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Relapse is a process, it’s not an event. In order to understand relapse prevention you have to understand the stages of relapse. Relapse starts weeks or even months before the event of physical relapse. In this article you will learn how to use specific relapse prevention techniques for each stage of relapse.
There is so much more to recovery than just attending meetings and staying clean and sober. It truly is a way of life and a path to living, not existing. Through my experience I have learned that all bottoms have trap doors, that words have meaning and that they were right when they said, “If it hasn’t happened yet, it will” if one returns to using.
In times of high stress, high alertness, worry, difficult times or mood disorders like depression or anxiety, people are completely vulnerable to going back to their drug of choice. This is why we need to know where we’re at and learn practical ways of keeping our bodies, our minds and our environments in a healthy routine.
I was never capable of real sobriety, I never knew how to get it. I thought I was one of those unfortunates who would live and die by this demon. I was in AA ─ or should I say I was around AA ─ so often that I was afraid of returning each and every time I left. I found myself coming and going from the rooms of AA on and off for 17 years.
The people who are successful are taking massive action. They are not just getting out of treatment. They are following through, they are taking all of the suggestions, and they are pushing themselves to make positive changes. They go to meetings, they go to therapy, they follow through in every way. You want to be one of those people who “makes it.” So follow through.
I’ve had to do a lot of soul searching and working through a lot of issues that I had never dealt with, even in my 18 years of sobriety. It brought me to my knees, and I am still working through it. The guilt of going back out. The shame of telling my dear friends in AA that I went back out. It was really really difficult. But I had to be honest and share and let people know that NO MATTER HOW LONG you are sober you are still only ONE ARM’S LENGTH from that first drink.
Addiction is a chronic, progressive illness. No one can be cured. If someone is suffering from addiction, they cannot relax at any time. The brain neurochemistry changes… so these people are prone to relapse.
There is so much more to recovery than just attending meetings and staying clean and sober. It truly is a way of life and a path to living, not existing. Through my experience I have learned that all bottoms have trap doors, that words have meaning and that they were right when they said, “If it hasn’t happened yet, it will” if one returns to using.
