Confidential
Substance Abuse
Chemical Dependence
Mental Health
Workplace Issues
American Society
for the
Prevention of Suicide:
800-
Relapse: "It's not a "failure" to remain "good", it's a sign of disease progression." -
relapse
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin relapsus, from Latin relabi to slide back, from re-
Date: 15th century
1 : the act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding
2 : a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement.
Until the stigma associated with addiction is replaced by the understanding this is a tough, chronic, progressive, and fatal disease, people will continue to die needlessly.
The use of evidence based treatments work. Treatment doesn't fail when:
- it is applied early in the disease process,
- it is applied for an adequate period of time
- it is continually reinforced
- it continues for life
We don't blame the patient when their cancer returns. We must stop blaming the addict when their disease returns.
Relapse is a process, not an event. Learn to recognize signs and symptoms of impending relapse.
