Stoicism and Addiction Recovery
 

*Stoicism can help with addiction recovery by helping people face challenges without substances. Stoicism can also help people live a life of moderation, and develop wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance.

Here are some ways that Stoicism can help with addiction recovery:

• Self-discipline: Stoicism emphasizes self-discipline and resilience.
• Accept reality: Stoicism encourages people to confront the reality of desire and aversion. Stoics believe that the only thing they can control is the choices they make in the present moment and into the future.
• Personal responsibility: Stoicism suggests taking radical personal responsibility for the things people have power over, such as their opinions, motivations, desires, and aversions.
• Avoid controlling things: Stoicism suggests avoiding attempts to control things people cannot, like drugs.
• The art of acquiescence: Stoics believe in the "art of acquiescence", which is accepting rather than fighting what happens.
• Virtue ethics: Stoic philosophy is inspired by Aristotle's "Virtue Ethics".

Some quotes about recovery that may be helpful in addiction recovery include:

• "It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now"
• "A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope"
• "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters"
• "You become what you give your attention to"

*Source: Google AI answer to question "Stoic and Addiction"

I use a stoic approach to change behaviors I need to make in life to remain sober and sane. I like the simplistic approach to a seemingly unmanageable problem such as addiction recovery and better mental health. Nothing comes easy that is worth something. There will be trial and error, up times and the pits along with a rainbow of emotions, feeling good to bad. For me, it is the practice that puts me in motion and the plan that keeps me walking in the right direction. It helps me to break down the action with simple instructions to get moving fast without too much time to think myself into not moving at all.

With active addiction, and ragging AV in my head, I thought myself out of doing what is healthy in no time at all. Why not put forth the same action now to do what is healthy without overthinking myself in circles? Just a thought here this one.

As always I advocate finding what works for you.
You pick and choose what you are willing to do in addiction recovery.
In addiction recovery knowledge empowerment.

That’s brilliant, Zen. Clearly I can learn from that wisdom of the ages.

I have been working on acceptance lately, embracing the situation I am in, but have a long ways to go on that, and not trying to control outcomes so much. I can see the value.

I like that philosophy, thanks for.sharing it.

Thanks for posting this, Zencat. Very informative and helpful.

Hello, Zen.

Glad I found this. I get a daily email from Daily Stoic. Sometimes, the timeliness is amazing. dailystoic.com if you want to check it out. He is hawking wares on his site but the subscription is free.

Thanks for that. I have a lot of respect for Stoicism and am in the process of learning more about it. At the same time, I am reminded of a line from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous that says:

"If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn't there. Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly."

Importantly, my experience abundantly confirms that the "we" being referred to is a specific type of alcoholic for whom -- like me -- AA is the only solution. For those types, AA must always be at the center of recovery. In other words, I can take advantage of myriad resources -- like Stoicism -- but the minute I think I can discard AA or move AA to the periphery, I am on the road back to a drink. Again, in my experience this warning only applies to a particular type of alcoholic -- but for that type this warning is a matter of life and death.

I'm going to check out Daily Stoic. :)

Thanks for posting Zen.

Novips, Many people have recovered from alcoholism using a moral code or less before AA was around. AA is not relevant to me so I had to recover in the absence of it. To each their own. There is hope for all alcoholics with AA or without it.

:) Thank you for the link Trachemys. I will check it out.

:wavey: Hi Steely, thanks for the comment and FF, Adv youse too thanks :)

I found this in Wikepedia:
Ellis is the heavy hitter in current psychology. I was introduced to his methods in 1970, and of the methods we studied back then, Ellis is by far the most enduring. I never associated him with Stoicism, because well, I didn't know anything about Stoicism. At one time, the very mention of Stoicism conjured up visions of some esoteric mysticism. But the more I read about it, it's just plain good sense. It describes much of what I have already discovered over the years. It's not something that requires forever to grasp but one thread of enlightenment. It's down to Earth, here right now and available to anyone who wants to find peace within themselves.

Hi Zen 🌾

Stoicism has its roots in Greek philosophy doesn't it?

Psychology was interesting in the 1970's lots of new ideas.

When i I was a kid I thought Stoicism just meant stiff upper lip. Lol

It does make good sense DriGuy.

Yes, so did I. "Life is hard. Just take your misery and stop whining about it."
Was that the way dictionaries described it at one time, or is it just one of those incorrect ideas we get indoctrinated with by well meaning mentors?

I think a lot of people misunderstand what stoicism is about.

I have the book "The Daily Stoic." I find that it is a very fitting addition to my sobriety toolbox. The daily readings often resonate very deeply with me. There are a lot of parallels to 12-step and other recovery modalities, I find. I find myself especially drawn to the ideas of "radical personal responsibility" and the "art of acquiescence." I am constantly working to incorporate the ideas that have been introduced to me through the book. My boyfriend also has the book and we often have really interesting conversations about the daily readings.

Hi Trach!!

Hey, MLD.

Thanks Zen.
I've found a lot of help following the Stoic philosophy in general day to day living.

I recommend highly for those who are interested the book "How to be a Stoic"-it's a really good over view.

And of course, Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations"

I find myself asking, " What would Epictetus do?"

Thanks for posting zen!

Just ordered The Stoic Way of Life: The Ultimate Guide to Stoicism.
First paragraph of introduction, yep that's me.

Thanks for the book recommendations mld and sam

Zen, thanks for posting this. The quotes are words to live by. :)

You can download "Meditations" for free online. I forget where. I have it on my phone for occasional reading.

Thanks for replying everybody.

The Serenity Prayer is stoic to me. To let go of what I can not control and find happiness in what I can control that being my mind.

There are yearly free courses, links to a couple of news articles, book list at Modern Stoicism Non-Profit UK

Agreed.

Insert thumbs up thingy here
And Trachs!