Combatting the Abstinence Violation Effect

In particular he stresses the need to enhance depressed patients’ sense of self-efficacy, and suggests strategies to foster this. Effect following ingestion of modest amounts of snack foods, leading to a transient inclination to abandon dietary restraint altogether. Factors that may lead to dieting, such as parental or childhood obesity, have been identified as potential risk factors for the development of this disorder. The abstinence violation effect highlights the distinction between a lapse and relapse.

Michelle Rosenker is a content writer where she gets to exercise her journalistic skills by working with different addiction treatment centers nationwide. She has 10 years of experience in the field of addiction treatment and mental health and has written content for some of the country’s most prominent treatment centers and behavioral hospitals. Through her writing, Michelle is proud to continually raise awareness about the disease of addiction and share hope for the future. She lives next to the ocean in Massachusetts with her husband, two young children, and faithful dog.

What Is The Abstinence Violation Effect?

You are only remembering the good aspects of using and not the bad parts. Bargaining with yourself and actively planning to use the substance again are common behaviors in the mental relapse phase. Emotional relapse – Thoughts and behaviors set you up for a relapse, even though you are not thinking about using the substance. Isolation, suppressing your emotions, feeling anxious, or angry can all make you feel like you need that substance to cope. It looks and sounds like a highly technical term for something that most people can relate to – feeling guilty when you use a substance, like alcohol or marijuana, after promising yourself you won’t use it ever again. Additionally, abstinence violation effect can affect people differently, based on different factors in their lives.

Although this is a common enough response, it is an impulse that psychologists, rehabilitation professionals, and treatment centers work hard to combat. Family studies have shown that there is an increased rate of eating disorders in first-degree relatives of individuals with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Similarly, what is abstinence violation effect twin studies have shown a higher concordance for the eating disorders in monozygotic twins in comparison to dizygotic twins. These studies suggest that heritable biological characteristics contribute to the onset of the eating disorders, although the potential role of familial environmental factors must also be considered.

How Does The Abstinence Violation Effect Occur?

For instance, someone with alcohol use disorder may feel like they want a drink when out with friends at a favorite hangout. A second important factor and strategy in encouraging recovery is the recognition that a lapse is not the end. Lapsing once does not necessitate a waterfall of relapses, and a period of relapse does not dictate a lifelong dedication to addiction. Having healthy and effective coping strategies in place to anticipate a lapse or relapse is pivotal, because the likelihood of never again lapsing into an addictive behavior is often quite low. The result of this lackluster planning is that we recognize future disturbances, yet do nothing to truly resolve them.

• Many people dread the day they complete rehab out of fear of relapsing once they leave treatment.
• Physical relapse – This is the phase where you actively start using again.
• In the case of a suspected health problem, please contact your healthcare provider.
• This model has received a good deal of empirical support and has the merit of dismantling the process of relapse and exploring subjective and cognitive variables in a manner that has important treatment implications.
• Our hopelessness and our instinctive desire to give up were spot-on, or else we would be happy all the time.
• Twelve-step can certainly contribute to extreme and negative reactions to drug or alcohol use.

Another example is the urge to smoke at the times when smoking was enjoyed, such as with a coffee in the morning or when driving long distances. Although the benefits of 12-step participation may outweigh the added AVE risk, clinicians should be aware of this particular risk and take steps to counteract it. Describes how many of the strategies described by Marlatt and Gordon are also applicable at various stages in the therapy of emotionally distressed patients.

Cognitive-Behavioral Model of Relapse

More commonly, abstinence violation effect is fueled by guilt and shame. The weight of this guilt often correlates to the amount of time spent in recovery leading up to the relapse. Those with only a few weeks of sobriety will not feel as bad as those with years under their belt. Not out of the same warped practicality mentioned above, but because they simply feel as if they are hopeless. This isn’t the only way in which our thinking might become twisted when we Sober House experience a lapse in sobriety. Abstinence violation effect fuels our negative cognition, causing us to judge ourselves quite harshly. This is especially true if we are involved in a twelve-step program, as we now realize we must reset our chips. Going to the front of the room to grab a new one-day chip after months or years of sobriety makes us feel like complete failures. We feel ashamed of ourselves, and fear that everybody else must be ashamed of us as well.

The information on this page is not intended to be a substitution for diagnosis, treatment, or informed professional advice. You should not take any action or avoid taking any action without consulting with a qualified mental health professional. As noted above, one possible characteristic of abstinence violation effect is the decision to give up entirely. When our defenses are down, we may not even think about our first drink. But upon realizing what we have done, we feel as if it is too late. We can sober up in the morning, but we may as well get good and drunk now. They may realize instantly after using that they need to get sober again.

Relapse and Lapse

If you’re worried you might be heading towards a lapse or full-blown relapse, don’t struggle with this alone. If you’re currently lost within the confusion of the abstinence violation effect, we can help. RehabCenter.net can help you or a loved one get back on solid ground. We can give you resources to help you create or tweak your relapse prevention plan. Additionally, we will guide you to outpatient and inpatient treatment options. 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.

This viewpoint that the deviation is a total failure is then used as a further justification to continue using or doing the addictive behavior. I have had clients that expressed after having one sip of a drink, they felt so badly and shameful for failing that this was the permission giving thought that getting drunk wouldn’t be any worse. John’s key responsibilities include maintaining the day-to-day operations from both a clinical what is abstinence violation effect and housing perspective. John’s goal is to monitor every department to ensure proper policies and procedures are in place and client care is carried out effortlessly. John joined Amethyst as a behavioral health technician where he quickly developed strong personal relationships with the clients through support and guidance. John understands first hand the struggles of addiction and strives to provide a safe environment for clients.

Eating Disorders and Stress*

Further, internal and global attributions predicted marijuana use during the subsequent 6 months. Results are discussed in terms of support for the AVE construct, treatment implications, and the failure of the RP treatment to modify reactions to a lapse. A person may experience a particularly stressful emotional event in their lives and may turn to alcohol and/or drugs to cope with these negative emotions. An abstinence violation can also occur in individuals with low self-efficacy, since they do not feel very confident in their ability to carry out their goal of abstinence. Put simply, the AVE occurs when a client perceives no intermediary step between a lapse and a relapse. Treatment in this component involves describing the AVE, and working with the client to learn alternative coping skills for when a lapse occurs, such that a relapse is prevented. The AVE occurs when a client is in a high-risk situation and views the potential lapse as so severe, that he or she may as well relapse. The client and therapist will practice identifying and coping with lapses.