I Can Have One Drink Now Right?

For many who struggle with an addiction, particularly for those who struggle with alcohol, there comes a point where thoughts like “I’m doing well, maybe I’m not an alcoholic”, and “I wonder if I can just have one drink now” tend to surface.  In fact, many people who struggle with addiction have relapsed as a result of having these thoughts. So how do we know whether these thoughts can be trusted or not? Can they ever be trusted?

It can be really tempting to listen to these thoughts. Dealing with addiction is challenging to say the least, so it makes sense that our minds send us these messages about maybe not having a problem. It sounds great right? The problem with these messages are that typically, they can’t be trusted. That’s not to say that there aren’t people who are able to do these things successfully, there certainly are. But that said, for those who are truly struggling with addiction, it doesn’t work that way. That “one drink” will lead to another and another. We have relapsed before we know it.

By the time most of us get to addressing a problem with substances in any sort of substantial way, we’ve tried this already! We’ve tried cutting back, having “just one drink etc. and guess what, it hasn’t been successful. So when these thoughts come up, think about the experiences you have had with trying these things before. Are you really likely to be successful? The answer is probably no and thinking about this may just help prevent a relapse.

Questions about relapse or anything else related to drugs and alcohol? Feel free to get in touch!