Relapse Prevention
Relapse begins weeks, months before you pick up your first drink, giving you plenty of time to do something.
The key to relapse prevention is to understand that relapse happens gradually.
When you don't understand relapse you think it happens suddenly .
One minute your fine and one minute your using. Relapse is like a stone rolling down a hill , it needs momentum to build up.
You need to know the stages of relapse, recognize early warning signs and learn coping skills.
There are three stages of relapse, Emotional , Mental , physical.
Emotional Relapse
Your not thinking about using , that's the furthest thing from your mind , you remember your last relapse and you don't want to go back there. But everything you're doing all your behaviours , all your emotions are setting you up for relapse down the road.
Denial is a big part of emotional relapse, because your not thinking of using at this stage. That's why it is so important for you to learn every stage of relapse so you can see when your slipping.
Signs of Emotional Relapse
Isolation, Locking yourself away, not leaving the house, not going to social events.
Irritability, losing your patients for no reason,
Poor diet and not sleep
What do all these have in common, Poor self care that is the essence of emotional relapse. Relapse prevention is not complicated , just remember what you learnt at school.
Get a good nights sleep, eat three meals a day, and most important ask for help, share your feelings.
If you live in Emotional relapse for to long, after a while you will start to feel uncomfortable in your own skin. After that happens you will start to think about drinking to escape.
With that you will suddenly move from Emotional relapse to Mental relapse.
Mental Relapse
In mental relapse there's a war going on inside your head, Parts of you want to drink and the other part doesn't. Everyone has thoughts of using that is normal, it doesn't mean you have to relapse.
In the begin of Mental relapse your thoughts are brief and easy to handle. If you live in mental relapse for too long the pull of your addiction to alcohol gets stronger and STRONGER.
Signs Of Mental Relapse
People , Places , and things you associate with alcohol , seeing old drinking buddy's, lying to others and yourself., Finally you start planning ways to drink without getting caught. Think your relapse through , think of what you could lose, think of the hopelessness you felt before.
Physical relapse
When you relapse your emotional state is at it's lowest, you can't sleep , or eat , all your thinking about at that stage is drinking, you mentally feel drained.
You might think your eating well but , just simply picking at what the kids have left or snacking on a biscuit now again is not going to help, you become dehydrated from lack of fluid , Alcohol doesn't count as a hydration fluid.
Your body needs , vitamin, B ,C and magnesium , amino acids , iron are just some of what your body will be missing while you are drinking.
Locking yourself away , not getting out , not socializing is not healthy, your body needs exercise even if at first you make appoint of simply walking up and down the stairs a couple of times. in essence it all leads back to self care.
Finally you must understand that relapse is not a total fail, it simply means you need to educate yourself a little bit more about Alcoholism, do your research take the time to find out what it is your fighting. " A boxer will study his or her's opponent before getting in the ring" Do that and your halfway there.
Relapse begins weeks, months before you pick up your first drink, giving you plenty of time to do something.
The key to relapse prevention is to understand that relapse happens gradually.
When you don't understand relapse you think it happens suddenly .
One minute your fine and one minute your using. Relapse is like a stone rolling down a hill , it needs momentum to build up.
You need to know the stages of relapse, recognize early warning signs and learn coping skills.
There are three stages of relapse, Emotional , Mental , physical.
Emotional Relapse
Your not thinking about using , that's the furthest thing from your mind , you remember your last relapse and you don't want to go back there. But everything you're doing all your behaviours , all your emotions are setting you up for relapse down the road.
Denial is a big part of emotional relapse, because your not thinking of using at this stage. That's why it is so important for you to learn every stage of relapse so you can see when your slipping.
Signs of Emotional Relapse
Isolation, Locking yourself away, not leaving the house, not going to social events.
Irritability, losing your patients for no reason,
Poor diet and not sleep
What do all these have in common, Poor self care that is the essence of emotional relapse. Relapse prevention is not complicated , just remember what you learnt at school.
Get a good nights sleep, eat three meals a day, and most important ask for help, share your feelings.
If you live in Emotional relapse for to long, after a while you will start to feel uncomfortable in your own skin. After that happens you will start to think about drinking to escape.
With that you will suddenly move from Emotional relapse to Mental relapse.
Mental Relapse
In mental relapse there's a war going on inside your head, Parts of you want to drink and the other part doesn't. Everyone has thoughts of using that is normal, it doesn't mean you have to relapse.
In the begin of Mental relapse your thoughts are brief and easy to handle. If you live in mental relapse for too long the pull of your addiction to alcohol gets stronger and STRONGER.
Signs Of Mental Relapse
People , Places , and things you associate with alcohol , seeing old drinking buddy's, lying to others and yourself., Finally you start planning ways to drink without getting caught. Think your relapse through , think of what you could lose, think of the hopelessness you felt before.
Physical relapse
When you relapse your emotional state is at it's lowest, you can't sleep , or eat , all your thinking about at that stage is drinking, you mentally feel drained.
You might think your eating well but , just simply picking at what the kids have left or snacking on a biscuit now again is not going to help, you become dehydrated from lack of fluid , Alcohol doesn't count as a hydration fluid.
Your body needs , vitamin, B ,C and magnesium , amino acids , iron are just some of what your body will be missing while you are drinking.
Locking yourself away , not getting out , not socializing is not healthy, your body needs exercise even if at first you make appoint of simply walking up and down the stairs a couple of times. in essence it all leads back to self care.
Finally you must understand that relapse is not a total fail, it simply means you need to educate yourself a little bit more about Alcoholism, do your research take the time to find out what it is your fighting. " A boxer will study his or her's opponent before getting in the ring" Do that and your halfway there.