StayinAlive

At what point can i consider myself a recovered alcoholic?
Is there such a thing?

barb dwyer

YOu know - I don't know.

I was going to have that for my epitaph, though.

"Finally - I'm a RECOVERED alcoholic."

bob_sapp

I don't know if I even consider myself an alcoholic right now. I may or may not be, but I am definitely in recovery from my... life... basically. I stay sober, I go to meetings, do the steps. Could I go take a drink? Maybe I could. Maybe I can't. Maybe I would prove I am an alcoholic. Maybe not. But what would the point be? If considering myself "recovered" means that I can stop working on myself or get drunk again, then basically I am dead. Which is what I will likely be when I can honestly call myself "recovered".

StayinAlive

Good point, why take the chance. For myself there was no question i was an alki, i tried to have "just one" for many years. I have to associate alcohol with death and thats what i have trained myself to do.

nandm

This topic always seem to bring a variety of different personal opinions so I will throw mine out here.

I do consider myself recovered from the obsession to drink. My feeling though is that although I am recovered from the obsession to drink and therefore my alcoholism right now, the tendency for it is still there. I compare it to someone with cancer going into remission. The cancer is not cured because although it is not active it is still in the body and can come back up if certain factors happen. The same goes for my alcoholism. It is in remission therefore although I do not fight with it right now I have to make sure I do the things that need to be done to prevent it from coming out of remission. So yes and no to the question of am I a recovered alcoholic.

Hope that makes some sense to someone besides myself.

StayinAlive

Good analogy, that makes perfect sense.

Rusty Zipper

SA

for me, i'm recovered from my compulsion to drink...

and in recovery for my dopey thinking, and reacting to life!

good wishes SA

rz

least

For me I would have to agree with Barb Dwyer: the only time I would feel "recovered", as opposed to "in recovery" would be when I die. Until then I have to consider that I am still/always recovering, as any day could be the day that I ignore what I know to be true and drink again. I'm not drinking, for today, and that will have to do for me. Just for today I will not drink.

Eroica

The fact is, no matter how far one is in their sobriety, one drink can lead back to a relapse, so in that sense very few people recover 100%. The addiction will always be there.

-Eroica

barb dwyer

exactly.

Eroica - welcome - I'm late welcoming ya - and I like the avatar!

Ananda

recovered/recovering......????

Just a word.

I know I'm an alchoholic, and I am a human being...I don't really recover from these things...I just learn how to live a good life within these conditions.

8

I too love the avatar.

Freedom1990

That makes perfect sense to me! I no longer fight the desire to drink, but I am still in recovery in regards to living life on life's terms. It's progress and not perfection for me. I try to make myself a better person each and every day.

I have no doubt that I can't return to drinking without the obsession and compulsion returning, and I'm also convinced I don't have another sobering up left should I choose to drink again.

BrixtonBear

Hi StayinAlive,

I found this thread really interesting - I've been wondering alot recently about whether I can ever hope to "recover" completely from my alcoholism. Even after just 2 weeks of sobriety, part of me is wishing desperately that I was "cured" so that I can have a drink...

Because of such thoughts of "maybe I'm cured now", I've had to resort to really crazy measures to try and stay away from the first drink. For instance, the last couple of days I've been playing a certain song over and over - "Remember you're a womble", by The Wombles in the 1970s...

Each time I hear it, it makes me remember that I have to remember something. In my own case, what I have to remember is - not that I'm a womble, exactly - but that I'm still an alcoholic, so I can't have that first drink.

I know this is completely crazy, but it's helping me not to drink today...

I think my neighbours are getting fed up with the womble song though...

PB

CarolD

This is my deal....not AA's!

I drank alcholically for 5 years.
I felt I had to stay sober for twice that long
before I could say recovered rather than recovering.

...I have no clue where I got that idea.

Sooo...I continued using God and AA
and around year 10.....

I considered myself recovered.

Next Friday I will have 19 years.
10 years recovering...
9 of them AA recovered.

tennis71

I have heard both in AA from people who have long term sobriety.

To me, I am recovered if I do not need to do anything to follow up in the future, such as having recovered from pneumonia.
I am recovering if I need continuous follow up, such as insulin and strict dietary management, to keep my diabetes in check.

So I guess for me, I am a recovering alcoholic and need continuous follow up from AA to keep my alcoholism in check.

That is just my take on things, thanks for your post.

GlassPrisoner

I have recovered from a hopeless state of mind and body.

And , I have had a personality change sufficient to recover from alcoholism.

That said, I always refer to myseld as recovering.

trooper913

from what I have seen and heard in these threads, my opinion is that recoverd means that you have mastered alcoholism and will never drink, nor have the desire too. That is where I just disagree with a few people. My faith never kept me sober. I will admit this. My faith lacked my decisions. Youll find alot of "sober people" will the faith of an ant...Be that as it may. This thread and website is not the end all be all. good luck

LogCabin

I'm an alcoholic till the day I die.

And I feel I will be in recovery until the day I die. I crossed the line of out-of-control alcoholism and addiction.

What I choose to say about myself is that I am either an active alcoholic or On the wagon....

That's all. And right now...I'm on the wagon. And hope to stay there.

nogard

For me this is a non starter as I am always an addict and I lost 11 years when I started to think of myself as cured or no longer... so I don't think about these things anymore, I just get on getting well, healing day by day.

Kevin

Toomutch

At one time I belived I was a recovered alcoholic, in fact I was so sure of it, I decided to drink again after 7 sober years.

This time around I will not make the same mistake.

So, my answer is no! Like others on this thread have said, I will not be recovered until I am meeting my maker.