NYCDoglvr

One beer a relapse? Alcohol is alcohol. However, do not, under any circumstances, consider yourself a failure. And remember to be honest so you can see the underlying reason you drank.

thisisme

To me it would mean a failure of method. To me it would mean giving alcohol value. To me it would be opening the lock on an unimaginable powerful demon. It would mean going back to that horrible life. I remind myself about this often, that alcohol does nothing and takes all.

Mcribb

I call having any alcohol a relapse. I wasn't confy with calling it that and in the end I really got drunk. I had to start calling it a relapse when I drank again.

susanlauren

winegirl: and guess what...EVERYBODY RELAPSES AT SOME POINT. And dont tell me about the steps and about Jesus (other programs). I really need to focus on the REASON I'm drinking too much and to get healthy. It just got out of control, like many others say.

I hope that focusing on the reason you are drinking too much and focusing on getting healthy works for you, winegirl. Knowing why I drank too much never got me and kept me sober. And getting healthy never got me and kept me sober either.

Not everybody relapses, by the way. I know lots of folks who quit and stayed quit. "Everybody relapses" is along the same line of excuses as "everybody does it (whatever it is)".

Of course, you are welcome to try any and every option that you think might work for you. And you are welcome to cling to any excuse or rationale that you wish to cling to. I hope you get the results you are seeking.
Susan

4thekidz

This is all just semantics. It's a slip, relapse, fall, etc...if the ingestion was a deliberate act, then let's be honest...it's day one. If I go 53 days, like up to last week, and then suck down two fifths of vodka, then it's day one. If I accidentally bit into some rum cake unknowing, I move to day 54.

A healthy body recovers in 6-8 weeks; the brain- three to 18 months....the soul will be in perpetual recovery.

SailorChik

I relapsed 12 years ago. I didn't always drink during that time. I just decided AA wasn't for me and it was perfectly ok to do things on my own. I have been with my significant other for 20 years now. During that 12 year relapse, like I said, I didn't always drink but there was a lot of other insanity including two affairs, one ending just days ago when I told the guy I was going back into recovery...and that I couldn't date him anymore. He's a normie but his life is almost as hosed up as mine is. Anyway, it's not always the drink, it's the thinking that preceeds it.

SC

SailorChik

And yea, I picked up a white chip three days ago. I had gotten to the point of truly being tired of living lies.

SailorChik

Sobriety date on a scoreboard? It's not a game, it's so much more than that. People go in...they go out...and hopefully they come back. So what happens if the person goes out? Name comes off the board? Meh.

Jfanagle

4MeMel,

Just a thought here. I have always loved this saying:

"WHEN YOU GET HIT BY A TRAIN, IT ISN'T THE CABOOSE THAT KILLS YOU."

One beer may not be the end of a train for me as an alcoholic.

Most of us need some incentive to mark our success and the sobriety count is just such a measuring stick. It is less and less important as you enjoy a sober life over a long period of time, but in the beginning it provided an incentive for me. I visited a 96 year old friend today in the hospital; it was to wish him Happy 62 years sober. He is the fellow who told me that saying a few years ago and he always reminds those around him that,
"As an Alcoholic I may be 62 years away from my last drink, but I am as close to my next one as the guy/girl with one day."

Gotta love the old timers,

Jon

Zencat

I'm inclined to believe that drinking a beer is a relapse. Now I have wittiness those who have had a so called spiritual awaking and chuck the whole lot of it out the window to the dogs and have a nice cold beer or several dozen...and return to the rooms. There too are those that absolutely pledge off the sauce...and one day start sloshing down the drink like the madd.

Me...no way man...drinking is no option...just cant go do that wackness no mo.

Larkspur

I guess our tendency to that kind of thinking – "I've had one, why not make it 12?!" – is the reason that even one alcoholic drink should be considered a resetting of the clock.

I mean, if you manage to pull up before it does become two, or 12, then that's something to be pleased about, but it doesn't mean nothing happened. A lot of stuff had to happen in terms of decision-making or the situations you chose to put yourself in to get even that one drink into your hand, and then down your throat.