Reddit reviews Staying Sober: A Guide for Relapse Prevention

Just out of curiosity, what is your experience with addiction?

I've been a drug and alcohol addiction counsellor for 5 years now, and "recovered" from drug addiction as well. The reason I'm asking is because what you recommended is the exact opposite of the research that I'm aware of. Much research has shown that identifying the "root problem" has abysmal rates for continuous abstinence from whatever the addictive behaviour is.

The book I last read on the subject, which agrees with my point can be found here.

The only reason I use this book as an example is because it's the one I last read (mine is an updated version I believe), but also in every course I've had to take with professionals it seems to be agreed upon.

I'm not writing this to tear you down, but I'm genuinely curious if you have any evidence of success with identifying the "root cause" of addiction, as it's been pretty much dismissed from what I can tell.

Edit: I just wanted to add that a friend of mine just completed his MA in counselling psychology, and his thesis is based in gambling addiction, specifically the pathways model, which again focuses mostly on CBT and other treatments, but certainly not finding the "root."

Hey, I'm really sorry that you had to go through that and that you're still suffering. I saw this posted in a thread a couple days ago and it really resonated with me:

credit to /u/Zombie-Process

One of the things that really stayed with me from social work grad school was a professor saying, offhandedly, that it's remarkable that so many people stay in touch with their parents. It's absolutely normal to divorce an abusive spouse, leave a toxic work environment, unfriend a mean friend -- but almost nobody cuts off their parents, even though a tremendous number of parents are abusive.

It kind of made me wonder if a lot of people would be better off "divorcing" their families.

Edit: Yo, thanks for the gold! I didn't even come up with this, lol. But seriously -- BIG LOVE to all y'all out there dealing with shitty family situations. You are not alone. If you're into reading, The Betrayal Bond is about breaking the cycles of abuse, and if you're dealing with your own or a loved one's substance abuse issues, Staying Sober is a good place to start. PM me anytime, I don't know shit about anything but I'm always here to talk. xoxo

I have been in and out since 2007 and have enough coins to fill a pot and enough key tags to thatch a roof.

This recent relapse, I went into treatment (5th) and they put me in the special ed classes. Relapse Prevention.

Basically it's 12 step orientated, but there was a lot of science (which I always appreciate) but also CBT and other therapies.

Anyway, relapse starts waaaaaay way before you pick up if you practice 12 step. Especially having 2.5 years, that means you must of worked some steps and did some stuff in a 12 step.

Here's some basic information from a medical perspective., although I did the Gorski Method from his Staying Sober. Gorski is like the godfather of addiction psych. His stuff is pretty no-nonsense and makes a lot of sense, even more so than the big book to be honest. Really pragmatic and based on tons and tons of study. Interesting fact, Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers is an alumni from the from the same program. Kinda neat.

Anyway. I'd almost recommend checking out NA's Basic Text, Relapse and Recovery (starts on page 104 in the pdf.)

...
So, when I did my Relapse Prevention workshop, the basic stuff I got out of it, was really dishonesty. I would start to tell white lies and little exaggerations. Eventually full on lies. Then I would compulsively start spending more. Then lie about how much. Buying shit. Working hard. Working even harder. Eventually I had been hiding stuff from people and I stopped enjoying meetings altogether. I started resenting 12th step. Like fuck these people. Then I just stopped 12 step altogether. Eventually I felt like, "it's just weed." And then weed makes me thirsty. Then I am drinking. I can hold out for quite awhile. Shit man, even years of just smoking weed and drinking but I start to get depressed as drinking borrows happiness from tomorrow. Then eventually, one morning hungover, I do what I wanted all along. Opiates. And then it's on.

Anyway, feel free to ask any questions. I can pull out the book and describe more stuff that Gorski talks about.

You sound like me, and a lot of people. Get some sober time, get comfortable, fall away from AA, and drink.

I don't have any recommendations other than keep trying. And, if you're up for it, go to rehab.

Why would rehab scare you? I've been twice and honestly it was two of the best months of my life. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was a month off from everything except for taking care of myself. It's one of the only places and times in life where I was able to be honest about where I'm at in life, who I am, etc. You can't do that at work, or even around family. Society wants you to walk around with a big front and act like you got your shit together. Rehab you get to relax and drop all the bullshit. At least that's been my experience.

This time I read a book that's helpful. I read a few actually. But the one that came to mind is "Staying Sober - A Guide for Relapse Prevention". What I liked about the book was that it explained why we keep drinking and how not to do that. It aligns well with AA, but there's stuff in there that was helpful that I don't hear about in AA - like, the social, psychological, and mental effects of alcohol, cravings, etc. It helped me realize this really isn't about self-control and there are reasons for (and evidence to support) why we need to put recovery first and continue to do stuff like AA. https://www.amazon.com/Staying-Sober-Guide-Relapse-Prevention/dp/083090459X.

Whatever you decide to do, just don't give up. I'm not saying I'm done by any means (it's just one day at a time), but it took me a long time to finally get over a year and finally at least feel like I'm done with trying to drink. I have no idea if it was possible for me to fully stop earlier, or if just takes what it takes as they say, but it would have been nice to avoid so much misery I created by continuing to relapse.

Wishing you the best...

I wish I had the chart to show you, but there are different types of PAW depending on the person. stable, intermittent, regenerative, and degenerative. Heres a website plagiarizing the source: http://www.tlctx.com/ar_pages/paw_part2.htm

But if you want more information, and are having problems with relapse prevention, heres the source: http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Sober-Relapse-Prevention--Treatment/dp/083090459X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421337911&sr=1-1&keywords=gorski+staying+sober

Its great. Its too early to say if you will have PAWs but 5 months of oxy I wouldnt really be worried tbh.