Beyond Addiction Episode-9 Featuring Alex Carle on Relapse and Substitution

In this episode of “Beyond Addiction,” we discuss the role of relapse and substitution in drug addiction and alcoholism.

“Beyond Addiction” is a podcast dedicated to sharing an innovative perspective on addiction and recovery. In this series, we discuss an innovative, “inside out” approach to recovery.

In Beyond Addiction Episode 9, we’re going to talk about the subject of relapse and substitution. It’s a critical topic and one that our intake counselor Alex Carle has a lot of insight to share with us.

The opioid crisis began with overprescribing Hydrocodiene and Oxycontin, which resulted in many substituting with heroin, and from heroin to Fentanyl. Substitution can also occur with the substance of choice. Nationwide there’s an increase in the use of methamphetamines by some formerly addicted to alcohol or narcotics.

According to Alex: “My drug abuse started with the need for validation, and a misunderstanding of where my happiness came from.”

In high school, I enrolled in extracurricular activities. I studied hard, and I thought that if I just made A’s, or if I got on the right teams, my parents would be proud.

As I got older, I wanted attention from the opposite sex and the popular kids in school. I used drugs as a way to be more like the ideal person I thought I should be.

I thought that drugs made me feel like I was a whole person, that I was going to be okay, and I was going to be happy if all of these people would like me.

The parties got harder, and so did the drug use. It went from heavy drinking to cocaine and methamphetamine. During this time, I experienced abuse and related trauma. I was still in the belief that substances would help to numb my feelings and help me feel okay. It was the only way I knew.

At Gulf Breeze Recovery, I realized the feeling I was searching for in drugs, relationships, and approval, was inside me all along.

The one-on-one counseling I received enabled me to get to the core issue of my substance abuse. I worked through the trauma and was able to gain a different insight into who Alex really is.

I had hope again, and a chance to change, and do something different with my life. I’m forever grateful for Gulf Breeze Recovery, how kind and open and understanding they were. Today I don’t label myself as being an addict, and I don’t have to allow my past to dictate how I’m going to live my future.

Many people come to us that have been to multiple treatment centers, or maybe one treatment center multiple times. They lose hope, the family gives up on them, and to a certain extent, the family has earned the right to give up. They don’t know why it’s not working, and why their loved one is still choosing to use.

I had no idea that I could be the solution. I could find it inside me, and it had been there all along.

For a lot of people, myself included, the concept of the solution coming from the inside was foreign. It’s amazing what happens something kind of clicks, and you know it, and it’s not foreign anymore. It becomes a concept that has some truth behind it, and some teeth, if you will. However, it takes getting there first, and that’s where one-on-one therapy is a critical thing.

It takes some work and time effort using the therapeutic resources to get there, but the result is wonderful. “The view is definitely worth the climb” The relationship I have with my family today is completely different because I have this understanding of who I am. I’m able to relate to them on a different level of confidence,

Growing up with low self-esteem and insecurities, I never felt like I was adequate to be a part of my family. I was always trying to perform and being ended up being completely fake. Today I get to be Alex again, just being genuine with my family, it’s a unique gift that I’m grateful to have it today.

You are not broken!

Once a person uncovers their underlying issues, things change for them. They find out they’re not broken. They have had everything they need, but they didn’t know it. At Gulf Breeze Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Florida that is changing the future of addiction treatment in America, we shine a light in the right direction, and our guests have a recognition that takes them the rest of the way.

We like this simple analogy using a plant to illustrate the role substitution and chronic relapse play in the cycle of addiction when we continue to experience internal unrest.

In this analogy, the soil represents the “outside-in misunderstanding of where our happiness comes from” that needs to be present for the roots, or “internal unrest” to take hold. The roots represent how we experience this internal unrest. Depression, boredom, anxiety, trauma, are all hosted by this soil of internal unrest. Under these fertile conditions, created by the idea that we can get satisfaction from outside ourselves, the plant can grow into the “observable behaviors of addiction.”

• Soil: Outside-In Misunderstanding
• Roots: Internal Unrest (Insecurity, Boredom, Trauma, Depression, etc.)
• Plant: Observable Behaviors of Addiction

Without understanding the nature of our innate health we’re bound to relapse or substitute.

We share the idea that our needs can’t be met from outside ourselves, but from within, and we have an unlimited reservoir of innate wisdom, peace, and wellbeing inside ourselves. When this is recognized through personal experience and insight, the soil is made fallow, and without the nutrients, the roots of internal unrest can’t take hold for the plant to grow back. Otherwise, the plant will continue to grow back.

Without this understanding about the nature of our internal wisdom and innate health, addicted individuals are bound to relapse, or substitute. That’s why the guests at our facility are hungry for truth and insight because that is the real solution to addiction. Understanding you have everything within you already to lead a life where drugs and alcohol, are no longer necessary for happiness.

If you or someone you care about, has an ongoing history of substance use and/or relapse, contact us at Gulf Breeze Recovery or call: (844) 548-1800 to speak to an addiction expert to learn more about our program that has helped so many people overcome their addiction and embrace life.