butchville

just wondered when you have passed the stage of early recovery ..or do you think that depends on each individual

CarolD

Interesting question.....

For me....
By 2 months...I felt back balance
mentally and physically.

I consider my solid recovery started
when I began my AA Step work.
About 9 months after I quit drinking.

Thanks for asking...
I am "voting" for 9 months.

vegibean

I don't have two years yet and I still consider it early recovery. The mountains I had to climb to get even here, WHEW!!! Besides I also spent 10 months of that protected in a treatment center, I was lucky there! I've been doing everything on my own for 9 months and I'm learning that there are still a lot of situations out there to learn from.

I don't think I would consider it being a "newbie" so much but as well, I think it really has to do a lot with the person and how much baggage needs to be sorted out. I had TONS!!!!

I still take every day "one at a time". This is an ongoing process. Maybe on two years it won't be so "early" for ME.

Dee74

Obviously by the various opinions here, there's no right answer.

I know for myself I moved from a 'day by day' perspective to 'a new way of life' perspective in the 6 - 9 months period so I'd vote for that....

that's not to say I had all the answers by then, or that I have nothing left to learn now.

It's not saying that I've felt my recovery has always been plain sailing since either LOL...I just became aware around then that I'd become more comfortable with my new life than I was (ever was in fact) with my old one.

D

Mark75

That is a question I was thinking about just last night!

I am about 6.5 months, I still consider myself in early recovery. A book I read said one year. Things are so much better than they were for me at 3-4 months... I am able to settle down and I am beginning to feel like my old self, before the disease became so active. Much of the shame is gone, I am able to begin work on the 4th step, in earnest. I sleep good, which is like a miracle. The constant yelling inside my head has turned to a quiet acceptance and now the daily 1st step committee meetings inside my head are more peaceful.

So, I'm thinking, for me, 6-9 months?

So it's not a time thing, but more about individual growth. I like Dee's way of saying it... moving from a 'day by day' perspective to a "new way of life' perspective.... yea, that's it...

Mark

tellus

I feel that I started moving out of "early recovery" into plain old "recovery" at around the one-year mark, when I started having what might be called a normal life again. I've still got a myriad of issues to work through, but I no longer define myself by my problems. I guess that's the crucial thing for me.

I like how Dee put it, I'm no longer focusing on my issues day-to-day, but rather starting to look at the bigger picture.

Bard

Good question. My self I'm right about at the 4 month mark. The first 2 months were the absolute worse feeling for me. The 3rd, feeling better and not getting quite out of funk but still getting those days I just felt "weird" But as the 4 month mark approaches I'm feeling more stable like I'm at last getting my feet on solid ground. I would consider myself somewhere between being green and being a veteran. I've faced temptation a few times and overcame it. But I've also been isolated from the real world for a while. Outside of hanging around my family I haven't gone out much these last 4 months. And I can't stay in the sanctuary of my home forever. So all in all I feel more like I've been in training for when summer rolls around. When summer comes and go, Halloween is done, I'm siting on the couch stuffed and watching football on Thanksgiving, and Christmas morning comes without starting the festivities off a drink in my hand. Then I'll say I'm no longer in early recovery. I might have a different opnion by then but if I can make the entire year without drinking then I'm confident I can face any situation and stay sober from now untill the end of my life, which fate willing will be a good long time.

splendra

I call over a year beyond early recovery....

jimhere

For me it was the first year or so, but as has been said, it depends on the individual.

When I was barely a year sober I met my sponsor's sponsor for the first time. I remember him saying to me that I had been given a gift that I had the rest of my life to grow into and that all it takes is a willingness to grow along spiritual lines.

There is another way to look at it, one that I find essential to my own spiritual growth. It is called having the "beginner's mind." Remain open and teachable. I have found for myself here that I've barely scratched the surface after eighteen years. There is enough contained on pages 84-88 of the book Alcoholics Anonymous to keep me busy and excited and on my toes for the rest of my life.


Jim

Tazman53

Excellent question and some great answers.

It does vary from one person to another, at about 7 months sober I felt like I had advanced beyond early recovery, I was more then half way through the steps, the obsession to drink was gone and I was starting to become comfortable in my own skin.

Then some time around the 8 or 9 month mark after I had finished the steps I experienced a further awakening, it was kind of odd, but I felt as though I was now a part of the world, I was no longer "different" or "apart from the world.

Then at about a year or so I had another realization, I realized that it felt normal to me to be sober! The last 5 years of my drinking I did not draw a single really sober breath since I drank every day.

Then a month or so after that I had another awareness that things were really getting better for me when my wife asked me after a meeting "Martin if a doctor said you only had 3 months to live would you drink again?". I was kind of surprised at the answer I gave her, I said "No, I like being sober to much." and that answer just came out without me even thinking about it.

I don't know for me if there was a clear cut move from early recovery into recovery.

I really feel there is no real possible definition of when one moves out of early recovery and into recovery.

Music man

It depends what you are comparing it to, If you are sitting next to someone with 20 years of sobriety than even 5 years could be considered early.

least

I'll consider myself out of 'early recovery' once I hit one year sober. And one year goes by so quickly the older I get...

Tazman53

One thing I think many people do get a little bit off kilter about is there is a difference between recovery amd simply not drinking. White knuckling I know from experience is not recovery.

When all one does is sit around thinking about how nice a drink would be and forces them selfs to not have a drink which I did every once in a while before I had to drink every day leads to a miserable existance. I did it many times, it is akin to torture.

Latte

After about a year I just started saying I was in recovery. It took about that long to feel really solid. I think it is a very personal thing. My sponsor has 15 years and still calls herself in early recovery.

shaun00

thanks taz ...for a long time i couldnt grasp why my not drinking was torture and why it always became drinking...

I dont consider myself in early recovery......but i dont think i know it all either and that is the important bit to me...

i have had weeks of "not drinking" before and i wouldnt have considered myself in recovery from alcoholism...

trucker

CAPTAINZING2000

Until, I'm cured

jamdls

I thought I'd be done with early recovery by the 1 year mark and that was indeed a very special occassion but around 15 months (Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays) I started having urges to drink but once I got past that it's been great. I think for me it was around 18 months that I started to feel past the early stages, of course since I spent over 30 years drinking I imagine it will take the rest of my life to fully recover.

adore79

At about 6 months I stop thinking about alcohol pretty much, and can pass by the cooler section in the convienieence store without batting an eye, so for me, 6 months.

SHawk25

I believe the anwser would depend on the person.. On their previous habits and how far into alcholism they were in..

I believe the answer is in yourself.. When you can have your mind move on and stop thinking about drinking or not.. Live your life. Always remember your past, just don't dwell on it..

butchville

well this month on the 8 th it will be 2 months and i will defo still call mine early recovery