Q: Does relapse mean failure?
A. No
Since addiction/alcoholism is a chronic relapsing disease, relapse does not mean failure. For many men and women, recovery can be a pattern of two steps forward, one step back. Relapse, in a way, just confirms that the person does indeed have a problem.
As crazy as this may sound, I would say to almost anyone: Consider that relapse might happen, and then plan what to do if or when it does. After a relapse, the person should call a friend who is also in recovery and get right back to doing what is needed to avoid it in the future. Learn from it.
The recovering person should ask, Why did this relapse happen? He needs to be honest. What triggered the event? Was it planned out? What events may have led up to it? Then be honest about what to do in order to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
“You may have to fight a battle
more than once to win it.”
—Margaret Thatcher
This “Q & A, Does Relapse Mean Failure?,with Joe Herzanek” is excerpted from Part 5 of “Why Don’t They Just Quit? What families and friends need to know about addiction and recovery.”
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Relapse. It Happens. ~by Joe Herzanek
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does relapse mean failure does relapse mean failure
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Relapse is absolutely NOT a failure. In fact, most addiction experts I’ve talked to and read from say that it’s expected. If anything, people should think of it as a learning experience rather than a failure. It’s nearly inevitable, and it’s crucial to make the most of it.
Have you heard about Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome – http://www.squidoo.com/post-acute-withdrawal-syndrome – a lot of doctors say that it’s the number one cause of relapse among recovering addicts. Now that I think back to my days in rehab, I definitely see that I was suffering from some of the symptoms, and that they may have contributed to the slip-ups I had in the first few years of my recovery.
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This is a question that comes up many times and the answer is that relapse is part of the process. Many times it takes the addict several times before they find the fortitude to stick to the commitment to become clean and sober.
If you are a mother of an addict that has relapsed please visit http://www.addictsmom.com and join this free online community where you can share with out shame and find strength to remember that you are special.
In celebration of National Recovery Month The Addict’s Mom is selecting a person of the day to honor for their commitment to getting and staying clean.
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| ________________ “Addicts and Alcoholics aren’t crazy and they CAN quit.”
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