The Relapse Days of Summer

This is a cross post from my site, but I feel the content is timely and appropriate for this site.

Everyone knows about how dangerous the holidays can be for alcoholics and addicts. Time off, stressful family situations and just the plain availability of alcohol and drugs during the months of December and January can often play a role in relapse. Sometimes I think the warnings you here ad nauseum from the recovery community and even the public at large have half us “expecting” a relapse! But you don’t here much about the hundred days of summer that start with the Memorial Day weekend and end with Labor Day weekend.

Speaking with others active in the recovery community including the director of a methadone clinic and an AA eternal we came up with some observations for this time of year. Meeting attendance, treatment retention, and new members for both groups tend to be low in the summer months. People usually have more time on their hands during the summer and for addicts and alcoholics this is not always a good thing. Especially dangerous for alcoholics; the summer sun, fun, and vacation activities of our society are traditionally intertwined with alcohol beverage consumption.

So if the heat has got you down in the dumps go find an air conditioned meeting. If you are out on vacation, take a chance and meet a new recovery group. If you have too much time on your hands… well you can come and mow my grass!

But seriously, keep the summer fun and your recovery strong.

The Discovering Alcoholic