Recovery Happens. Not.

Recovery doesn’t just happen because one stops drinking and using drugs; especially in the beginning, it takes diligent hard work and sacrifice. I think this may be the hardest lesson we have to learn as alcoholics and addicts new to sobriety, that even though now sober we continue to think function, and make decisions with a "diseased" brain. Quitting is the easy part, it’s staying sober that is the real trick.

Those in AA say to change people, places, and things. A therapist might say it also requires cognitive behavioral training. A pastor might say that it takes faith and finding one's spirituality. And they would all be right. One has to proactively work a recovery program, consciously setting aside time and resources not only to stay clean and sober, but to maintain a healthy and progressive mindset.

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In layman’s terms, if you are not actively moving forward in your recovery then you run the risk of relapse. I’ll let NIDA give it to you in doctor speak.

The disease is a double-edged sword with two cutting edges—drug-based symptoms that manifest themselves during active episodes of chemical use and sobriety-based symptoms that emerge during periods of abstinence. The sobriety-based symptoms create a tendency toward relapse that is part of the disease itself. Relapse is the process of becoming dysfunctional in sobriety because of sobriety-based symptoms that lead to renewed alcohol or other drug use, physical or emotional collapse, or suicide. The relapse process is marked by predictable and identifiable warning signs that begin long before alcohol and other drug use or collapse occurs. ~ NIDA

I like the short version better.

The same goes for those of us with a good many years in recovery too. It is oh so easy to get complacent in our recovery and not recognize the warning signs of “thinking like an alcoholic.” A relapse begins to occur long before the first drink or drug use with a regression back into old dysfunctional thought patterns and behavior. What I call the “set-up”.

As the addiction progresses, the symptoms of this brain dysfunction cause difficulty in thinking clearly, managing feelings and emotions, remembering things, sleeping restfully, recognizing and managing stress, and psychomotor coordination. The symptoms are most severe during the first 6 to 18 months of sobriety, but there is a lifelong tendency of these symptoms to return during times of physical or psychosocial stress. ~ NIDA

Read the sign at the top. If you are not actively working a program, well, shit happens (pardon my French, but I think it is appropriate in this case). Recovery doesn’t just happen, it takes dedication and work.