Relapse of a Friend

A close friend of mine has relapsed. It's strange because he sobered up before I did. I thought he had a better grasp at sobriety than I did. When he first told me about his relapse, he made it sound like it was a one time deal. Come to find out, it was more of a one month deal. The severity of the relapse to that degree has me stunned. It's like he gave up. We were supposed to be in this together. Me and him used to party together all the time. In fact, when my addiction got at its worst, he was the only person I would allow in my apartment because I just didn't want to be near anyone feeling wired. He should have known, given our past, that it was a dreadful way of existing.

He's recently got out of a serious relationship. Since then, he's been hanging out with people I didn't agree with out at bars. I warned him. I wanted so badly for him to understand that he didn't need to fill the void with anything but with his own self. I wanted to do a Vulcan mind meld on him so I could show him how. It's just that he's such a social person, he needs to be out and about, something I admire about him. I knew that I couldn't tell him too much about what to do because he's been sober longer than I have. Now its like he's starting all over again. The odds of relapsing within the first three months of sobriety are astronomical. It feels like I've failed him somehow. His situation with drugs has always been life and death. It's a scary time for him.

I find it odd that my pain through anxiety prevents me from doing a lot of things including going out and carrying on with people BUT its the very thing that helps me stay away from bars and negativity. Hmmm...maybe things do happen for a reason. I just hope its for the better for my friend too.

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