What Can Trigger A Relapse

Every person that has any kind of addiction, whether it be drugs or alcohol and want to get sober work very hard to get sober and stay sober, but there are many times these people that had good intentions to staying sober relapse.

From my own experience drinking alcohol I'll try to explain what can trigger a relapse, because it happened to me before, but not this time.  I learned the tricks to getting and staying sober with no urges for the drink.

My sobriety is for good this time and I want to help alcoholics realize that you can get sober and stay sober without the fear of relapse.

I have found out that many things can trigger a relapse, but there are some measures to take to avoid this horrible thing we call relapse.

Say for instance you have been clean and sober for a month or two and you are invited to a party were there will be alcohol served.  You are not sure if you can handle being around people that are drinking alcohol, but don't want to disappoint the person that invited you.  What should you do right?

Think to yourself, "what is more important, your sobriety and what you have been working so hard to keep, or hurting someone feelings?"

As hard as it might seem, you have to tell the person you can not attend, because you would feel tempted to drink being around those that are drinking alcohol.  If this person is any kind of friend he/she will realize and understand the position you are in and that you need to stay away from the temptation to drink until you feel that you are ready to be in the presence of people drinking if or ever.

You have to stay away from those bars you used to hang out in and for that matter, don't even drive around those bars or clubs at all.  Take the long route home if need be to stay clear of all temptation and the chance of relapse.

You don't want in any way to tease yourself or the inner demons inside you that are just waiting for you to relapse so that they, your demons, can begin to take over your life again. 

Continue every single day of your life to continually tell yourself that you will never drink again no matter what happens in your life, whether it be good or bad.

Stay clear of all the people and places that may trigger the urge to drink alcohol.  Continue to think just hard you have worked to get where you are today being clean and sober and if you relapse because of a foolish mistake, you will need to start all over at day number one.  How do you think you would feel by starting all over again at day one?

Would be disappointed in yourself?  I can tell you that you would very pissed at yourself that you were not stronger than your demons, I can  promise you that. 

You know, I am not a Doctor or a Therapist by any means, but I can tell one some stories and experiences of drinking alcohol, something that is not in a text book.  Sometimes you need to learn by your mistakes and others mistakes as well.  This is why I try to write and explain that your addiction to alcohol will sooner or later catch up with you and you might just lose everything you have including your family, friends and in some cases you own LIFE, and why, because you didn't have the power or the strength to stay sober.

Yes we all know how much fun we used to have while partying and drinking alcohol all the years ago, but when you really think about it was it really as much fun as you thought back then.  Remember all the times you got deathly sick from over drinking?  Was that fun?  I bet you said to yourself that you would never drink again after being so sick right?  Did you stay true that thought or did you start to feel better in a day or so and hit the bottle once again?

THINGS THAT MAY TRIGGER A RELAPSE

Problems in the household.
Break up with a boy/girl friend.
Divorce
A family member getting ill.
Loss of employment.
Over your head in debt.
Having problems with your children.

I could write hundreds of things that would make one relapse, but you get the idea right?  The thing is, that no matter what life throws at you one must never be too weak and relapse to their addiction.

There will be many road blocks and thing that make try to make you relapse, but you can't give in or give up.  Face any problem that may come about head on and never think that by going back to drinking alcohol is the fix all because it is NOT!

Remember no one needs to drink alcohol to be happy.  Life is beautiful living it clean and sober.

Stay focused on staying sober, stay strong, stay positive and if you believe you will continue to achieve.  Never Give Up !!

Assist Not Enable An Alcoholic

When there is alcoholism in the family or just someone you may know and love, we think by giving the alcoholic things they may ask for such as money to support their addiction and saying it's Okay by us to drink is helping them, and in fact we are helping them destroy themselves.

Assist not enable an alcoholic is what we should be doing.  Assist them in their need to get help.  Give them the love and support to get better and surrender to their addiction.

Support them in every way possible, but never enable them with their addiction.  Don't let them know it is okay by what they are doing.  Try to explain to the alcoholic that they are slowing killing them self and possibly on the verge of losing their family and friends if you see it with your own eyes, because the alcoholic can not see these things, for they are blinded by their addiction, just as I was two years ago.

So many people that are addicted to alcohol live in their own little world of denial and really can't understand why people harass them with their alcoholism problem.  We all try to make the alcoholic understand what they are doing is not good at all, but they just don't want to listen, nor did I. 

