What Nobody Tells You About Addiction: Relapse and Recovery

Hey Folks! 

Today I'm going to talk a little bit about relapse in recovery. For those in recovery, a relapse often refers to the prompt return to a previous behavioural or substance addiction after a prolonged discontinuation of engagement. Relapse this can be heartbreaking for both the individual experiencing the relapse and their loved ones.  

Relapse can cause feelings of shame, guilt, a diminished sense of self, regret and more. These feelings often stem from negative self-talk "I'm so weak for relapsing" "I can't handle sobriety" "I'm disappointed in myself". When one speaks  negatively to themselves about their relapse, they are creating the negative emotions which can actually lengthen or increase the severity of relapse itself. If one is struggling to manage the negative emotions being experienced causing the relapse, there is a good chance that they will act impulsively/maladaptively on the negative emotions being fuelled by one's perception of themselves in the relapse.  As the brilliant Brené Brown would say, "You can't shame yourself into growth." 

As turbulent and difficult as relapse is, it actually creates an opportunity for further exploration of self, healing and adaptation of more coping strategies. " I understood myself, only after I destroyed myself. And only in the process of fixing myself did I really come to value and understand who I was."- unknown

If an individual is unaware of an unhealed trauma, an unidentified emotional trigger or some sort of area in one's recovery/life that needs work, it can be difficult to identify it without avid and honest self-reflection. Honest self-reflection is key in recovery, because if an individual  doesn't highlight the issue through self-reflection, often times life will do the highlighting for them.  I always say, "We can't do better if we don't know better."

The beautiful thing about life highlighting the areas in one's life or recovery that needs attention, is that it allows the individual the option to really sit down, kick the ego to the curb and assess where and why the relapse happened. When we are mindful (objectively observing) of what the events were leading up to the relapse, it can highlight a trigger,  that needs attention. In turn, creating an opportune space for the development of self-discovery and coping strategies, with the intent to prevent future relapse. 

Relapse IS a part of recovery. We learn from our mistakes when we can accept them, look at them honestly and reframe them to serve us moving forward.

Remember, sometimes it may feel like you need a miracle to get to where you want to be in life. But if you keep putting one foot in front of the other,  you'll get there. 

You deserve to create a life worth living, free from the limitations of unmanaged mental health and addiction concerns. 

"Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain but we can't have a rainbow without a little rain. "- Unknown.