Relapse

Relapsing is one of those things people don't generally talk about. It's disheartening and honestly it's scary. However, when you talk about recovery, relapsing plays a huge role. It’s one of those things that even I am a little ashamed to talk about. Regardless of what it is you’re relapsing from the feeling afterwards could be extremely draining. What I do however want to add is that relapse is not something we should be ashamed of, it’s a part of the process. No, I’m not saying it’s something that we should be striving towards just something we should expect to happen.

It's not failing. Failing would be to stop trying. If you were to relapse and continue with your bad habits THAT is failing. The best thing anyone can do for themselves during this part of the process is to keep fighting, but this time fight harder.

Here’s what I think you’re supposed to do afterwards. Don’t dwell on the fact that you slipped because it happens, instead think about what you should be doing now. I know for myself I keep a relapse journal. 

In this said journal you will find recordings of situations in where I have relapsed or was thinking to do so. I outline the time and date, the situation, the mood I was in, the trigger as well as whether or not I failed in fighting the urges or succeeded. I find this to be a productive method because it helps me figure out where my feelings of wanting to relapse stem from. It could be as simple as always having a similar trigger or as complicated as it happening around the same time. It gives me a way to figure out how I can prevent future incidents from happening.

Recovering is hard. No one ever told you it would be easy. But I promise you it’s worth the work. The effort you put into yourself is extremely rewarding and will bring you that much closer to being the best version of you.