One of the most important skills you will learn in alcohol addiction treatment is how to identify your triggers and overcome them without relapsing. Whether you’re simply looking to educate yourself about the warning signs or you’re trying to get sober and are feeling the urge to drink, below are five signs that you could be heading towards a relapse.
You’re in a state of ambivalence
In order to be successful in your alcohol addiction recovery, you need to be 100% committed to getting sober. As long as you hold onto the idea that there’s even the slightest amount of enjoyment involved with drinking, you will be tempted to relapse.
Answering the following questions should help you to resolve ambivalence and make a decision about whether to make changes or stay as you are:
- What are the positives associated with continuing to drink? For example, it helps you to cope with a bad day.
- What are the positives associated with quitting drinking? For example, your health will improve, you will improve the relationship with your family and get your life back on track.
- What are the negatives associated with quitting drinking? For example, there are certain people you won’t be able to hang around with anymore.
- What are the negatives associated with continuing to drink? For example, your health will deteriorate, you might lose everything, your partner might leave you and it’s a huge financial burden.
You’ve stopped doing the things you know you need to do to stay sober
A sure-fire sign that you’re heading towards alcohol addiction relapse is that you’ve stopped doing the things you normally do in order to stay sober. Maybe you’ve stopped seeing your counsellor or going to AA meetings, you’re seeing people you know you shouldn’t or you’ve bought a bottle of booze to keep in the house just in case.
If you feel yourself slipping, it’s more important than ever to speak to a loved one or book in for extra counselling sessions.
You’re trying to convince yourself that just one drink won’t hurt
Perhaps you’ve been sober for some time now and you have a special occasion coming up such as a birthday. You may be trying to convince yourself that just one drink or one session won’t hurt.
Talking yourself into ‘just one’ is one of the most obvious and dangerous signs of an impending relapse. Even one sip is all it takes and within days or weeks, you will be back in the same place you were at the height of your addiction.
You’re defensive when people express concern
You will be familiar with this feeling from when you were first encouraged to seek alcohol addiction treatment by loved ones. It may be uncomfortable when others start to notice your movement back towards your old way of living but the sooner you catch yourself slipping, the better chance you have of not relapsing.
You may be defensive because you’re not being honest with yourself about your changing behaviors. For example, arranging to catch up with someone from your drinking days. You may be convincing yourself that this is ok because you’re in recovery now but your loved ones will be able to see this from a more realistic perspective that this is going to throw difficult temptations your way. Even if you’re feeling strong enough to say no to a drink today, tomorrow you may not.
You’re actively planning your relapse
You may think that you’re simply romanticizing about drinking but if you’re actively thinking about how and when you might drink again, this is a huge warning sign. Getting a specific date in mind, planning what you will drink, where you will get it from and how you will make sure your family doesn’t find out are all ways of preparing yourself for a relapse.
If you think that you or someone you know may need help with alcohol addiction in Toronto, please feel free to contact us in the strictest of confidence and we will be more than happy to help.
