The self and the 4 stages of RELAPSE
Relapse doesn’t just happen. To avoid addiction relapse you need to be fully conscious, brutally honest and humble. Three things that people in active addiction are not! You are not a senseless zombie as much as you may look like one if you’re using substances and thinking that you will use them successfully for yourself. People in active addiction tend to like to believe that change is something they will do tomorrow, or the next day. Even when someone hots rock bottom, they need to know that there is work to be done on a daily basis in order to stay clean and sober. However we hope your life goals eventually become more broad in nature, and less shallow.
Nevertheless there is a time in early recovery when you need to keep recovery first, and keep life simple. You need a daily if not hourly practice to keep your mind alert, awake and mindful as opposed to mindless. If you allow monkey mind to rule your thinking then you can ‘forget’ who you are and what you really want and need and then revert to old self harming behaviour. However, if you remain mindful and present and don’t allow a train of senseless thoughts to rule your world then you stand a great chance at getting change and growth back into your life. Keeping it there involves practice. Daily practice.
The practice needs to be spiritual, emotional and psychological and physiological and we will tell you why this is indeed so. You see, you are a complex multi-dimensional being. We all are. We are unlike any other living creature on the planet. We can choose our attitude. We can choose what things mean to us. This makes life more complex in the beginning. Now here is the important bit. If you forget who you are you will loose your understanding of this multidimensionality. You will forget your divinity and along with it your values, core beliefs, hopes and dreams. You see hopes and dreams make life worth living, and living well.
A sober self image
If you don’t let go of a sober self image rooted in meaning and purpose and love for God, self and other you won’t harm yourself. Relapse is a form of self harm. Understand the 4 stages of relapse to avoid addiction relapse. A physical relapse does not just occur. Like all things it is a process. It starts with a spiritual relapse, then an emotional relapse, and only then a psychological relapse and ultimately a physical relapse. Learn how to plug up addiction relapse at any one of these stages. #recoverycommunity #addictionrelapse #sobriety
I thought I was nothing. I felt empty inside and couldn’t feel any pain or gladness. I felt as if I was trying to find something that wasn’t there – me!
Anonymous
Our self-image arises from two internal points of view: the picture we have of ourselves, and the way we believe others see us. It may be helpful to draw up a list of characteristics which would fall under either or both of these categories. A positive self-image would have all character traits under both; which means our view of ourselves is shared by others. You will not avoid addiction relapse if you are not honest with yourself. You will not avoid addiction relapse if you disconnect from others and hide from their help. You will not avoid addiction relapse if you allow your personalities masks to run riot. Masks such as grandiosity, ego, false pride, stubbornness and a need for control that you may not have.
Survival and how to avoid addiction relapse will depend upon your ability to live with yourself, knowing and loving who you are, and who you are becoming. Life is really about “becoming” not “being”. Nothing and no one is totally constant. Everything is in process, and change is the norm. What we need to care about is the norm. What we need to care about is the direction in which change takes in our lives. You might consider time spent alone with yourself as a period of restoration – intentional pauses to help you restore your centeredness, to help you stay on target with your true self in the process of what you are becoming. It has been said that when we stop becoming, we are dead.
For more information about how to avoid addiction relapse get in touch or call us +27824424779 pathwaysplett@gmail.com