Terminally Unique

Hello,

I'm not new to recovery forums, and I have been reading SR for quite some time. Often, I read the stories/posts, and I think "yes, I am like these people, I used to do many of the same dumb things, and made the same excuses," but other times I don't relate. I've thought about this, and I think it comes down to the fact that unlike many people in recovery, I honestly do not consider myself "an alcoholic" or "an addict" anymore, since I am not presently dependent on alcohol or any other drugs.

I was at one point horribly addicted to alcohol; I couldn't even go one day without it, and going four days was a very rare occurrence. Still, to me, alcoholism implies a dependence on alcohol, and I can now function without it. That is not to say that I am not keenly aware of the fact that if I were to start up again, I could very easily become re-addicted. In fact, having gone through this experience before, I have a good idea of how it would probably play out.

I am curious about how others view themselves, though. For those of you who have quit drinking or using, do you consider yourself "an alcoholic" or "an addict?"

- AVRT

checkmate1

I consider myself an alcoholic and have identified myself as one talking to people I know very well as well as people I just met. It shows strength of character that you now choose to live without the drink. People respect that because nearly everyone knows or is affected by an alcoholic. People who talk down to you once they know your an alcoholic are not worth knowing or talking to.

I'm very proud of my sobriety 74 days today!

CarolD

Yes...I am an AA recovered alcoholic.....and grateful to be so..

The only time I use that to idenify myself is if I think by doing so...someone else can benefit from my experiences....

Lying and shame were a huge part of my drinking history...they are not part of my sucessfful recovery.

tomdecel

This topic has been brought up over and over again in SR and other forums. Goes hand in hand with the idea that alcoholics are inflicted with a disease. I am in your camp with the caveat that I know that the moment I add alcohol to my system I become an instant alcoholic.

It really makes no difference to me whatsoever what term I use to define my condition. I focus my recovery on many factors. Health, fitness, happiness, being productive, etc etc. The ingestion of alcohol and or abstaining from it is just one of the many components of my wellness package. It is all in how I see myself in my mind, not the vocabulary I use. Today I see myself as being healthy.

laurie6781

I learned a long time ago that you cannot turn a pickle back into a cucumber.

And that an alcohlic cannot be turned into a 'social drinker.

Thus in my book I will always be an alcoholic albeit a sober one, but an alcoholic just the same.

J M H O

Love and hugs,

BackToSquareOne

I always did everything to the extreme, drinking was just another manifestation of that trait. I often think that a lot of addicts share that characteristic. I did a lot of different jobs in my life, hell I was a teenager at one point...does that mean I still am any of those things or are they all just another page in the history books? No, at the moment I'm not an alcoholic/addict but I do find it very interesting to try to figure out how the process affects different people.

Soberpotamus

I've taken many tests and questionnaires. And to my surprise I fit into the "middle stage alcoholic" category. It was quite an eye opener, to see it like that on paper. Ask me and I would've quickly admitted I was a problem drinker, binge drinker, borderline alcoholic.

I've managed 8 months sober as the longest stretch in my drinking career. Currently I am on Day 7. So, since I've only just recently discovered I'm an actual alcoholic... LOL... then, yes I have to admit, I'm definitely a full-blown alcoholic.

...ask me if I'm an alcoholic 3 years from now and I'll tell you then what I think

Zencat

I have an addiction disorder, I do not believe I am an addiction disorder. I feel that as a person there is a complexity about myself that can not have me lumped into an even more complected understanding of that which is an addiction.

I do share many common traits of a person that has an addiction. Yet there are additional traits about myself that may or not contributed to me becoming addicted to drugs. Then consider the vast variables that may or not predispose to one to becoming addicted. And the whole idea of an limiting addiction disorder to a 'trait' is simple minded to me.

But for the sake of reducing an ever more complex illness easily coercible to the bulk of ...choice of wording is critical now... to the simpler of mind folk...yea why not...its whatever it needs to be so as to be conceived as treatable.

BackToSquareOne

The term "sober alcoholic" especially appliied to a person who has been sober for many years is just a locution, an oxymoron.....semantics taken to the nth degree.

Mark75

iliveforyou

Yes, I do consider myself a recovering alcoholic and addict. Nothing is going to change this fact and I will be this until I die.

-Jess

BullDog777

I consider myself a recovered addict/alcoholic, and I think Laurie put it best for me:[QUOTE]

keithj

.
It's just a descriptive term that denotes a difference between me and some person who can safely drink alcohol. I haven't drank alcohol for quite a few years, so I'm obviously not 'alcohol dependent.' But I'm also not like my friend over there. He can have a few glasses of wine with dinner, have a beer after work, or even get smashed at his birthday party. He's not alcohol dependent either, and will suffer no ill effects from his occasional drinking.

Me, I'm an alcoholic. A recovered alcoholic, but still an alcoholic. I would most likely suffer mightily from the same casual drinking as my friend, and I would be out of control in a very short time. I have some considerable experience with this.

anew

I consider myself a recovered alcoholic.

recycle

I still consider myself an alcoholic for the simple reason that I cannot drink like others can. Even though I do not have any desire to drink, I believe that after a few drinks and I would be right back where I was. For me that is a perfectly pragmatic definition of alcoholism.

BackToSquareOne

You can recover from a bad case of the flu. That means you are "recovered", it does not mean you can't come down with it again. The term recovering implies that you're still ill, not recovered. Therefore you can't be a sober alcoholic and recovered at the same time.

CarolD

Please do share from your personal POV and do not dismiss anyone elses Repsect is the key for SR shareing.
:

loveon2legs

Allow I don't like defining myself into a label....I know that drinking for me is no longer an option....period...one drink will always be too many for me...

Zube

Recovering Alcoholic.

Zube

tsmba

Whatever anyone's POV, these labels are all semantics. Right now, I am recovering. If I ever have any doubt as to whether or not I am still addicted, I am in trouble, and all I have to do is drink or use to remove that doubt!