When a person begins to get into the cycle of relapsing to their drug of choice, it can be very easy to make all kinds of different excuses on the matter. After all, the entire nature of a relapse is all about getting to a point at which you can no longer stop. But when exactly does that point occur? If there were a hard and fast answer to that question, then this article would be a whole lot shorter. The entire subject of addiction would also be a whole lot simpler to handle- just skirt around that last little area, and never pass the point of no return. It is a lot like playing in the river that leads to a water fall- while it might be calm a little ways up the river, the steady creeping of the water will eventually carry you to a point where you can not escape the edge.
But where is the edge? For some people, it is simply being in the presence of others who suffer from (or possibly delight in) the exact same addiction. All their friend has to do is shake the pill bottle or offer them a drink, and the cycle goes right on. But in some cases, it is not quite so quick and rapid to fall back into the cycle. Maybe one would be okay- one drink is not such a big deal, right?
For most people, it is not. But for the alcoholic, one drink is almost never enough. It is extremely rare for an alcoholic, once they know that they are lapsing, to stop themselves from going deeply into it. To drink without getting drunk, or to only do so occasionally, are things that most addicts find themselves completely incapable of doing. So what about a situation in which the alcoholic or drug addict begins? Is there a point from which there is a safe return to a sane lifestyle?