A multi-speaker discussion about avoiding relapse in addiction recovery. Speakers emphasize practical, repeatable tools: making prompt support phone calls (claimed to prevent imminent relapse), daily use of a "Faster Scale" or journal work, using the matrix/cycle of addiction to identify early warning signs (avoidance, procrastination, isolation), and removing environmental triggers (e.g., deleting Twitter). The conversation reframes the goal from merely "avoiding relapse" to actively "staying in health" by addressing upstream behaviors early.
So kind of moving on. One of the things that we definitely don't want in recovery is to have consistent relapse. Right. We're going to talk about it, that it's a part of recovery. But what steps can we take when we're trying to avoid this relapse?
Yeah. You know what's great about Pure Desire is I think we have the proven tools in the process that will limit relapses, though relapses, we know that they're going to take place. I truly believe if a guy is doing the homework, using the journal, looking at the faster scale every day, and then making the phone calls, and then emphasize making the phone calls as the whole answer to this question on my side will limit those. And more than likely you won't see. You won't. You'll start to see less and less and less relapses. I've never had a guy and I don't know, ever since we started using a faster scale anyway, 20 years or whatever it is, call me after making a phone call and say he relapsed, meaning. Yeah, the guys who make a phone call don't relapse after making the call before a relapse.
Yeah.
So.
That'S. I guess that's an encouragement because it takes two seconds to pick up the phone. And that two seconds can save a hardship. A discussion with your wife.
Right.
You've already disclosed to your group member.
Yeah.
You've basically thwarted a relapse and you move forward. So, I mean, out of all the tools we have, that's the big one.
Yeah.
It's kind of the question of having a little bit of pain now or a lot of pain later, and I can face the pain now of a phone call. And you know, what comes to mind for me as well in this is even the question itself maybe exposes a flaw in our thinking that we're too focused on avoiding relapse. How do I not do the thing I don't want to do, which when really the question is, how do I stay in health? Because that's the faster scale is showing me what does health and restoration look like for me and how do I learn to live there? Because as soon as I move on to the faster scale at all, I'm moving away from health and it's making relapse more and more possible. Now, it doesn't mean I am going to relapse, but it's possible. And that's why I think one of the tools we use called the matrix of addiction or some Just call it the cycle of addiction that encourages a person to sit down and think, where does it first start? Because it's usually not, I want to relapse. It usually starts with avoidance, procrastination, isolation, all sorts of things, conflict that just pull me in that direction. And if I can see where it starts and do my work there, then I'm going to avoid the battle of relapse at the end of the line. And it's the question we've asked, and I've said it on this podcast a bunch, but which is easier? To stop a train running 50 miles an hour down the tracks or to redirect one when it first gets started? And so if we're saying, how do I avoid relapse? And waiting until we're running 50 miles an hour down the track and we're 10 tempted and all those neurochemicals are happening and we're remembering what it feels like, man, that's a losing battle. That's a tough place to be. So it's more to ask the question, where does all this start? And do the hard work there.
Yeah, you know, one of the things too, and this isthis is gonna seem really simple, but it's not simple in, like, application is if you find out, you know, you look at the matrix of addiction or you look at that cycle and you realize. Cause for me, I realized that Twitter was a part of that. And so I realized, okay, this is one of the places it starts, maybe the feeling. And at that point, I hadn't identified the feeling that had triggered that. But I know that the next step after the feeling is to go to a social media place that I can find porn. And I'm gonna go with it, and I'm just gonna, like, I'm gonna be okay, but I'm just gonna surf, quote, unquote, and I'll be okay. I'll be okay. And then, you know, an hour later, I've relapsed. So at that point, you have to make the really difficult and courageous decisions to cut those things out. And I feel like, again, it' just don't go into that store or just don't watch those types of movies. But I think that it's just one of those things where you have to get to the point where you're able to identify and be honest and then take the necessary step. And for me, that was a really practical thing where I felt like a new level of freedom was unlocked when I decided, okay, I'm just gonna get rid of Twitter. I'm not gonna have it, and I still don't have it, because I've just decided I'd rather be healthy than have something that's potentially gonna be a pitfall for me. So I feel like it's a really.
