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Body image is the internal picture a person holds of their own body — not the body itself, but the mental and emotional representation of it. What it looks like. What it means. Whether it is acceptable. Whether it belongs to the person who inhabits it.
Relapse is a return to substance use or addictive behaviour after a period of abstinence. It is one of the most misunderstood events in recovery — typically interpreted as failure, as weakness, as evidence that the person did not want recovery badly enough. None of these interpretations is accurate.
Addiction is a chronic condition characterised by compulsive engagement with a substance or behaviour despite significant harmful consequences. It is not a failure of character. It is not something that willpower alone can resolve. And it is not a choice in the way that ordinary choices are choices.
Shame is the painful belief that the self — not just an action, but the whole person — is fundamentally defective, unworthy, or unlovable. Unlike guilt, which responds to behaviour, shame responds to existence.
Guilt says: I did something wrong. It points at a specific action and motivates repair. Shame says: I am something wrong. It points at the self. Because the self cannot be corrected in the same way an action can, shame tends to persist beneath the surface of everything.