Fallen off the wagon – is it time to get back on?

Published 25/09/2009

As W N Taylor so aptly said: "Temptation rarely comes in working hours, it is in their leisure time that men are made or marred." In fact, new research on alcohol and drinking habits has proven that one of the Achilles heels of staying off of alcohol, is when reformed drinkers put themselves into a familiar drinking setting. The research*shows that people who are recovering from alcohol dependency may be tempted to drink again when in surroundings that they associate with pleasurable drinking experiences. Possible triggers can include sight, smell, sound, familiar surroundings or people.

Although now backed by scientific proof, these research results will not come as a surprise to anyone who is struggling to refrain from drinking on a daily basis. After all, it stands to reason that if a reformed drinker goes to a place where, in the past, they went just to drink, they are going to experience strong cravings. So what can be done, if despite all those good intentions, you or a loved one, has stayed dry for months but then fallen off the wagon?

Sue Allchurch director at The Linwood Group, explains further: "It is very easy to get disheartened or think ‘what's the point?' when you have had a time of abstinence and then you begin drinking again. A relapse, or having ‘Fallen off the wagon' as some people term it, is when after a period of even just one day of not drinking, you return to a drinking pattern. It is worth remembering that if you have been drinking heavily and then stopped, when you begin drinking again, even a small amount of alcohol will have you feeling the same way as you did when you last had a drink.

"Although as recent research has shown, placing yourself in a high risk situation, such as a familiar place where you used to drink, can trigger a relapse, there are also other dangerous thought patterns that could be a warning that you are about to resort to drinking again. If you find yourself thinking any of the following, then you might need to look long and hard at whether you need to enter some sort of recovery programme to ensure long-term health and wholeness: ‘I no longer have a drinking problem', ‘one drink won't hurt', ‘I need to do this because it is someone's birthday', ‘I never really had a drinking problem in the first place'."

Getting back on the wagon as quickly as possible after a relapse is vital, however it is important to also take stock of the situation and ask yourself what triggered you to begin drinking again? After all, everyone drinks to gain or avoid something, so it might be that there are deeper psychological issues at work that need to be addressed to help minimise the chances of further relapses. At Linwood Group, the treatment centres have achieved a high level of success with a programme that not only addresses a person's physical dependency on alcohol, but the negative behaviour and thought processes that led to drinking in the first place.

So if you think you or a loved one are at risk from giving up giving up, what can you do? Sue Allchurch recommends the following:

- If you have never asked yourself why you drink, it is important to identify this trigger and get professional help with this area of your life.

- To ensure longer periods of abstinence it is important to gain support, whether that be from an established alcohol recovery programme, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, or a treatment centre, if your drinking patterns have moved beyond your control (to see whether your alcohol is becoming dangerous, see our traffic light system)

- Avoiding high risk situations is a must, so plan your week to look for alternatives to drinking. This might mean taking up a new hobby or sport (remember that sport not only fills the time you might have spent drinking, but will lift your mood and change your focus).

- Seek out people to spend time with who do not drink. This sounds like an obvious thing to do, but if you are breaking a social drinking pattern that has become dangerous to your health, you might find initially that most of the people you choose to socialise with are drinkers. Again a local support group is invaluable for this kind of help.

- If ‘doing it your way' failed when it came to staying off the drink, then look at what other people have done to achieve abstinence and commit to doing some of the things they did. It might just be that signing up for a recovery programme is the last thing you want to do, but it could be the key to your success.

Most importantly, if you or a loved one has fallen off the wagon again, get help. There is no need to go it alone. So, for confidential, professional advice on managing a drinking problem, why not call Linwood Group on Freephone 0800 066 4173 (or if you are calling from a mobile phone or from overseas, call 01226 698 054) to find out how to get help sooner rather than later?

*Source: "Context-Induced Relapse of Conditioned Behavioral Responding to Ethanol Cues in Rats" by Nadia Chaudhri, Lacey L. Sahuque, and Patricia H. Janak.

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