he worst fear of the recovering addict is that they will relapse. Having worked so hard to escape the cycle of addiction and leave substance abuse in the past, the prospect of falling back into using drugs or alcohol can be a fearsome one to the recovering addict. But while relapse is a tragic outcome, it does not have to be the final outcome. Relapse is not the final word on your recovery, nor is it some ultimate end to your recovery journey. For those addicts who fall back into old habits, there is still hope. Overcoming relapse is possible if the addict makes the effort, learning from setbacks to push forward out of tragedy into a fuller recovery.
We tend to be a goal-oriented society, looking to the destination more than the journey to reach those results. This can be effective in many areas, such as business goals or personal betterment, like exercise or dieting.
But it’s not necessarily the best model for addiction recovery. Yes, the basic goal of substance abuse treatment is sobriety, and that is a goal that can and should be reached. But the problem after that is what comes next. We tend to see reaching a goal as a conclusion, at which point we set a new goal and start a new journey to reach that desired result. But addiction treatment doesn’t always follow that pattern.
Even after kicking the habit and finding peace in a sobriety built on a recovery journey, the recovering addict is not “done.” They have reached a stable position, but maintaining that position is an ongoing process. And sometimes, it can be interrupted by setbacks and temporary failures, the biggest of which can be a full relapse.
Relapse is clearly an interruption of the recovery journey. The recovering addict, overwhelmed by stress or temptation or just unable to keep up with the demands of maintaining their sobriety, falls back into their old substance abuse habit and threatens to return to full-blown addiction.
They don’t have to, though, and that’s an important distinction. One or even a few hits or drinks doesn’t have to tip over into full active substance abuse. Thinking that way can turn a momentary failure into an ongoing crisis or into full-blown catastrophe. But the addict can, instead, focus on overcoming the setback and returning to maintaining their recovery. Sobriety isn’t an on-off situation. Sobriety is simply being drug or alcohol-free since the last time you used, whether that was months ago or two days before.
At Good Landing Recovery, patients can learn the techniques and coping mechanisms to avoid relapse, but they will also learn how to work to overcome setbacks in the event relapse does occur and work to re-establish their sobriety on their continuing recovery journey.
We’ve all taken wrong turns or reached dead ends in some journeys, whether real or figurative, but we don’t have to let those detours and false starts be the end of the journey. Rather, we have to turn around and find our way back to where we can move forward successfully, and this is true of the recovery journey for the recovering addict.
Relapse is not a prospect any recovering addict wants to face, but it’s something that can and will happen for some addicts. But it doesn’t have to be the final word on your recovery. It can, instead, be seen as a temporary setback, one from which the recovering addict can rebound and return to sobriety, stronger and better prepared for the future. The addict can learn from this mistake and move forward accordingly.
Overcoming relapse is an important part of the recovery journey for those who find themselves falling prey to a momentary weakness in their path of sobriety. By learning from such setbacks, the recovering addict can hopefully avoid future relapse, with some help from Good Landing along the way.
