For Veterans in recovery, the holiday season isn’t always the easiest. It can sometimes bring things like social pressure, unplanned contact with unhealthy friends or family members, exposure to old environments, and fewer opportunities for self-care and rest.
This “post-holiday stretch” is important for Veterans living with substance use or mental health disorders. The nervous system, still unstable from the holiday rush, isn’t always equipped to handle things like healthy routines, AA/NA meetings, or the use of coping skills. This can cause cravings to increase, mental health to spiral, and isolation.
At Hope for Tomorrow, we work closely with Veterans managing the urge to return to use. Through decades of experience and clinical insight, we’ve figured out what works best for these moments. Below, we’ve created a guide for any veteran who is ready to recommit to their recovery.
Individuals will need to recommit to recovery when the old plan stops working.
Recovery is a clear decision in the beginning, but long-term recovery depends on consistent choices and support.
Recovery usually doesn’t fall apart in one day. More often, it weakens through small changes that stack up: fewer meetings, less structure, more unplanned time, rising irritability, sleep disruption, and more frequent cravings.
This is especially important for Veterans. PTSD and substance use disorder often occur together, and in treatment, those things are treated together. Outside of treatment, both SUD and mental health need to continue to be addressed in order for a sustainable recovery to happen.
A recommitment is a mid-course correction. It means restoring structure and support so healing can continue to happen without disruption.
For Veterans, recommitment usually becomes necessary when the following things are present:
Accountability isn’t a character flaw. It’s a protection plan. A sponsor, therapist, peer, recovery friend, or trusted family member can help you see clearly when your thinking gets slippery.
Three steps that help right away:
Saying “I’m recommitted” is a start, but it won’t carry you through cravings, stress, and real life. Strategy is what turns recommitment into traction.
Treatment plans aren’t meant to stay frozen in time. Triggers change. Work changes. Relationships change. Even the things that used to feel easy (sleep, exercise, meetings) can shift when mental health flares up or the schedule gets chaotic.
For veterans, it’s also common for symptoms like hypervigilance, nightmares, chronic pain, grief, moral injury, or transition stress to spike during certain times of the year. If your plan doesn’t match your reality, it won’t hold up under pressure.
Here’s what “small changes” in a treatment plan can look like:
| Area | When it’s helpful | Possible adjustment | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical support | Stress is up, trauma symptoms are frequent | Increase individual therapy temporarily | Creates space to process stress before it becomes a relapse risk |
| Level of care | Repeated close calls, structure is slipping | Step up to IOP/PHP for a period of time | Restores accountability and clinical oversight |
| Peer support | You’re isolating, disengaging, drifting | Add meetings, add a different group, add veteran-specific support | Rebuilds connection and keeps you from white-knuckling it |
| Medication support | Cravings, mood, sleep, and anxiety are escalating | Review MAT/psychiatric meds with a provider | Addresses cravings or mood swings so you can focus on other aspects of recovery |
| Case management | Life logistics are piling up | Add weekly check-ins | Reduces overwhelm that can derail follow-through |
| Relapse prevention | Triggers feel different from how they used to | Update your prevention plan | Keeps tools relevant to today’s stressors |
If you’re a veteran who’s been bouncing between “mental health care over here” and “addiction care over there,” this is also the time to push for coordination. VA guidance highlights why integrated approaches matter when PTSD and substance use are both in the mix.
Isolation is one of the most reliable predictors of trouble. Connection is one of the most reliable protective factors.
This is present in recent data. A study focused on veterans described how participation in mutual-help groups can protect against relapse, yet referrals and follow-through can be inconsistent, which is exactly why deliberate re-engagement matters.
If meetings haven’t felt helpful lately, that doesn’t mean peer support is “not for you.” It might mean your current support setup isn’t the right fit.
Ways to bring peer support back online without making it a whole personality change:
If anxiety’s spiking, sleep is sparse, trauma symptoms are back, or depression is becoming more prominent, willpower won’t fix the driver of the cravings. Regular mental health maintenance is relapse prevention.
Practical, actionable steps that work include:
If you’ve been telling yourself, “I should be past this by now,” that’s often a signal that you need more support, not more self-criticism.
In early recovery, structure is built into the day. Then real life returns: work, kids, bills, appointments, fatigue, and triggers you can’t avoid.
Routine matters because unstructured time tends to invite impulsive thinking. Research on early recovery routines shows that daily habits and structure shape the recovery experience, especially as people transition out of intensive support.
The goal isn’t perfection; it’s to drop “recovery anchors” that keep you grounded.
| Routine anchor | How it supports recovery |
|---|---|
| Consistent sleep/wake window | Stabilizes mood and reduces vulnerability |
| Regular meals | Keeps energy steady and lowers stress reactivity |
| Daily check-in (2–5 minutes) | Helps you catch drift early |
| Planned meetings/therapy | Builds accountability and connection |
| Simple morning/evening ritual (working out, making dinner, cleaning up, etc.) | Adds predictability and calm |
| Movement or time outside | Helps regulate stress and improve sleep |
| Planned downtime | Prevents burnout (which can lead to a return to use) |
If your routine keeps collapsing, that’s not “laziness.” It’s information. It may mean you need more support, fewer commitments, or a higher level of care for a period.
A relapse prevention plan is a written, specific set of actions for high-risk moments.
Clinical relapse-prevention work often puts a focus on practical coping strategies (like cognitive skills and mind-body regulation) because relapse tends to follow patterns that can be interrupted.
A typical relapse prevention plan includes things like:
If you can feel the drift starting in this post-holiday stretch, don’t wait for it to become a setback. Recommitment is an early course correction. It’s restoring structure, connection, and follow-through before cravings and mental health symptoms gain momentum.
For some veterans, that means getting back to meetings and tightening routines. For others, it means re-engaging therapy, updating a relapse prevention plan, or stepping up to a higher level of care for a period of time.
At Hope for Tomorrow, our care is designed for veterans who need more than basic support. We provide trauma-informed, dual-diagnosis care and continuing support designed to protect long-term recovery, especially for veterans managing PTSD, chronic stress, or co-occurring mental health needs. To learn more about our Veterans Program, refer a veteran, or discuss next steps, call 877-679-8162.
Treatment today for a brighter tomorrow.