I thought everyone was crazy to even think I had a addiction to alcohol.  Now that I am clean and sober, I now realize that I was the crazy one and not them.  They did not enable me at all, in fact they tried so hard to assist me in getting help and I just wasn't ready to surrender to my addiction, just as so many alcoholics feel.

No matter what people say or do regarding you quitting drinking alcohol, if you are not ready in your heart to give up and surrender once and for all, then no matter what they say is useless.

So the bottom line is if you truly want to help the alcoholic surrender to their addiction, them help them in the right way by leading them in the right direction towards a clean and sober life.  Don't give up on them.  Sooner or later, hopefully they will see the light at the end of the tunnel and admit they do have an addiction to alcohol and then they will ask for the help they need, but until they are ready, assist them and not enable them.

So You Want To Get Sober - What's Next

So you want to get sober what's next is something every alcoholic thinks of when he/she wants to change their lives.

What is the first step in getting sober and how can I start the recovery process is one of the many questions alcoholics may ask themselves, but many may not know the answer or how to go about it.

I know that one of the most important questions is, "do you really want to get sober or are you being forced into something you don't have in your heart to do?"  Are you willing to surrender to your addiction and start a new life of sobriety?


Are you willing to possibly let go of your drinking friends and start to live a normal life without your crutch and friends that may possibly put a damper on you succeeding in getting clean and sober?


So you ask. "Whats Next?"  You have taken your first step by admitting you have a problem with alcohol and want help and now it is time to pick your starting sobriety date in which will be the most important date in your life, and for the rest of your lives, as it is for myself.  I so look forward to my sobriety date to come each year and look back and say to myself, " I have made it through one more year clean and sober."

What a thrill and a huge achievement in an alcoholics life to have made it through one more year of sobriety.

Many alcoholics think they would never be able to get sober, but once they have made their minds up to at least try getting sober, they may surprise themselves by just how easy it can be to get sober if you really have it in your heart to do so.

Stay focused, stay positive and believe in yourself.  By doing these things and keeping a positive attitude in life you will be able to get and stay sober.  No matter what happens in your life while in recovery, don't back down to your demons.  Never let them back into your life again.  They, our demons, will always try to get back into our lives in different ways, but you have to be strong enough to put them away and say the most important word in your life, and that is the word, "NO!"

If you have the willingness, desire and the determination to get clean and sober, then it will indeed happen in your life.  Believe and you will achieve is my motto from now on in my life, as it should be yours as well.

What To Do If You Are Struggling With An Addiction

Many people in our society and in our world are struggling with either a drug or alcohol addiction and can't find a way out. Here are my ideas on what to do if you are struggling with an addiction.

These ideas worked for me two years ago when I quit drinking alcohol and still work to this day.  Here we go with the first and most important thing in surrendering to your addiction to drugs or alcohol.

You need and must want to get clean and sober and will do anything it takes to achieve sobriety.


You can not just make believe to others that you are going to stop drinking or using and hide behind your addiction.


You have to be very serious about what you are about to do.  This is not a game you are playing.


You are dealing with your life and whether you will live or die because of an avoidable addiction.


Ask for the help you need to get clean and sober, whether it be your family or friends and if
need be, seek Medical help so that these trained Professionals can evaluate your addiction and find what proper steps to take for you to get sober, the healthy and safe way.

Don't be a shamed of your addiction.  Tell people that you are an alcoholic or a drug addict and    want help to get sober.  Don't hide behind the bottle!

Start to prepare yourself for your new life once you have admitted you have a addiction problem and need help.  Life is a beautiful thing once you are sober, and your outlook towards life will change so much you will even surprise yourself, as I surprised myself when I took that first step towards sobriety.

If you are struggling with any kind of addiction and want out for good, seek help and never be afraid to ask for the help you need to get clean and sober.
This one question, "to ask for help or can you help me" could be a matter of life or death, so don't delay another second and don't be a shamed to ASK FOR HELP!

Living Life Sober And To The Fullest

If you are addicted to drugs or alcohol, you don't know what you're missing out on living life sober and to the fullest.

Living your life sober is such a wonderful thing, speaking for someone such as myself, that was addicted to alcohol for many years, and to live life to the fullest is something many of us do not even try to do or maybe we just don't know how.

I have to say from my own experiences drinking alcohol just how I was letting life slip away and really never even realized what was happening.  Being a drug addict or an alcoholic we tend to only have one thing that is more important than anything else, and that is our addiction. 

