The Web and Relapse Prevention

Relapse Prevention and what is on the Net gets the most votes in my poll. Here is an article addressing both issues in our efforts to stay clean and sober.

The medical community is making great strides in figuring out how we work physically. There is the study of genetics and how it determines if we have certain tendencies. Of course there are pills to take. In relation to that, I can’t tell you how many stories I have heard of folks taking Antibuse and continuing to drink. Kind of like the smoker that smokes through the hole in their throat after their voice box has been removed!

It is my personal opinion that all that is well and good. The medical community thrives on treating the symptoms. By that I mean not finding the root cause. Not correcting what may actually be wrong. It is especially important in early sobriety to identify root cause and effect. There is a really good discussion on this topic presented by Buddy T. at About.com By identifying our personal triggers for whatever our addiction is we can head relapse off at the pass.

Psychological Assessment Research and Treatment Services you can find a “cheat sheet of coping tactics” when confronted with your particular triggers.

Something that is sacrosanct for most addicts is quitting smoking. “Aren’t I already doing enough without giving up nicotine too?” Recent medical studies have shown that smoking may actually increase the possibility of drinking or drugging. I have been told that the nicotine addiction is as strong as a heroin addiction. (Having never taken heroin, I can’t say. What I can say is that stopping smoking was the next hardest addiction I ever kicked. I think sugar is first.) Buddy T. again comes through with a factual discussion of thealcohol-nicotine relationship.

There is a clearly written and understandable description of Relapse Prevention in relation to gambling behaviors on Addiction Net. For it to apply to your addiction, merely plug that in where it says gambling. (Granted there are certain behaviors for each addiction, but here you can get a good idea about relapse prevention planning.)

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism issued an “Alcohol Alert” in 1998 addressing the issue of relapse within the 1st four years of recovery from alcohol, nicotine and heroin addiction. Ever wonder why there aren’t that many long timers around? This may be why.

Go To Page: 1

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic