Harold has been receiving treatment for alcoholism for over a year and treatment has been going very well.However,two months ago,after a particularly bad day at work,some friends invited him to go with them to a bar and Harold had five beers.The next day when he thought about what had happened,he started to feel badly,but then remembered some things he'd spoken about with his counsellor about the problems associated with excessively blaming himself and being negative.As a result,Harold was able to put this incident behind him and he was able to remain abstinent for the next three months.In this example,Harold's behaviour would best be defined as an example of:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Harold's behaviour can be defined as a "lapse," which is a brief and isolated return to substance use after a period of abstinence. This is different from a "relapse," which involves returning to patterns of problematic substance use. The term "abstinence violation effect" refers to the negative emotional and cognitive responses that some individuals may experience after a lapse or relapse. The "contact effect" is not relevant to this situation.

Harold Has Been Receiving Treatment for Alcoholism for Over a Year