Boleo

Stats show that 19 out of 20 of those in ANY recovery program are likely to relapse. My guess is some counselors feel it is best to give people the bad news first.

IMO there is a big difference between those who want to recover and those who want to recuperate. Those who want to recover want a whole new life. Those who want to recuperate, just want to get some authority figure off their back long enough to get their safety-nets back in place.

LDT

The staff at my medical detox actually told me they would see me "back there"....they said I would relapse. That negativity made me so mad, I was determined to prove them wrong.......so I did. Relapse was not an option for me. I didn't have it in me.

TheEnd

When I went to treatment, they said relapse is not part of recovery. I have never heard anyone say that. Relapses happen, but they're not a part of recovery.

I relapsed.....for me it was a part of my recovery. I needed to know for sure that I could never go back to that life. Other people don't need that.

Threshold

TheEnd,

My experience is more like yours.

I got into recovery while I was still using. I consider myself to have begun recovery when I recognized that I had an addiction issue that was out of control and I wanted to turn things around. When I chose to address it, rather than ignore or accept it as my fate, I consider that when I began my recovery process. It took several more months of using, reading, raging, asking questions, pursuing solutions, etc, before I even got clean. And there have been relapses, but I've never returned to the mindset that using is the answer and that life is better when I am wasted. I tried to go back there, but the thrill was gone.

I don't suggest people should or need to have a relapse once they've started recovery, but it has been part of my process.

Every recovering addict I know has admitted to stopping and committing to stopping 100 times before they actually succeeded.

If people choose to define recovery as "everything that happened after I stopped relapsing" then OK, but if recovery is that process of turning from our addiction towards a better way, they I think relapses often are a part of recovery. The way arguments are part of relationships, they are not always the break up of a relationship, sometimes what comes out of them helps the relationship grow stronger.

Raindance

I think they say it because a relapse, in the midst of your recovery, is not a complete failure, just a setback.

My relapses were not a part of my recovery process, but a reminder of what happens when I am not working my recovery program properly.