Notices

Relapse Rates

Old 07-30-2016, 05:42 PM
  # 21 (permalink)  
Member
 
MelindaFlowers's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: California
Posts: 2,693
My statistic for staying sober is either 100% or 0%.

I've been sober over two years but I am always mindful of sobriety.

I'll always be aware that I don't drink alcohol. That's why I'm here on this site two years in. And heck, what's 30 minutes a day when I used to spend 7 hours every night drunk?
MelindaFlowers is offline  
Old 07-30-2016, 06:00 PM
  # 22 (permalink)  
A Day at a Time
 
MIRecovery's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Grand Rapids MI
Posts: 6,435
Originally Posted by MelindaFlowers View Post
My statistic for staying sober is either 100% or 0%.

I've been sober over two years but I am always mindful of sobriety.

I'll always be aware that I don't drink alcohol. That's why I'm here on this site two years in. And heck, what's 30 minutes a day when I used to spend 7 hours every night drunk?
That is so true the amount of time I spend staying sober is so much less than being a drunk
MIRecovery is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 07:09 AM
  # 23 (permalink)  
Laozi Old Man
 
Boleo's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by Whodathunk View Post
Regardless of the accuracy, the point is that this is a daily battle no matter how long we stay sober.
This assumes that the Spiritual Awakening experience either does not exist or has no bearing on life long recovery.

My experiece was that before I had it, sobriety was an One-Ardous-Day-At-Time struggle and one millisecond after I had experienced it, sobriety was a complete outside issue. I no longer had to think about drinking or not-drinking ever again. Living life ODAAT became my goal after that.

Having experienced both ODAAT abstinence and a Spiritau Awakening, I would go as far as to say that they are two completly different ballgames.
Boleo is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 07:21 AM
  # 24 (permalink)  
Member
 
Loekken's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 189
Could I characterize my life as a prolonged relapse? Currently going for 7 months dry, though.
Loekken is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 07:33 AM
  # 25 (permalink)  
Member
 
Jack465's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 497
Is the article saying that these people go back to drinking permanently, or just that it takes them more than one try to quit?
Jack465 is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 09:54 AM
  # 26 (permalink)  
Member
 
biminiblue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
Jack, I didn't read the article and we don't even have a link to it, but in my experience some people don't get that second chance. So many ways to die from this.

It really only takes one try.

I also think it's pretty hard to research, I mean even if you went to 1000 AA meetings and took a survey, that's only a very small percentage of alcoholics out there, and a small percentage of those who have either quit or attempted to quit. It's a flawed survey model on so many levels. Many people quit in their twenties or thirties and never go back to it, or only drink a couple drinks a couple times a year. It's part of growing up for most people. I think if you're taking a survey in a rehab - the subjects of the survey have already proven to have big problems with quitting. I mean if I quit on my own, I don't go to rehab or AA - ever, right?

I mean, it doesn't even say - are we talking about chronic alcoholism? Problem drinking? Once a month binges? Daily moderate drinking? There is a wide spectrum, and I don't even know what this survey was focused on.
biminiblue is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 10:18 AM
  # 27 (permalink)  
Member
 
JeffreyAK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,183
The same numbers appear in a Psychology Today article, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...ddicts-relapse, apparently based on this study: An eight-year perspective on the relationship between the duration of abstinence and other aspects of recovery. - PubMed - NCBI

This is apparently based on 1200 people who entered treatment, so it's among people who have a serious enough problem to go to rehab.
JeffreyAK is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 10:22 AM
  # 28 (permalink)  
Member
 
biminiblue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
Exactly. Thanks, JeffreyAK - a percentage of them were likely not in rehab 100% on their own volition, either.

