newdayfortoday

Can anyone explain what this means exactly?

Are there certain signs and symptoms that a relapse is brewing?

Thanks for any information.

Boleo

In my case, relapse was the result of too much suffering. Not the kind of suffering that I could describe to someone else, but rather the subtle suffering of not having any form of release from everyday stress.

I would not say I planned my relapses, or even say I made a decision to relapse.
It was more like I failed to appreciate sobriety. When I finally found a way to attract some peace of mind, joy and sense of purpose into my life - the suffering stopped, the need for alcohol stopped and the relapses stopped.

Today I use self-appraisal to monitor my emotions. If I start to feel restless, irritable and discontented, I know I have to take some action to prevent it from building up into a relapse. In my case, I have learned that I have 2 -3 days to change course or else a relapse will automatically occur like somnambulism.

onlythetruth

A relapse happens when you start drinking again.

The RISK of relapse increases when you start thinking of drinking as an option, whatever the reason for such thoughts might be. But you can't relapse without drinking.

Sigma

For me it's like letting that kid go in to disneyland when he wasnt supposed to. I think much of the high is at that moment when you give yourself permission to do so.

BASEjumper

My understanding is that a relapse is a chain of events in which taking the drink is the last event. For example, a relapse may start by deciding to take the way home from work that leads by your old favorite bar. Then you might decide to just stop into that bar to get a bite to eat, but not drink. Then when you're in the bar, you decide 'what the hell, I'll have a beer'. If that chain of events was broken anywhere along the way, the relapse is prevented. You don't want to wait until the beer is in front of you in the bar before you realize you're in trouble. Being self aware and recognizing the chain of events forming in front of you can help you stay sober.

Mad4Chaos

I agree with Boleo & Basejumper. I relapsed last weekend after 71 days sober. It was the most stressful weekend I had experienced since I had stopped drinking. I just didn't have an outlet for that stress, so I started bargaining with myself. If this happens, I won't drink, if that happens, I might. I think I was already at the point of no return when the bargaining started. It was actually a physical ache in me Sunday evening. When my wife called me and asked me to run out & get a paper, that was it. At the store, I was face to face with beer & I gave in pretty easily.

I believe if I had found an outlet for my stress on Saturday night, I would have made it through the weekend sober. So my search for an outlet continues, because there's a somewhat remote chance that I may experience stress again in my life. The odds are against it, I know, but I need to be prepared, just in case. ; )

@Boleo

Is that a picture of 2 legged puppy under your username?