Having a period of sobriety then relapsing is very painful. Its hard to ignore the fact that for a while life was good clean and sober. You may well be feeling like you have failed and your self worth is lower than ever before. Sobriety is not a test to be passed, but a way of life that needs to be adopted. Instead of using your relapse as an excuse to stay in addiction, use it as a learning platform to spring back into recovery, stronger and wiser than before.
The first thing to remember about relapse is that it can be a valuable tool to learn from. Perhaps you were taking recovery for granted or had a lurking doubt in your mind that you could control your alcohol or drug use once more. A relapse will show you the truth of your addiction and highlight areas for you to work on in your recovery. Most individual’s have a good idea why they relapsed if they are honest with themselves. You may be feeling disillusioned and reluctant to try recovery again. But if the pain of addiction is too much, what choice to you have?
Do it differently
Coming into recovery after a relapse is not easy, your pride may be hurt and you may be feeling ashamed that returned to alcohol and drugs. Try not to think that everyone is judging you, as this is far from the truth. Everyone, except your dealer perhaps, will be glad that you have decided to try recovery once more. Most people will gladly try to help and support you, but you have to allow them to do that. Learn from where you went wrong in your previously recovery. There are my reasons that can contribute, but here are just a few:
- You stopped going to 12 step fellowship meetings
- You put your work and relationships above your recovery
- You stopped being honest with yourself and others about things happening or things you were doing in recovery
- You stopped accepting responsibility for your recovery and personal conduct nd started to blame others
- You weren’t dealing with problems in other areas of your life such s finances or relationship problems
- You transferred your addiction onto something or someone else
- You stopped doing the daily things that kept you well initially and became complacent
- You became resentful at life and people and stopped feeling gratitude
- You didn’t make any changes to yourself in recovery, and thought not drinking and/or using was enough
- You thought you would be able to control your using after a period of abstinence
Whatever the reason or reasons you relapsed, the pain of addiction will have put them into perspective and provided you with a reality check No relapse is a waste if it means you learn from it and do things differently. In fact many have found that this is the key to a better quality sobriety. The more you put into your recovery, the more you will get out of it. Relapse doesn’t need to be the end of your story, but it can be the beginning if you choose.