A large reason for relapse in chemical addiction, after having been sober for a while, is due to something called "Euphoric Recall".  This is the phenomena in which one "remembers the high of using", but NOT the negative consequences of using!  "Euphoric Recall" is associated with memory which after using drugs/alcohol (assuming also that you have the genetics for addiction), recalibrates your scale of pleasurable and unpleasurable tasks in life.

Let's say the "normal scale" for doing life as it relates to "pleasure" is a scale with units of measurement from 0 to 100 units, in which a "0" = task of cleaning a dirty toilet, and "100" = event of receiving a new car of your choice with no cost to you.  When one has genetics for addiction and uses drugs/alcohol, the "high" from "weed" would typically be about a "300" which would drastically distort and recalibrate your "pleasure scale" as it relates to every day life.  Should you use "meth", the "high" from that would typically be about an "1100".  All of a sudden the best of "normal scale" of life = "100" (getting a new car of your choice for free), is now "boring".  Getting "high" and living a life of being "high" now dominates your thinking, especially when under the normal stresses of life, and thus one uses again.  

This is just one of the four factors of chemical addiction, the others being 1) "obsession" to use, 2) genetic piece which creates "craving", and 3) "isolation" in using which reinforces continued using . . . BUT after sustained abstinence and recovery, "Euphoric Recall" in my opinion is the predominant factor for relapse after long periods of sobriety.

Please feel free to leave comments!  Look forward to your feedback!  Best wishes in recovery!

Sincerely,

CJDaniel, 3rdstepguy!

                                      “Daily USE OF TIME” by 4 different drug addicts prior to treatment
                                                                       (copyright @ 2017 by CJDaniel)
 
Clients:                      #1 (22 yr. old male)                #2 (19 yr. old male)                 #3 (20 yr. old male)                #4 (21 yr. old male)
 
TIME:
4-7 AM                        SLEEP                                    SLEEP                                     SLEEP                                     SLEEP
 
 
7-10 AM                      SLEEP                                    Wake & Bake & eat.                SLEEP                                      SLEEP
 
 
10-12 PM                   Wake & Bake                           Smoke MJ, eat, and                Wake up @ 11 AM                   SLEEP
                                   2 bowls of MJ.                         play video games.                   & smoke MJ.                               
 
12-4 PM                     3:00 PM brkfst,                        Gaming, movies,                     Go to class at 1:30 PM.            Sex, smoke MJ, eat
                                   watch Netflix.                          & smoke weed.                                                                         Go to class 2-6 pm.
 
4-8 PM                       6:00 PM shoot heroin;             Eat dinner @ 8 PM,                 4 PM smoke with friends,         Finish class, and
                                  drink w/ friends, make              smoke MJ & watch movies.     and SO, watch TV & smoke     smoke weed &
                                  Music with my band.                                                                 MJ.                                           eat @ 7:30 PM.

8-12 AM                     Use more drugs and                Smoke MJ and watch              Watch television and               Drink, smoke MJ,
                                   go get more drugs,                  movies.                                    smoke MJ.                               watch sports 
                                   have sex with SO.                                                                                                                    until 10:30 PM.
 
12-4 AM                     Have more sex w/ SO,            Smoke MJ, watch                     Party until 1 AM, smoke          Watch Netflix,
                                   Smoke MJ, and sleep             movies, gaming,  Sleep            MJ and have sex.  Go to         smoke MJ, have 
                                   at 2 AM.                                  at 3 AM.                                    sleep at 2-3 AM.                      sex & go to sleep 
                                                                                                                                                                                    at 2 AM.  
 
FORMULA for LIFE:                    “DECISIONS”  +  “ACTIONS” + “USE of TIME”  =  Goals/Results/Consequences.
 
Currency of life =                       TIME – how are you using your time?    
 
                            If one has a true chemical addiction, more and more of my "TIME" is invested in 1) "planning to use", 2) "getting resources to use", 3) "buying drugs/alcohol to use", 4) "using of drugs/alcohol", 5) "recovering from the affects of using", and then REPEAT 1 thru 5.  As a result, in addiction, all constructive/healthy behaviors are soon abandoned and lost.  Thus "healthy living" grinds to a halt, and negative behaviors and then negative consequences increase which creates much havoc, chaos, and destruction in their lives.  

