There is no such thing as a relapse caused by things external to you.
There is only the choice to use again, which is influenced by how we manage or do not manage our lives.
Choosing to use again, is a conscious choice on your part, it is not subconscious.
No one but you can choose to pick up that glass of alcohol, swallow that pill, snort or inject that drug.

Relapse is an act

Relapse is the act of returning to a previous condition, a return to a former mood, state, or way of life, especially a bad or undesirable one, after coming out of it for a while.
No one says, â??I had a relapse and started exercising again, I donâ??t know how that happenedâ??.
No one says, â??I had a relapse and started going to school again, I donâ??t know how I got enrolledâ??.

An act is something that somebody does or the action of carrying something out
A reason is an explanation of justification for something, usually behavior or non behavior i.e. why an action was taken or not taken.

Unless you are psychotic or have suffered serious brain damage, you are aware of your reasons, motives or causes for acting or thinking in a particular way. Relapse is then a decision a person makes. It is not some unplanned event or bad luck. It can begin innocently enough by not taking care of all the details neccessary to stay sober. The things discussed in a drug or alcohol rehab program are not just exercises to be done once or twice. You must learn to incorporate these practices in your life once you leave a rehab or it is very likely that you will return to another rehab treatment program down the road. I will go through some relapse prevention strategies over the next few days. The point I wish to make today, is that just like the decision to go to a rehab is a choice, so is to set up the cirsumstances of a relapse. To undo the quality safe decisions learned in rehab is also a choice, a bad and dangerous choice.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.