All of us are smart enough to know that we are all here on earth just one time so, you had better make the best of every minute of your life while you are here.  Live sober and live your life to the fullest every chance you get, because you never know what tomorrow will bring to you.

I have learned so much about life over the last two years being clean and sober that it is hard to even explain all the wonderful feelings inside I have and all the great things that have happened to me, my wife and my family, and all because I changed my outlook on life. The biggest thing was I finally surrendered to my addiction to alcohol.  Those demons will never run and try to ruin my life ever again and this should go for every drug addict or alcoholic.  Take a stand in your life and surrender to your inner demons.

I know it sounds easy when I word it that way right, but believe it or not it is very easy only if you truly want to live life sober and live it to the fullest. 

If you think you are ready to surrender to your addiction or having any worries of the addiction that captured your life, then do something about it.  So many people worry about their health, and I was one of those people.  If you are so worried about your health and your life then why is it so hard to quit drinking alcohol or using drugs?  I bet you don't have an answer for that question, except that you will say, "well I am addicted to drugs or alcohol and there is now way out of my addiction."  Does this sound familiar to you, because it sure does to me.

There is always a way out of an addiction only if you are ready to change your life for the better and surrender to that addiction.  Until you are fully ready and finally get out of denial and admit you have a serious problem you are going to be stuck right where you are drinking and using, unfortunately.

We all have the the strength, the power and the brain to figure out anything.  The problem is, that so many of us are just happy with our life and the way we are living it now.  I think these people are just afraid to change the lives or too lazy to work on the addiction and start a new life clean and sober.

If you have the willingness, the desire and the determination to get clean and sober than you are taking that first step towards finding sobriety.

I can tell you one thing, you maybe afraid of your health declining or your life being shortened by your addiction, BUT never be afraid of sobriety.  Being clean and sober is something that will help you live your life fuller in the end, so surrender and go for the life you deserve to have and enjoy the one and only life you have.

Enabling The Alcoholic

When there is am alcoholic in your family or any part of your life, many of us tend to feel sorry for them and their addiction to alcohol.  When we start to feel sorry for them we begin enabling the alcoholic and sometimes we don't know that we are in fact hurting them and not helping them.

Many of us think we are doing the alcoholic a favor by lending or giving them money to support their addiction, but in fact we are enabling them, and by doing so, they think what they are doing by drinking and abusing alcohol is okay.

I can realize that someone would feel sorry for the alcoholic because there was an alcoholic in my family and one time and it was myself.  I would ask he same questions to people,such as,do you have any money so I can get a six pack or can you lend me some money because I spent mine on alcohol.

Better yet, when the alcoholic begins drinking in the afternoon or anytime of the day really and then runs out of alcohol and needs more to continue drinking and getting more drunk they then ask if these people can buy more alcohol for them because they are too drunk to drive and get it them self.

All these things our families and our friends may do in enabling the alcohol, but instead these families and friends have to learn the word "NO" and not enable the alcoholic anymore.  Sooner or later the alcoholic may get the hint, although I have known many alcoholics that can get very nasty because what they have asked for as a favor the person or people refuse to do for them.

The main purpose of this article is just to say if there is an alcoholic in your family or in your life, do not enable them and give them what they want.  You are only making things worse by doing so.  You need to be strong and no how to tell the alcoholic, "No I can not help you kill yourself and I refuse to say it is okay to drink alcohol."  If you say no enough times and not enable the alcoholic in their time of need, they will have no choice but to figure it out on their own or simply start to think to them selves, maybe I do have an addiction and I should ask for the help I need to get clean and sober.

This is not to say that the alcoholic will do the above, but it certainly will make it harder for them to get the alcohol they need and when the start to realize they are losing the families and friends slow but sure all because of their addiction they may then see the light and get help.

You are not holding back the alcohol from them just to be a nasty and mean person, you are doing it to save their life and make them realize there is a beautiful life out there for them living it sober.  Be supportive and help them get sober, but not enable them to use you or try to take advantage of you as far as helping them in their addiction.

Are You Afraid Of Relapsing: Tips To Help You Stay Sober

One of the biggest fears for a person in recovery is the fear of relapsing, whether is be alcoholism or being addicted to drugs.

When I became clean and sober people would ask me, "are you afraid of relapsing?" My answer was no and I have tips to help you stay sober.  I have written many articles on tips that have helped me stay sober.  These tips worked wonderful for me and I must say, if you are serious about getting sober and staying sober read what worked for me and took the fear out of me relapsing.  They just may help you not to relapse after working so hard to get clean and sober.

