relapse. Describes how many of the strategies described by Marlatt and Gordon are also applicable at various stages in the therapy of emotionally distressed patients.