San Diego Sober Living - Recovery

Embracing Failures: The Role of Lapses & Relapses in Addiction Recovery

In February 2024, former NBA star Rex Chapman went on a publicity tour to promote It’s Hard for Me to Live with Me, an autobiography some book critics describe as a hard-hitting addiction memoir. Chapman started his career with the Charlotte Hornets, and he spent the 1990s as an explosive shooting guard with three other teams. His final seasons with the Phoenix Suns were underscored by multiple injuries that required surgical interventions for which he was prescribed Vicodin. 

In his book, Chapman explains how he was able to keep his drinking, cocaine use, and gambling under control while he was an active player. However, his impulse management went out the window once he started abusing painkillers. A 2014 arrest for shoplifting landed Chapman in court-ordered rehab, and he had to go through it two more times because of severe relapse episodes. Naturally, he felt as if he had failed at addiction recovery, but he later learned lapsing and relapsing don’t amount to failure.

Lapse & Relapse Are Expected in Recovery

Instead of failure, addiction recovery researchers view lapsing and relapsing as part of the recovery journey. This doesn’t mean people shouldn’t attempt to prevent such episodes, but it contrasts with the view of programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which is adamant about abstinence. 

Lapses are common onetime episodes of drinking or using. Relapse is when patients in recovery return to habitual use. Nonetheless, it’s safe to say a series of frequent lapses amounts to a full-blown relapse. Neither situation will fully erase the progress made during recovery. As long as patients can get back on the recovery track, lapses and relapses aren’t failures.

Recovery Journeys Are Hardly Linear

A lapse doesn’t mean having to start over. Rex Chapman learned about this after his first rehab attempt when a therapist explained such episodes are opportunities for learning and making adjustments to the journey. 

In the early days of AA, there was an emphasis on following the 12 steps in order, but this started to change when World War II veterans started to pack the meeting rooms in the 1950s. If a lapse is a fork in the road, a relapse is more like a burdensome detour. It might take longer to reach your destination of a sober life, but it doesn’t mean you’re lost.

What Research Shows about Relapse Prevention

A 2002 study of 242 patients conducted by researchers from the National Addiction Centre in the United Kingdom found that 60 percent who completed residential programs for heroin addiction lapsed shortly thereafter, but most of them didn’t relapse. Among the 40 percent of patients who abstained for 12 months after the program, only a handful relapsed. During rehab, the patients in the study learned various coping strategies aimed at preventing relapse, but the focus on lapsing was negligible. The low rate of relapse in this study shows the coping strategies had a positive effect in terms of prevention.

Relapse Prevention Strategies

Treating lapse episodes as learning opportunities gives patients and therapists a chance to make adjustments. For example, external triggers such as people, places, and specific situations can be avoided while staying in a Solana Beach sober living home. Plus, patients can also learn adequate coping skills to deal with such triggers during their stays. Other strategies may include cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation, and attending support group meetings. 

If you’re newly sober and you need help with avoiding relapse, call on the compassionate team at Casa Pacifica. Along with providing Solana Beach men’s sober living, we work with our individual residents to develop customized plans that integrate treatment, aftercare, and recovery support. Our services include sober companionship, coaching, and mentorship for those who are recovering from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. For more information about our sober living facilities, call us today.