Originally Posted by
NEOMARXIST 
... I will always have to value my sobriety as a precious gift i.e- I couldn't be hanging around with heavy drinkers or around drugs. Maybe it's different for drugs, but despite alll the recovered status in the world, then I wouldn't want a line of coke under my nose. Not that I would want to do it, but I have to remember that I will always be an addict and an alkie. Of course I wouldn't want to be hanging with them characters anyway but I think the impression can be that you can literally go anywhere and hang out with anybody, for this alkie and addict then that simply will never be the case, as hanging around heavy drinking and drugging as an alcoholic myself would not be something I'm sure I'd feel comfortable with. I will always be one drink away from the next drunk the same as anybody else. ...
Yeah- I have a similar reaction to the term 'recovered'. Yet I assume someone who calls him/herself "recovered" also values their sobriety and still sees him/herself as an alcoholic- just recovered.
My reaction comes from relapsing after not drinking for 16 years and going many years without thoughts/urges to drink. Then I went to a transformative 3-week-long workshop which was very good but also very intense. Then the last night we all went to dinner and lots of people drank. I was surprised at how strong of an urge I had to drink that night. I did not drink that night but the urges stayed and I started drinking a few days later. I did wonder before I started drinking again if I could be recovered, if I could handle alcohol. I think my situation is different from many people who call themselves 'recovered' because I was very unhappy and very far from recovery.