Browsing all posts in Relapse.

The Risks of Relapse after a Decade of Sobriety

Relapse is always a traumatic and dangerous thing – who’s to say the person will make it back? I’ve always felt I never want to test it – I’d rather not find out that I don’t have another recovery in me!  I have written in the past about a friend who died after years of [...]

Recovery and Relapse: DJ AM

I thought this article from Phoenix House was well worth reading – on the continuing challenge of recovery and the risk of relapse.  DJ AM struggled in recovery for 11 years, only to die recently from an overdose (after surviving a PLANE CRASH! – I mean he could survive a plane crash, but not his [...]

When Someone You Love Drinks Again

We develop a lot of really strong relationships in sobriety – particularly with those people we got sober with. It’s almost like we went to school together. Started in kindergarten and moved through the grades, growing and changing as we learn from others.  We support each other. We encourage each other. It’s an unusually powerful [...]

Making Excuses to Drink Again

Sometimes I hear about someone starting to drink again, and I wonder immediately: what did they start to tell themselves about alcohol a few days, weeks, hours before drinking? What excuses did they make to open the door to the possibility of drinking? I know humans have an infinite ability to rationalize almost any behavior [...]