Many recovering drug addicts (myself included) have a recurring nightmare: You wake up one morning and suddenly all of the work you have put into staying sober is gone. Maybe you're returning to prescription medications; perhaps it is fentanyl, or an addiction as ancient as alcoholism. Regardless, the underlying fear expressed in that bad dream is that one day a person who has remained sober will again start abusing drugs. If that happens, does that mean you should give up hope about remaining in recovery?
Experts agree: Absolutely not. Indeed, a "lapse" may not even mean that you have "relapsed."