1200 people. There are 1200 alcoholics who go to my local AA clubhouse meetings just up the street in my one little small town. Imagine how many more out there who never seek help, and who don't ever consider themselves alcoholic? How about all the people who quit quietly and never admitted their problem?
biminiblue is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 12:04 PM
  # 29 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Whodathunk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Austin Texas
Posts: 165
That was great MelindaFlowers.
Whodathunk is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 01:37 PM
  # 30 (permalink)  
Member
 
uncorked's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 709
When I went through in vitro fertilization, the dr told me my odds of having triplets or more were less than 3%. Guess what? I had triplets. Statistics don't mean much unless they affect you. That said, I've read those percentages elsewhere and wondered how accurate they were. They sounds pretty reasonable.
uncorked is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 02:38 PM
  # 31 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Whodathunk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Austin Texas
Posts: 165
I think more then anything, for me, all the statistics do is reinforce that there is never a time to let up or think I am cured, or have this thing licked. That thinking was behind my numerous early relapses. My last one was thinking I could drink socially with 2.5 years of sobriety. Two months till I got sober again. But I think I have learned more the longer I have been at this. Now, I know I can stay sober, I just need to keep going to meetings, be grateful every day, and take it a day at a time, and remember my last relapse and how I did not feel better drinking, but only put myself in a very bad place. So, knowing that statistically the odds are against people staying sober, it gives me a boost knowing I am sober no longer how long it has been.

When I relapse, I can't go a day or two without drinking. I am on my way after the first drink, which I am glad for, since it removes the uncertainty out of my weakness, disease, or whatever you want to call it.

So, I don't care what the actual statistics are, I just know they are not good, and it simply gives me a boost knowing I am beating the odds every day that I don't drink.
Whodathunk is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 02:59 PM
  # 32 (permalink)  
Member
 
tomsteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
Originally Posted by JeffreyAK View Post
Right, relapses are decisions made in response to thoughts, events, internal or external processes, whatever it is that drives them, and gives idea of relapse enough weight to drop. In my experience the most important aspect of staying sober through them all is actions, not thoughts or decisions - what can I do in preparation and in response to those drivers to protect myself? If I failed, what could I have done differently, and what can I do now so I'm stronger next time?
i agree. the relapse starts before a drink.
when a drink is taken its no longer a relapse.
its active alcoholism.
tomsteve is offline  
Old 07-31-2016, 11:29 PM
  # 33 (permalink)  
Member
 
MelindaFlowers's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: California
Posts: 2,693
Originally Posted by Whodathunk View Post
I think more then anything, for me, all the statistics do is reinforce that there is never a time to let up or think I am cured, or have this thing licked.
I think of this daily. I don't obsess over it but it's a passing thought. One of Robin Williams' stories stuck with me. He said he had been sober maybe 20 years when he went to Alaska to film a movie. He said he was in a bar, literally in the middle of nowhere, in Alaska and thought why not?

I read an article recently called something like "10 reasons you are not ready for sobriety." I know the title is weird but I read it. Anyways, one of the reasons was "You have not felt enough pain yet." It helped me to realize that I had felt enough pain already to be totally okay with stopping.
MelindaFlowers is offline  
Old 08-01-2016, 06:37 AM
  # 34 (permalink)  
Member
 
Bunny211's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 1,601
My program teaches me that I have a daily reprieve contingent upon the maintenance of my spiritual condition. I could have 10 days, I could have 10,000 days....but if I am not working my program I am in danger.
Bunny211 is offline  
Old 08-01-2016, 08:06 AM
  # 35 (permalink)  
Member
 
SoberCAH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: West Tn
Posts: 3,043
"I REALLY have respect now for knowing (for me) that I apparently am no different then the statistics, which tells me that no matter how long I am sober, I am never in the clear."

These are very profound words.

After being sober for a good while now, I remain fearful of alcohol everyday.

It has been a healthy fear for me.
SoberCAH is offline  
Old 08-01-2016, 08:33 AM
  # 36 (permalink)  
Forum Leader
 
ScottFromWI's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 16,945
Originally Posted by SoberCAH View Post
"I REALLY have respect now for knowing (for me) that I apparently am no different then the statistics, which tells me that no matter how long I am sober, I am never in the clear."

These are very profound words.

After being sober for a good while now, I remain fearful of alcohol everyday.

It has been a healthy fear for me.
I would agree. 100% of my "relapses" were caused by me not heeding that advice and thinking I was cured or better.
ScottFromWI is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:04 AM.