Definition: A seemingly irrelevant decision is a decision or choice a person makes that may appear unimportant or insignificant on the surface but that actually increases the likelihood that he or she will be placed in a high-risk situation that can cause a relapse.
A person may ignore, deny or explain away the importance of these decisions/choices.
The identification of seemingly irrelevant decisions is an important part of the relapse prevention-focused treatment for people with addictive behaviors devised by Drs. Marlatt and Gordon.
Examples:
An alcoholic in early recovery may make the seemingly irrelevant decision to go to parties where alcohol is being served, or allow himself to become overly stressed out by not practicing self-care or using healthy coping strategies. In actuality, however, such decisions would harm his recovery efforts.