$500,000+ drug history in terms of “retail value” of drugs/alcohol used by this individual
 
Age/grade                  14 yr/7thgrd                           15yr/8thgrd                            16yr/9thgrd                            17yr/10thgrd
 
Drug & $ amt           MJ $20/d (2x/wk)                  MJ $30/d (4x/wk)                   MJ $30/d (7x/wk)                  MJ $30/d (7x/wk)
    Used/day             Xan $4/d  (1x/wk)                  Xan $8/d  (2x/wk)                  Xan $8/d (5x/wk)                   Crack $120/d (5x/wk)
                                                                                                                             Crack $200/d (5x/wk)            ICE $100/d (7x/wk)
Total retail $/yr          $2,288                                     $7,072                               ICE $25/d (7x/wk)
Total days of             104 days                                  208 days                                                                                  $78,520
    Using/yr                                                                                                                  $73,684                                   365 days
                                                                                                                                    365 days
 

                                    18yr/drop out                        19yr/live w/BFF                     20yr                                         21yr
 
                                MJ $30/d (7x/wk)                   MJ $140/d (3x/wk)                 MJ $140/d (3x/wk)                 MJ $140/d (3x/wk)
                                ICE $100/d (7x/wk)                ICE $250/d (7x/wk)                ICE $250/d (7x/wk)                ICE $350/d (7x/wk)
                                    Etoh $6/d (2x/wk)
                                                                                    $112,840                                 $112,840                                 $149,240
                                    $47,944                                   365 days                                 365 days                                 365 days
                                    365 days
 
SUMMARY:     AGE                 Retail value USED                   # of days using/yr
                        14                        2,288                                               104 days
                        15                        7,072                                               208 days
                        16                      73,684                                               365 days
                        17                      78,520                                               365 days
                        18                      47,944                                               365 days
                        19                    112,840                                               365 days
                        20                    112,840                                               365 days
                        21                    149,240                                               365 days
Totals:                                  $584,428                                            2,502 days using         

This individual came to treatment at 22 after being arrested for possession with intent to sell.  He paid for his own use thru mostly dealing drugs although also got into selling of other criminal items.  Had become addicted to the "criminal life" also.  Came from a "white collar" family!  Oh and "yes" it is true that Marijuana is a gateway drug - "This is NOT a MYTH", especially if you have the genetics for being an addict!      Blessings to you on your journey to get you or someone you love out of the "snare of chemical addiction"!   Christopher J. Daniel, LPC, aka "3rdstepguy".  Be sure and check out my YOUTUBE Channel:  "3rdstep guy" !
               


                                                                                                                                               (Copyright @ 2017 by CJDaniel, LPC)

So what are you doing after drug/alcohol treatment?  Here is what NOT to do . . . !!!

Don’t go home to your home alone . . . why?  You have no one to stand in the way of your impulse to use when it occurs.  85% of all relapse happens in first 90 days of sobriety as the “hardware piece of your brain” that is responsible for resisting impulses does not work so well.  Living home alone in isolation makes it more likely for you to experience “loneliness” and “boredom” which triggers “euphoric recall” which reminds you that “using drugs/alcohol” is a “solution” to life problems versus being a “source of life problems”.  And of course your mind and its “stinking thinking” will suggest to you the solution is NOT going to a meeting or calling your sponsor, but “smoking a joint” or “having just 1 beer”.    

Don’t go to your family home after treatment . . . why?  It creates a situation where your wife, husband, mother, father, brother, or sister becomes your “sober policeman” who then is the one who 1) gets to drug test you for accountability purposes; 2) gets to pull you out of bed to go to work when you don’t feel like it do to fatigue; 3) gets to confront you regularly as to how you are doing on your step work as well as how many times are you meeting with your sponsor and when was the last time you went to a meeting?  When a family member does this, it creates resentment in you and them as you feel like you’re being treated like a child; family members become upset that you don’t appreciate “their efforts” to help you “get a life”. 

Don’t fill in “all the time you recapture when you stop using” with excessive work and/or school to “catch up” . . . why?   This just exacerbates and prolongs old patterns of “all or nothing” thinking as well as makes recovery a “secondary priority” versus first.  As you achieve “some success” you will tend to become “complacent” about recovery and stop it all together as it becomes “inconvenient” for your work or your schooling.  You will find yourself burned out after 6-9 months and most likely use or at least become miserable until you break down and use again.  Additionally, there are basic life skills of taking care of self that need to be rebuilt in you which work &/or school can’t do alone.    

