Originally Posted by
Stealthealer 
My question to the gang is, I understand why alcoholics slip in the first two weeks or so, but what causes them to fall off the wagon on day 40? 90? Two years? Only by knowing these answers can one glean how to prevent relapse in one self.
I would guess complacency, and getting far enough away from the pain of your bottom to forget how much it hurt.
I know that, when I quit smoking with the aid of a support group, the people who went back after having significant clean time were often the ones who had never changed their thinking and had spent years believing they were depriving themselves of something wonderful. I used to call them "white knuckle quitters" because their whole lives seemed to be one big act of resisting the desire to smoke.
For me, I had to learn an awareness of the kind of thinking that would get me in trouble and learn to confront those thoughts for what they were, but some people never made the effort.