"Relapse is not your fault. It is the result of an incurable disease that you will fight the rest of your life." ----- From Drugs To Dreams

Source: From Drugs To Dreams   Author: Mike

The official definition of Relapse is “to fall back into illness after convalescence or apparent recovery or to fall or slip back into a former state, practice, etc.” (dictionary.com). Anyone with a disease can relapse. You can take steps to try and prevent it, but ultimately it is out of your control. Wearing sunscreen does not mean you will never get skin cancer again, quitting smoking does not mean you are immune to lung cancer, changing your diet does not mean that your diabetes will get better, just more manageable. The list goes on and on. Are the chances of harm less than they would be if you continued your bad habits? Of course they are. But they never fully go away.

The same goes for addiction. Addiction is a disease. You know this. It has been drilled in to our heads by rehabs, counselors, doctors, Narcotics Anonymous, sponsors and even other addicts. Just like any other disease, it does not discriminate. Addiction does not care if you are a 24-year-old supermodel making millions of dollars or a homeless veteran on the street who has been cast out by society and needed something to dull the pain. (How this country treats our Veterans is mortifying, but that’s not for this blog). Just like any other disease, we did not ask for it. The old adage of “it’s your fault you are hooked on drugs” is neither fair, nor valid. Someone with skin cancer does not get put down or cast out even if they have never worn skin protection a day in their life. When (with hope) the cancer is cured, insurance pays for years and years of treatments to help prevent it from coming back. Someone with diabetes who has had the worst diet you can imagine gets the best care that health insurance can buy, including a lifetime of medication and support. So why is it we get 28 days and the door? All disease statistics show that without the help and support of doctors, medication, therapy and so on, the chance of relapse is greatly increased. Yet addicts are put in that position time and time again. After rehab, we are left to our own devices. What would happen if a cancer patient no longer got treatment 28 days after they were “cured?” Chances are pretty damn high that they would relapse and die. Addicts are supposed to just figure it out.

The American Medical Association has listed Addiction as a primary, chronic disease. To quote Dr. Michael Miller, past president of ASAM who oversaw the development of the new definition -"At its core, addiction isn't just a social problem or a moral problem or a criminal problem. It's a brain problem whose behaviors manifest in all these other areas. Many behaviors driven by addiction are real problems and sometimes criminal acts. But the disease is about brains, not drugs. It's about underlying neurology, not outward actions." (See more at: http://www.livescience.com/15563-addiction-defined-brain-disease.html#sthash.N5Gprb1Z.dpuf). Addiction is now an epidemic. Overdose killed a record high of 47,055 people in the United States. This does not include the amount of addiction related accidental deaths. Unfortunately, there are no statistics on how many of those overdoses were due to relapse but I would venture to say it is most likely a high percentage.

I used to look at relapse as my fault. I lost multiple years of sobriety with one needle and could have easily spiraled back to hell. I was angry at myself for a very long time. But with time, the help of counselors and loved ones, along with an enormous amount of self-reflection, I have come to realize that it is in no way my fault. I did everything I could to prevent it. I went to meetings, followed the steps, and talked to friends and family. I replaced bad habits with healthy ones and continually reminded myself of where I was before I became sober. But no matter what I did, no matter what you do, there is a chance that your disease will become stronger then you from time to time. It’s a lifelong war with many battles. It is an incurable disease. It is a disease that we carry for life. We work every day to get stronger, to become better, and to outsmart the disease. Yet, without warning, it could kill before the day is over. It is sad, but it is true. Just like any other disease, it effects everyone we know, everyone we love and everyone who loves us in return. It is devastating and the bleeding needs to end.

So why, despite everything mentioned above, despite medical advances, news coverage, and programs being put in place to fight the war on addiction (we lost the war on drugs, the war is now on addiction) are we still regarded as people who did it to themselves? Most of the country’s society casts us aside and forgets us. They do not participate in walks like the numerous ones for Breast Cancer. They do not donate to research like they do for AIDS. It is a disease that is widely misunderstood; a disease that most are not educated on.

As an addict you are given very little help for a very short period of time. After that, it is up to you. You are only so strong. I was only so strong. We can’t do it on our own. We cannot fight relapse forever in the chaos of our minds. It is time we speak out about our disease. It is time we get the help we deserve. It is time we change the stigma. I do not blame society for relapse and neither should you. I blame the disease. It beat me. I do, however, blame society for the stigma that makes it almost impossible for us to properly fight our disease. Until this country changes the way addiction is treated, relapse, just like any other untreated disease, is inevitable for all but a few. Inevitable, but not your fault. You can only be so strong on your own. And in the event of a relapse remember this, you can only relapse if you were sober, which means you have the knowledge and strength inside of you to become sober again. So never give up. For now, all we have is each other. Help anyone you can. Share your story. You never know whose life your story can save.

© Fromdrugstodreams.com 2016