Don’t get back into a relationship with opposite sex/SO  . . . why?  He/she will become your new drug.  Relationships take “time” and in any new relationship, you will be tempted to put lots of time into it as you have lots of time you have recaptured when you give up using.  The relationship will become your new “solution” to manage thru different life situations such as “boredom”, “frustration”, “anger”, “loneliness”, “fatigue”, “having fun”.  This relationship will take more and more of your time . . . time which you need to invest in recovery activities of – going to meetings, meeting with sponsor, doing step-work, meeting with your own sponsees and doing other service work.   Also for most folks in recovery, your relationship skills “suck” – blurred boundaries, unrealistic expectations for the relationship, codependency issues, no understanding nor skills on how to take care of yourself.  You become 2 leeches sucking the life out of each other.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO after treatment?  For starters, listen to what your case-manager suggests!  More later on post treatment thoughts!

Good luck to you in recovery!  Blessings to you!

CJDaniel, LPC

In chemical addiction, there are 4 components of the addiction that must be considered if we are to overcome it. 
They are 1) the “obsession” for the drug, 2) the “craving” for the drug, 3) the “euphoric recall” of the drug, and 4) the negative using peer group that we have likely surrounded ourselves with. 

    1)  The “obsession” for the drug is the “engine of the addiction”. It is tied into the “reward pathway” of the brain.  
     When one’s addiction is active, the “reward pathway” of one’s brain creates a situation in which “our mind” 
     believes that our drug of choice is “like air – necessary for survival”. What this “obsession” feels like is very 
     similar to the feeling and thinking one would have if one was trapped at the bottom of a swimming pool full 
     of water and had no air.  One would be “thinking only about air” and doing everything to get free from the 
     bottom of the pool to get that air. In that moment at the bottom of the pool, one is now “obsessing about air”.  
     This creates a state in which one has “No power of choice to say NO in their own strength” as the drug is 
     believed to be absolutely necessary for survival.  Welcome to the world of an active alcoholic or addict.  
 
    2)  The “craving” in chemical addiction is the result of a “gene”which produces a craving for more drugs/alcohol 
     when drugs/alcohol used hits one's bloodstream. This “craving” is 3x to 10x larger than any food craving one 
     has ever had, producing a situation that is greater than one’s own will power alone to resist.  This creates a state 
     in which one has “No power to control how much they use” once they start using.

    3)  The “euphoric recall” has to do with memory.  As one is doing life, there are many triggers (people, places, 
     and things) which are tied to our past using of alcohol/drugs.  As these triggers are activated, it is interesting how 
     what is remembered about one’s past using of alcohol/drugs is usually just the positive result of the “euphoric 
     feeling” of the high.  What is amazing is how the negative consequences of using – legal problems, relationship 
     problems, money problems, school/work problems, health problems – are NOT remembered.   They are NOT 
     forgotten, but in that initial moment of recall, just NOT remembered.

    4)  And finally, with many users, especially the younger ones, there is the “negative using peer group”.  As one 
     uses alcohol/drugs, one does not want any resistance to one’s use of substance that has “become like 
     air – necessary for survival”. Thus, one withdraws from non-using friends and surrounds oneself with “using” 
     friends who normalize each other’s drug use. One’s negative using peer group fulfills a person’s emotional need 
     for “acceptance” as well as possibly one’s need for “value” within that group by possibly dealing drugs to the group 
     or being “great” at the ritual’s of using drugs such as “rolling joints”, “finding great buys”,  and/or “having great 
     connections” for drugs and/or having latest paraphernalia. The drug culture is the easiest peer group to "join" in
     terms of teens accomplishing the developmental step of connecting to peers - all one has to do to belong is
     use drugs/alcohol.  
 
This is the 4 headed beast of chemical addiction!!!!  I welcome your comments!  
 
CJDaniel

        I want to wish a happy mid-summer greetings to my followers!  God bless you and thank you for your interest in www.3rdstepcounseling.com.  Today I just rolled out my "solutions to addictions" section which is a partial list of my thoughts, experiences, and training on how to overcome chemical addictions.  Please feel free to give me your own thoughts and feedback here in the comment section of this blog!
        For more complete understanding of my thoughts about the dynamics behind addiction and recovery, I encourage you to buy my book - "THE LITTLE BOOK - Alcoholism, Drug Addiction & Recovery Made Simple!" at http://www.3rdstepcounseling.com/store.html.  In 81 pgs you will have more understanding of the dynamics of addiction and of recovery than most mental health counselors.  
        Look forward to your feedback and comments on this section and/or any other part of our website or about "The Little Book" itself!  Take care and God bless you on your journey to recovery and/or helping others to do the same!

Christopher J. Daniel, LPC