This is Annie Grace and you're listening to this naked mind podcast where without judgment,

pain or rules, we explore the role of alcohol in our lives and culture.

Hi friends, this is Annie Grace, author of this naked mind and I am answering questions.

I had a question a few weeks ago from Lee and I really wanted to give it some thought and come up with an answer

because I've answered questions on relapse before and I wanted to add something new and different and hopefully helpful to the conversation.

So although this is a few weeks old question Lee, I hope that this answer will help you.

So Lee asks, okay, here it goes. It took me about a year from the time I decided I had to quit drinking to actually quitting.

I would make it two to three weeks and I find myself always going back to drinking or relapsing as they say.

So I quit for three months and then I had another relapse and now I've been sober for almost four weeks.

My question is, what are your thoughts on relapse? What causes it? How do you deal with it and how do you prevent it from happening again?

Also do you think you have to reset the clock and start from day one when you relapse or does all your sober time consecutive or not count towards being sober? Thanks.

So I'll answer the second part at the end and it's weird because I came into this writing my own book based on my own journals,

I went out into the world and then I was introduced to this whole entire movement of recovery which I hadn't been aware of before.

And there are so many differing opinions and so many people who will make you feel a certain way or as if you're not doing something right.

And I think that's really sad. I mean, I am of the belief that there is so much good in this movement and there's so much health.

And we should just really focus on loving and accepting each other despite our perhaps differences in belief.

So my belief may very well be different than what you have believed but you have to find your own path.

And the last thing we should be doing is judging each other for whatever they're doing in their personal life. We don't understand.

So we can't judge and we just need to be here for each other supporting at all costs is my point of view.

So even my opinions, you know, take them with a grain of salt.

So what I would say is that, you know, all personal breakthrough, all change in your life comes from a change in your belief systems.

And you believe that something's not right and you have to change.

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