THIS IS WHAT WORKED FOR ME TO STAY SOBER:

First off, when I decided to surrender to my addiction and you have decided to do the same, you must tell yourself you will never be able to pick up an alcoholic drink for the rest of your life.  If you can accept that strong promise to yourself, then you are on your way to sobriety.

Please don't get me wrong.  When I surrendered to my alcohol addiction the first few month and sometime even to this day, I get the urge to drink alcohol, but I continue to remind myself of the promise to myself back when I quit drinking alcohol.

The thoughts that went through my mind were powerful in the respect of just how hard I worked to get to the point of sobriety I was in at that moment the urge came about me to drink, and I must say, by thinking how hard I worked stopped that urge right away.

This goes for anyone that is trying their hardest to stay sober without relapsing.  Think of all the hard work and determination you have to stay clean and sober.  Just think if you were to have that urge to drink and you figured, what the heck, one drink shouldn't hurt.  Once you put that drink to your lips and swallow it, the demons will then be waken and your life may just change by one single sip of a drink.  I say these things by my own experiences with drinking alcohol, but some of you may be able to have that one drink and call it quits, BUT I hardly doubt it would work out for those who wish to try their luck at drinking alcohol again.

There will be many things in the rest of your life while in recovery that may upset you or huddles you may to jump, but never let any of these things in life make you back down from your demons and wind up relapsing.  You can solve anything being sober.  You don't need drugs or alcohol to get through life anymore and always remember that!

Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic sad to say.  I know for a fact if I were to take a sip of alcohol I would be doomed and back to drinking alcohol everyday and I am sure many other alcoholic would fit right into the same category as myself, so the best and only thing to do is to NOT PICK UP that drink.

Aways remember, whether you believe it or not, that you can have more fun being sober than being drunk, at least that is what I have learned now being clean and sober. .

If you keep a positive attitude and stay strong to yourself, and most of all, learn the most important word in the world for any person addicted to alcohol or drugs, and that is the "WORD NO."

Quitting Drinking Cold Turkey

So many people in our world suffer from either an alcohol or drug addiction and they have no idea where to start to get sober in a safe and healthy way.  I, fortunately never had an addiction to drugs, but made up for it by being addicted to alcohol for many years.

Many people that are addicted to alcohol want to quit drinking and often wonder to them selves if quitting drinking cold turkey would be the answer.  In many cases, such as my case, going cold turkey worked for me, but it is not the answer for many other people addicted to drugs or alcohol.

These people may be in danger if they tried to go cold turkey without the proper Medical help and guidance through the process of their detoxification.  You really have to see the proper Doctor and let him/her diagnose and examine the extent of you addiction and guide and place you in the proper Rehabilatation Center to get the correct care in a safe way.

If any alcoholic thinks and wants sobriety back into their lives again, I would recomend starting off first by preparing yourself for a lenthy journey and get ready for journey of a life time.  This journey will not only save your life, but when all said and done, you can be proud of yourself as I am of myself that you and I have beat our demons on our own.  

Don't get me wrong and don't be afraid of sobriety, but I must say when I decided to go cold turkey and quit drinking alcohol once and for all, I was scared to death and the reason was I have lived with my addiction to alcohol for many years, as all alcoholics do, and I didn't know how I would feel or react with the absence of alcohol in my body.

Would I be a happier person?  Would I get sick or get the Dts from having no alcohol in my system by just cutting off the supply of alcohol instantly?

These were a few things that went through my mind when I decided to finally surrender to my addiction to alcohol.  Believe it or not, those things never happened to me after all the worrying.  I was fine as far as the above, but I have to say, I was a bit nervous as the days went by.  I did feel fidgety and didn't know what to do with my hands or myself. I keep telling myself hang in there and you will get through this and become sober again. 

As the day went by, and weeks to follow, things began to feel better inside my old self and I then realized I have been sober for three weeks and then it became months, and now I have passed my two year mark being clean and sober. I can't believe how fast time went and how great I feel. 

I have no desire or the urge to ever drink alcohol again and it will stay like that till the end of my time here on earth.  I gave myself a second chance at a clean and healthy life and I have no regrets of tossing my addiction aside to live the clean life.  You can do the same thing if you are willing to admit to your addiction to alcohol, and want a better life, as I have experienced.

Stand up to your demons and shut them down in their tracks and you will see just how sobriety will change your life as it did mine.