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Road to Recovery

Mistaken Belief #1

Mistaken Belief #2

Mistaken Belief #3

Mistaken Belief #4

Mistaken Belief #5

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Mistaken Belief #8

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Mistaken Belief #17

 By: Terry Gorski with additions by: Lee Jamison

A MISTAKEN BELIEF IS SOMETHING THAT YOU BELIEVE TO BE TRUE AND ACT AS IF IT WERE TRUE WHEN, IN FACT, IT IS FALSE.

Mistaken Belief #8: People who relapse are not motivated to recover.

Fact: Most relapse prone people are motivated to get well. They want to get sober and stay that way. They try everything they know in order to find comfortable sobriety. But nothing seems to work. Some cannot stay sober because they lack the knowledge of their personal relapse warning signs. Others recognize the warning signs but are powerless to control them once they develop.   Because addicts begin to use again it does not mean that they did not want to stay sober in the first place. Alcoholism and drug addiction are a disease like cancer or heart disease. When a heart disease patient has his third heart attack, or when a cancer patient goes out of remission, we do not say, “Well, they just did not want to get well.”

When the alcoholic drinks after a period of sobriety it is not fair to say, “He just was not motivated. He did not want to get well.” Some relapse prone alcoholic/addicts experience such severe sobriety-based symptoms that they view alcohol or drug use as the only way out.

Andy, a relapse prone addict put it this way; “I reached the point in sobriety where I was so miserable that I believed that I only had three choices: I could kill myself; I could go crazy; or I could use. Under those circumstances using seemed the most sensible alternative. I did not want to die, and I was scared of going crazy. So I used.” Motivation alone, like willpower, is not sufficient to produce ongoing recovery. Specialized treatment for relapse prone persons is required. They need other options to the choices of dying, going crazy, or using.

If this is not recognized, relapse prone people who end up using will begin to doubt their own motives. A part of the individual knows he wants to get sober, but another part will begin saying, “If I really wanted to get sober I would not have gotten drunk or used those drugs. I must not be motivated. I cannot trust my thinking.” This is going to lower self-esteem and self-respect. It is magical thinking to believe that wanting something bad enough is all that is necessary for it to happen.