Common triggers of relapse among recovering alcoholics are:

Alcohol Exposure: Food cooked with alcohol; thinking you can handle "just a little"

Environmental Triggers: People, places or activities associated with drinking; social pressures to drink

Stress: Since many alcoholics used alcohol to deal with stress, sometimes we can return to old patterns when faced with stressful situations.

9 Warning Signs of Relapse:

1. Romanticizing past alcohol use.

2. Thinking you can use it once in a while.

3. Reconnecting with people you drank with.

4. Defensiveness and Denial

5. Sudden attitude and behavior changes

6. Difficulty in personal relationships

7. Loss of interest in activities

8. Withdrawal symptoms

9. Loss of belief in recovery program.

Just a note here to say that I have come close to relapsing over the last couple of years. I went through some stressful times and had some of the warning signs listed above. What I had to do to save myself from myself was to get to a meeting right away, contact my sponsor and/or friends in AA for support. I also PRAYED for strength. When I got over the "hump" I questioned what was going on in my life that made me have a weak moment where I was thinking it would be alright to start drinking. It was usually due to me cutting back on my meetings and/or service work, not praying as much, being "too busy" to making sure I did everything possible to maintain my sobriety.

I read that 90% of recovering alcoholics will relapse at least once during the first four years of treatment. (I am assuming that since there is right much AA related info on the site --name below-- that the "treatment" is AA and working the program.) It is vital we do everything in our power we can do to prevent relapse. To relapse to me is the same thing as choosing a death sentence.

Info from recovery.org site/topics/alcohol-or-drug-relapse-warning-signals/