WHY GO BACKWARDS

In many cases involving recovery; whether it’s from drug addiction, alcoholism or gambling, people are returning to their old behavior after being abstinent for a number of years. I applaud the effort and determination that people have demonstrated in order to change their destructive behavior, but the question that sticks in my mind is, “What causes people to relapse?” According to Dr.Daniel Gatlin, the Director of Renaissance Malibu, relapse starts in the mind. Somewhere in the process of recovery people have allowed life’s challenges to change the way they think, as a result they respond to the challenges with the same destructive behavior that once had them bound. According to (Webster’s New World Thesaurus) relapse means to fall into again, weaken, sink back, or to be overcome. Instead of continuing in the recovery process, which is designed to encourage and produce change; I believe fear of the unknown creeps in and hinders their process. Regardless of what I believe could be the cause, we will look at other reasons why people retract to their former behavior. Let’s first look at some of the causes people go back to using drugs. According to information found in (Treatmentthatworks.com), there has been scientific research done that has proved when a person uses drugs over a period of time, the body is unable to completely abolish all traces of them. Drugs are broken down in the liver into substances referred to as metabolites, and this substance is removed quickly from the bloodstream, but they become trapped in the fatty tissue. Unfortunately, the small amount of metabolites that remain in the fatty tissue for years, are the number one cause for relapse. This particular article left me speechless. Now, let’s look at another cause of relapse. I have discovered, through personally speaking with individuals who have relapsed after being abstinent for a number of years; that their cause of relapse was simply going through a stressful situation and not knowing how to handle it, so when the temptation came, they simply changed their mind without considering the consequences. I believe that if all individuals who are tempted to go back to their previous behavior, would just humble themselves and take as much time as they need to pray for God to help them overcome the temptation at the exact moment they are being tempted, they would not give into the temptation. It all starts with the individual recognizing that they have come too far to revert back to their old behavior. Always remembering the tools that were taught to them while in recovery. Maybe some habits need to be changed, or even the people they have been associating with. Whatever the case, change must occur in an individual’s mind when they have practiced destructive behavior for a number of years. No one, who has diligently worked towards changing their life, wants to purposely go back to being entangled again in the yoke of bondage. Nonetheless, people are choosing to return to their former addictions, consequently their lives become worst than it was previously. People who live in this world respond to life based on what they believe. (Proverbs 23:7) Whatever is conceived on the inside, will manifest on the outside. Renewal of the mind has to take place in order to stop this vicious cycle. Continuing to do the same things and expecting different results is insanity. If people would just take time to analyze themselves and find out what is it about them that has to change, relapse wouldn’t become an option at all. Repeating the same cycle, to me means that you are stuck in a never ending series of events, where you can never accomplish or experience anything new in life. Life is full of changes. So I believe people should take the challenge and fight the good fight, no matter how much of a struggle it is. There’s an old saying, “Anything worth Having Is worth Fighting For.”