What are ‘Abstinence’ and ‘Recovery’?
A word about abstinence: abstinence, for the recovering alcoholic/addict, is simply not using alcohol or drugs. It is absolutely necessary and indispensable for achieving Recovery, but it is not Recovery itself.
Recovery may be seen as being similar to the spirituality (see blog 35) one gains in the program. Recovery must begin with abstinence but this indeed is only the beginning.
What Is the Difference?
Abstinence can be achieved by a thorough understanding and application of Step 1, but Recovery can only come gradually as a result of thoroughly working Steps 2-12 with a sponsor in the program of A.A. and/or N.A.
(A brief digression on the use of the word “sobriety”: Webster’s dictionary defines sobriety as “temperate or moderate drinking with concomitant mental and emotional balance”. Hence the term “sobriety” needs to be used with caution in the context of an alcoholic/addict’s Recovery. It can mean different things to different people. For this reason, I prefer to use the terms abstinence and Recovery instead of the term sobriety).
Abstinence alone is a very unenjoyable state of being. One can achieve abstinence merely by implementing Step 1, but that would result in a very grim existence indeed. Steps 2-12 teach one how to ENJOY life without the use of drugs or alcohol. Step 1, on its own and without the other Steps, leads to the phenomenon of the “dry drunk”. More will be said about this in a future blog.
My addictionist uses the following analogy: abstinence is merely the ticket to Recovery. You put the ticket in the turnstile to get into the stadium where the game is taking place. The real show is inside the stadium: that’s where you really enjoy the game of life. Real Recovery takes place inside the stadium. All you need to get in is the ticket of abstinence.
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