awuh1

What I believe most people in early sobriety mean when they say that they experience boredom is that they are experiencing a lack of pleasure. This meaning of the word is somewhat different from the way the word is typically used by those who are not in early recovery. Normies (or even folks with long term sobriety) normally use the word to point to a lack of stimulation in their envirnment. This lack of stmulation is typically the fundumental component of their bordom. Those in early sobriey on the other hand, often use boredom to refer to the lack of pleasure that they derive from activities, even activities that are inherently stimulating .


In fact, it is often this lack of pleasure which MAKES the activity boreing for that individual in recovery.


Regular ingestion of substaces, in an effort to experience pleasure, changes the brain. Untill the brain begins to normalize again, in recovery, it is much more difficult to derive pleasure from normal day to day experiences. This often takes many months or sometimes even years after the use alcohol and/or drugs has ended.


But even with abstinence, there is a key aspect of recovery which is often neglected. This is something which can be the reason alcohol and/or drugs became such a large problem in the first place. An article about bordom, recently posted by trachemy, addresses this. It says "it would be wiser to question whether there are more serious, long-term issues that are causing us to feel disengaged. (Eastwood's) work, for instance, has shown that priming people to feel their lives have a greater purpose and meaning tends to make them less bored".


I believe that it is often this lack of purpose and meaning which is the fundemental factor in the initial developement of alcohol and substance problems. I believe it is also often the cause of relapse.


I believe everyone in recovery would do well to ask themselves how they can make their lives more meaningful, instead of more pleasurable. I believe if they do they'll end up with both.