Recovery fallacies and misconceptions.
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
Posts: 13,935
Originally Posted by fullcircle 
What is BB?
Originally Posted by Starryknight
Based on the BB, it's either an alcoholic death or life on a spiritual basis. So those who think this is a fallacy don't use BB as basis for recovery?
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Denver, colorado
Posts: 16
Zencat,
I have a rather zen like orientation to spirituality myself. I'm curious what your "treatments" or treatment path consists of? You mention secular spirituality. I don't see the BB as incompatible with that at all. What is difference between faith-based and secular spirituality paths? Do you see BB as faith based? I am sincerely interested iin anything that will help me recover.
Thanks!
I have a rather zen like orientation to spirituality myself. I'm curious what your "treatments" or treatment path consists of? You mention secular spirituality. I don't see the BB as incompatible with that at all. What is difference between faith-based and secular spirituality paths? Do you see BB as faith based? I am sincerely interested iin anything that will help me recover.
Thanks!
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
Posts: 13,935
Hi Starryknight.I didn't want to go too off topic on this thread so I started another thread with a reply to your questions.
Click this link: http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ml#post2856920 to take you there.
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
Posts: 13,935
Originally Posted by yeahgr8
Intolerance of anyone not sharing your opinion helps that other person to move forward in their efforts to achieve sobriety...
Sounds less like a fallacy and more like a truth to me.
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Baghdad
Posts: 2,822
Originally Posted by Roadkill123
This is my first post here and I am hoping for a little insight or clarification. Why does there seem to be so many fallacies and misconceptions about alcohol addiction and quitting vs. quitting another addiction such as nicotine?
Alcohol consumption is legal for adults, widespread-at least in western societies-and socially accepted.
For starters.
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 108
Originally Posted by Boleo
I have seen a number of posts in this forum questioning the fallacies and misconceptions found in recovery. The following is what I have come to regard as the Big Three:
1. Not drinking/using treats addiction.
2. Knowledge treats addition
3. Logic and reason teats addiction.
1. Not drinking/using treats addiction.
2. Knowledge treats addition
3. Logic and reason teats addiction.
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 108
Originally Posted by Zencat
Having been on SR's forums for a wile, the fallacies and misconceptions regarding recovery I see are:
- There is only one method/ideology that successfully treats every conceivable aspect of addiction. Either expounded by an individual or group.
- Spirituality in any form is required to successfully treat all conditions that would be thought as alcoholism.
- Individual effort void of a any recognizable recovery program will not completely return a person to a greater state of health; mentally, physically and emotionally.
I haven't read the responses yet.... I wonder if people will have disagreed...
.
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Originally Posted by Roadkill123
This is my first post here and I am hoping for a little insight or clarification. Why does there seem to be so many fallacies and misconceptions about alcohol addiction and quitting vs. quitting another addiction such as nicotine? It seems that quitting nicotine everyone is happy for you but quit alcohol and everyone is waiting to label you a jerk (dry drunk) or a relapse waiting to happen because you don't follow AA, admit you are powerless, or somebody's idea of a recovery program. Can't you just decide you had enough alcohol in your life, quit, get over it, and move on with your life? Is this impossible to do? What am I missing here?
I don't know whether to draw parallels or not here but I quit a two can a day habit of chewing tobacco 4.5 years ago that I developed over 33 years basically cold turkey and with the help of an online support group. It was rough both physically and mentally and took a lot of will power but it got better over time. Did I have bad days? Heck yes, short tempered irritable, anxious, difficulty concentrating, sleeping, indecision, depression and feeling sorry for myself. Was I a Dry Nicotine Addict? No one was trying to label me as such. I got over it and moved on.
Are people worried every day that I might go back to using nicotine. Not that I am aware. I just don't want to do it. Same with alcohol. So am I being naive here? Can't somebody just quit and be a nice guy and have fun, be happy, and be glad they don't have to put up with all side of alcohol abuse without everyone whispering, well he didn't go to AA so he's not serious about quitting. What is that all about? Can't people just let somebody quit on their own? I do take advantage of counseling, eat well, educated myself on the disease, exercise and lurk on these support sites. I know it is a challenge, no walk in the park, but I got to believe time is on your side here. The desires and cravings get smaller every day.
Curious to hear what other's thoughts are on this.
I don't know whether to draw parallels or not here but I quit a two can a day habit of chewing tobacco 4.5 years ago that I developed over 33 years basically cold turkey and with the help of an online support group. It was rough both physically and mentally and took a lot of will power but it got better over time. Did I have bad days? Heck yes, short tempered irritable, anxious, difficulty concentrating, sleeping, indecision, depression and feeling sorry for myself. Was I a Dry Nicotine Addict? No one was trying to label me as such. I got over it and moved on.
Are people worried every day that I might go back to using nicotine. Not that I am aware. I just don't want to do it. Same with alcohol. So am I being naive here? Can't somebody just quit and be a nice guy and have fun, be happy, and be glad they don't have to put up with all side of alcohol abuse without everyone whispering, well he didn't go to AA so he's not serious about quitting. What is that all about? Can't people just let somebody quit on their own? I do take advantage of counseling, eat well, educated myself on the disease, exercise and lurk on these support sites. I know it is a challenge, no walk in the park, but I got to believe time is on your side here. The desires and cravings get smaller every day.
Curious to hear what other's thoughts are on this.
So I'm definitely sympathetic to your view. However, we should also keep in mind that alcoholics mistreat their family and friends in a way that smokers or chewers of tobacco never do. In other words, there is a moral component to alcoholism which is lacking in nicotine addiction, and people want it to be addressed. So if a person merely stops drinking, that may not satisfy his friends and family. He also needs to address whatever immoral habits he developed as a drunk.
However, I wholeheartedly agree that pushing a particular program of recovery (so to speak) is entirely inappropriate---especially when it is religious in nature.
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
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I have a dear friend in AA who left AA and went to Smart. I told him Go Go Go: use whatever program works for you. If a non-faith based program works, use it. If AA works, use it. Just use whatever works!!!
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 228
Originally Posted by vinepest
I just had enough and decided to quit....... I'm just a person who did a lot of damage to his life by drinking, eventually woke up to that fact, and quit as a direct result.
In my honest and humble opinion, when it comes to drinking and recovery, the only real tested, "tried and true" fallacies are the excuses we make up in our own minds to fulfill our desire to continue drinking. Personally speaking, I find "reason and logic" to be a great "mind tool" in being able to decipher the differences between what we may fabricate in our minds (excuses) as opposed to what makes sense from a rational point of view. After all, wasn't it reason and/or logic that allowed our minds to tell ourselves that it might actually be a "good idea" to quit drinking in the first place?
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