The second reason is due to the brain changes that occur following extended periods of heavy drinking. I talked above (Question 1) about the brain adapting to a world full of alcohol. I also mentioned that some of these brain changes will slowly but surely start to reverse in time. The problem is that they will never completely reverse - your brain will never be exactly the same as it was before you started to drink heavily. And because of this, it will always be more difficult for you than others who have never experienced a drink problem, to avoid a relapse to alcoholic drinking. Yes, this gets less likely to occur the longer you go without drinking, but it will always be more likely to occur to you than to others.

It is probably because of your permanent high risk of a return to heavy drinking that many doctors will tell you that you must never drink again. Personally, I prefer to give people the facts and then let them make their own decisions, and I would be lying to you if I said that you will 100% definitely return to alcoholic drinking if you ever have another drink again. So in summary here are the facts:

• The longer you go without drinking after detox, the less likely you are to relapse to heavy drinking.
• However, you will always (for the rest of your life) be much more likely to return to heavy drinking if you have a single drink, than someone who has never had a drinking problem.
• Probably only 25% of people who have been detoxed are still dry after one year.
• Many of those people who have relapsed have been through several detoxes already.
• The only way to be sure that you will never return to heavy drinking is to commit yourself to never drinking again.