abstain from means not to partake in
but to me sober means not having alcohol in one's system
kept bothering me when they'd use 'sober' and 'sobriety' when to me it'd seem much more accurate to say 'abstain' and 'abstinant'
I attend 'overeaters anonymous' meetings, and we abstain from compulsive overeating and never use the word abstinent
I'm guessing it's just a generic term used for recovery from addiction. If you tell someone you've been abstinent for 5 years, they're probably going to think that means you haven't had sex in 5 years. Abstinence usually gets associated with abstaining from sex, even without addiction as the driving factor.
share[deleted]
Sobriety doesn't only mean not having alcohol in one's system. They used the word sobriety because sobriety is different from simply being abstinent. E.g., the son was white knuckling his abstinence from heroin. Sobriety is a condition shared by people in recovery from addiction w/people who are not addicted. A sober life is a life lived w/in sane balance.
Just me here, but Overeaters Anonymous could stand a name change. How about Compulsive Eaters Anonymous?
They say sober, because it is a very different thing from just abstinence ... abstinence is just a small distance to relapse ...
2 things an alcoholic has to fight with : the alcohol, and the -ism (same for every other addict) ... abstaining means just to not act out anymore. While being sober is a mental / spiritual path (noticed the meditating, the constant reminder of 'one day at a time') that has to be followed for the rest of ones life (i.e. going to meetings). Even Adam, after 5 years of sobriety, he was at a dark place and could not reach anyone of his support network ... addicts are never cured, the danger of relapse is always there ... this is why simple abstaining (ha ha .. 'simple' ... not simple at all) is never enough.
Even Adam, after 5 years of sobriety, he was at a dark place and could not reach anyone of his support network ... addicts are never cured, the danger of relapse is always there
And all the pieces matter (The Wire)share
sorry for a late reply, I was only recently able to see this movie. Thank you for the comment about an addict is never cured. An addict will always be an addict. This is how I always understood it to mean as well. There is a commercial for (I think Passages in Malibu) where the young co-founder says something about it not being a 12 step program, and then says, "It works. I should know, I used to be an addict and now I'm not" I cringe every time it comes on. I grew up with 2 alcoholic parents, that both died that way. we were in the process of planning an intervention for my mother when she died. Either way, even if they had treatment they would have always been addict/acloholics..but more so considered "revocering alcoholics"
Thanks again for your commen
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6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy
[deleted]
GFW,
Thank you so much for taking time out to share that with us. I see the common theme throught everything you said.
Acceptance/and accepting of others
courage
strength
openness
honesty
forgiveness
truth
humility
encouragement
and so much more..
I hoped my entire childhood that my parents would have learned even just one thing, one emotion that you have just shared with us all.
From the bottom of my heart...that meant more than you know.
Thank you for sharing,
I wish you neverending success in your recovery
⛪
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6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy
[deleted]
a commercial . . . says, "It works. I should know, I used to be an addict and now I'm not" I cringe every time it comes on.
Do you use the Big Book from alcoholics anonymous? As sex addicts do so they use the same terminology
shareSober has a different meaning than abstinent. Sober implies that the addict is not only refraining from the drug/behavior but is also making a vigilant, daily attempt to address other character defects that contributed to his/her compulsion to chase the "high".
He who conquers himself is mightier than he who conquers a city.