Reflections........................................ on the Road to Recovery
(5)- Relapse
"Many AA members relapse in the first year of recovery".
What do you think are the major reasons for this?
What defenses do you employ daily against relapse?
What do you think is the biggest trigger that you must guard against?
In my opinion, when a person gets 6 or 7 months of sobriety under their belt for the first time in their "using" life they can become complacent or sometimes "cocky" with recovery. Feelings of "I've got this" can be so dangerous to someone early in recovery. This is the disease's fiercest tactic in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI stayed as busy as I could early on and now to prevent this from happening. Meeting are instrumental in reminding me of just how alive my disease is. The newcomer squelches any feelings I might have that lead me to believe that "I've got this"!!
Emotions--more specifically anger is what I feel I must guard against most. Most of my life my temper has been an issue. With this in mind, I try to remove myself immediately from these types of situations because I know they can jeopordize my sobriety. I'm getting better at this, but must stay vigilant on a daily basis--let's just say I pray alot!!
Thanks Steve. One of the things i talk about at beginners meetings, goes right along the lines of what you said. Meaning, I if you think you got this (especially in your first year of sobriety) then you are totally discounting the power of alcohol. Kind of easy to do when you don't understand incredible attraction alcohol has for an alcoholic- To me that's where the statement alcohol is cunning baffling and powerful (and patient) comes from. So my suggestion to all newcomers is to immerse yourself in AA-all aspects- until you understand what forces you are dealing with...- then you are at least have an inkling of what you are fighting against....and you can decide much better what lengths you are willing to go to stay sober.
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