Hypothetical situation.  You have been clean and sober for just over two years when you relapse.  The relapse started off with just a few drinks but then as most relapses do it took on a life of its own leading to all the booze and drugs that were apart of your life prior to getting sober.  Whats the next step? Do you just submerge yourself in twelve step meetings? Or do you maybe go back to drug rehab?

I have been fortunate enough thus far to not have to personally deal with this scenario.  However being in recovery I regularly see people with sober time relapse.  My personal opinion on whether or not an individual goes back to drug rehab after a relapse depends on the specific relapse and the person.

First example.  An individual has been over two years clean and doing the right thing, going to meetings, doing service work, working with a sponsor and then for whatever reason a relapse occurs and it lasts a week or so.  I’m not so sure that this individual needs to go back to drug rehab.  It may be sufficient for this person to just go back to AA meetings and learn from his or hers mistakes.

The flip side is if an individual relapses and goes on a long “bender”.  This type of situation constitutes the individual gong back to treatment.  The reason being is that after a long run with drugs and/ or alcohol one needs to be in a safe place away from any temptations.  Its also my opinion that a person who experiences this type of relapse needs to start from square one.

Relapse is going to happen and it is nothing to be ashamed about.  It’s how someone responds to a relapse that is important.  Obviously something was not right in a recovery process if a relapse occurs.  Does one ignore it and just start over like nothing happened? Or does someone learn from their mistake to prevent the same thing from happening again? In some cases learning from the mistake means some more time in a drug rehab.

No matter what drug rehab site you go to they state, “our drug detox will make your detoxification experience painless…” or something along those lines.  I’m here to tell you that a heroin detox is going to be a little uncomfortable no matter what is done.  However, a quality detox will give its clients the much needed emotional support and encouragement that is needed.

Entering detox in Florida I was very skeptical.  The facility did an outstanding job at keeping me relatively comfortable.  However I thought the emotional support I received is what truly got me through my week or so of detox.  The staff  continuously told me how well I was doing and how much better I looked each day and I believed them.  Knowing that you are making progress is huge in the early stages of recovering from a drug addiction.

A proper detox was the first step that I had to take in order to achieve long term sobriety.  I had made numerous attempts by myself to kick my drug addiction but failed as I couldn’t get past being physically sick.  While I still had some minor symptoms in detox it was very manageable.  Once I was finished with detox I no longer physically craved heroin. I did mentally crave the drug but that to started to subside as I went through addiction treatment.  If I didn’t participate in drug detox I really don’t think that I would have never been able to get and stay sober.  I needed addiction treatment as well but detox got me over the hump of the physical cravings which I was never able to do before.

A hangover or delayed alcohol-induced headache describes the sum of physiological effects following heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. The symptoms vary from person to person and can usually begin several hours after drinking. Some commonly reported symptoms include headache, fatigue, nausea, flatulence, weakness, sweating, sensitivity to light and noise, lethargy, erratic tremors, lack of depth perception, trouble sleeping, diarrhea and thirst. A hangover may also induce psychological symptoms including heightened feelings of depression and anxiety.  Alcohol is a depressant.

• Approximately 25-30% of drinkers may be resistant to hangover symptoms.

If you’ve ever had a hangover, you’ve probably thought about how far you’d go to make the pain go away. From crazy promises (“If I live through this, I’m never drinking again”) to consuming your body weight in Gatorade, you may think you’d try anything to get rid of that hangover. This is why we have compiled some of the most popular “hangover cures” we were able to find on the web – which we can’t promise to work for everyone or anyone. Also, do not take this post as any sort of medical advice, always consult your doctor, and remember; there is no real cure for hangovers.

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Conceal the Liquor. Throw away the bottles. Hide their money. Appeal to Their Love for Family. Appeal to Their Love for Life.

When dealing with a spouse that is an alcoholic, it is very common for the other spouse to come up with what they are feel are defensive tactics to stop the drinking (or drug abuse). Let me keep it sweet and simple.

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction like any other disease is not something you can wish away or reason away. Don’t think so? The next time you have a cold, I want you to hide the tissue and see if your nose stops running.

Spouse Says: “If I ignore it, it will go away.”

Sobriety Diva Says: If it has gotten to the point that you recognize a problem large enough for you to want to ignore “It”. It ain’t going anywhere (Did I say Ain’t?… Yes I did)

Spouse Says: “If I throw away the bottles, there won’t be anything to drink.”

Sobriety Diva Says: *blank stare* Take a moment to Google “Liquor Stores near [enter your city, state or Zip Code]

Moving right along….

Spouse Says: “If I hide their money, they won’t be able to buy the liquor Miss Know it All”

Sobriety Diva Says: First, where are you going to hide that they can’t find it? I know that from personal experience that when I needed money I was a bloodhound. And I won’t go into what I would do to get what I want when I really wanted, without a penny to my name.

Spouse Says: “If they really loved me, they wouldn’t choose alcohol over me!”

Sobriety Diva Says: My first thought was to go back to the runny nose comparison, but I will leave say this. Alcoholism is not a choice. Is the result of smaller choices along the way that involved into a condition that know one in their right mind would choose. If you think

your loved one would “choose” health issues, memory lapse, and emotional scarring over you…. Maybe they aren’t the only one with a problem.

Going back to Twitter…. This is why they don’t let me talk very much now.

~Sobriety Diva