PriestTheyCalledHim
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2005
- Messages
- 14,685
On another message board I lurk at there's a thread about recovery or someone recently going to rehab/treatment and someone there offered the advice that they should not focus on how long they've been sober for or tell many people, that they should wait a few years, and that anniversaries are dangerous.
Puzzled, I asked them why they thought this? This person wrote this in reply: "It gets dangerous because you start to think how it's been long enough and maybe you can use like a 'normal' person. It's not the case."
How do you feel about this? I have mixed thoughts about it. In some ways I can see what they are saying since at one year sober I will sometimes find myself thinking "yeah maybe I don't have a real problem I could have a beer or two, or smoke some herb." but then I look back on my past and think about how far I've came and how I am an alcoholic since "normal" people who drink don't get into the habit of daily drinking for long periods of time binging on alcohol, puking, or blacking out for days. Or when they smoke weed they don't abuse it as just another drug and instead of using their DOC (drug of choice) just smoke and then eventually return to abusing or have a full relapse on their DOC.
I have never been to any sort of recovery/detox/treatment place or even AA/NA or non-12 step groups. I stopped drinking alcohol and using other stuff on my own but I did it slowly over time and I did not get any physical withdrawals when I quit drinking daily but I cut back very slowly. I don't suggest this to other people but some people do it this way and it works for them.
The person who posted that advice had been to recovery or a detox/treatment center so maybe that is what they learned there?
Puzzled, I asked them why they thought this? This person wrote this in reply: "It gets dangerous because you start to think how it's been long enough and maybe you can use like a 'normal' person. It's not the case."
How do you feel about this? I have mixed thoughts about it. In some ways I can see what they are saying since at one year sober I will sometimes find myself thinking "yeah maybe I don't have a real problem I could have a beer or two, or smoke some herb." but then I look back on my past and think about how far I've came and how I am an alcoholic since "normal" people who drink don't get into the habit of daily drinking for long periods of time binging on alcohol, puking, or blacking out for days. Or when they smoke weed they don't abuse it as just another drug and instead of using their DOC (drug of choice) just smoke and then eventually return to abusing or have a full relapse on their DOC.
I have never been to any sort of recovery/detox/treatment place or even AA/NA or non-12 step groups. I stopped drinking alcohol and using other stuff on my own but I did it slowly over time and I did not get any physical withdrawals when I quit drinking daily but I cut back very slowly. I don't suggest this to other people but some people do it this way and it works for them.
The person who posted that advice had been to recovery or a detox/treatment center so maybe that is what they learned there?
.. IMO why add it up, is there an end point after so many years/days that we will be able to use a substace we are addicted to again enjoyably?.. are we really any farther from a relapse after a period? all I have to do is stay clean today and I give myself the credit I deserve everyday I do that.
