When the Brain Trips on Its Way to Healing I relapsed twice before recovery held.Both times, it felt like grief with homework. It wasn’t loud; it was lonely. I remember the shame, the hollow stomach, the voice whispering, You ruined it. Back then, I thought relapse meant the wiring had failed. Now I know it meant the network was still forming. The brain doesn’t erase progress when you fall; it just takes notes. Each relapse records new data: this cue still triggers dopamine,