Relapse

The overdose death of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman last weekend has been a news highlight for days. Sadly, sadly, sadly his death apparently is a heroin relapse in an addiction he struggled with for years. One news account indicated he had been in recovery for several years but recently had completed another rehab.

Another smaller news story is of a woman who killed a man in a traffic accident. She hit him and carried him on her windshield for several blocks. She had been through addiction and was working as a substance abuse counselor! Her blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit.

It all sounds so familiar. Relapse is such a part of this disease of addiction. Recovery takes such major behavioral change and major spiritual change. It takes such commitment. "If nothing changes, nothing changes." True---but she made such change. She became a counselor. At some level, I am certain she thought she was doing what was necessary. I am certain she thought she could handle it. Cunning, baffling and  oh so powerful. That is so often the power of the denial. We think we can handle it.

I certainly have no fail proof answer. If I did I would make a million bucks. I do know the people who move into long term, pleasant, relaxed, joyful recovery are the ones who reach out to others in recovery and stay connected with those folks; who stay connected with their treatment center for at least one year--phone calls, aftercare; people who no longer go to the bars and places where they used; who give up "friends" who use; who become grateful for their new lives; who begin to talk with God; who pray many times a day.

Relapse happens to most people in recovery. That's the nature of the disease. It's the reality. We need to acknowledge that and move away from the stigma of a relapse. We need to work with people in recovery to recognize the symptoms and do something different...early. The people who move back into recovery quickly are the people who make it. God sends clues! If you go to the  ATM and take out $1200 a day, that's a clue! And then you pray like you've never done before to do something different. You have a choice to stay in the relapse or move back into recovery. Call a friend. Go to a meeting. Talk with someone. Talking breaks the power of the voices in your head. Get through the next 15 minutes, the next hour. If at this moment you can't convince yourself you are worth it, think of your family, your children, your spouse. They are worth it. Life has been better since you moved into recovery...not perfect but better. Recognize the new life as a gift that you really don't want to send back.  Live into the promise that God is with you.

LIVE! That is the choice God gives you.

Blessings-Penny