LumenandNyx

does an addict move from 'recovery' to 'recovered'?

At what point does the term 'addict' or 'alcoholic' no longer apply to someone in recovery? How much time in recovery needs to have elapsed?

Do we allow ourselves to be labeled? By whom? A doctor? A therapist? A parent? Society? Who's right?

nez

To me recovered is past tense meaning that I have finished, which I never want to be. Recovery is about getting better and I never want to stop improving. In recovery I have learned not to be bothered by labels. I have no problem with saying that I am an alcoholic. I will be an alcoholic until the day I die, but that doesn't automatically mean that I drink. I don't drink because I have no reason nor need to.

suki44883

After 12 years of sobriety, I consider myself recovered, but only so long as I never take another drink. However, I still consider myself an alcoholic. That is because if I ever take another drink, I have no idea where that would lead. I have no off switch. I will drink until I pass out, and then when I wake up, I'll reach for another drink. That, to me, means I am and always will be an alcoholic.

So far as labels go, anyone can label me whatever they want, but that doesn't mean I have to accept it. I know for a fact I am an alcoholic and I feel no shame being called an alcoholic.

Dee74

There’s no consensus. I consider myself still recovering, in the same sense I am living, breathing, hopefully growing and progressing through this life.

D

Tynesider22

I'll be in recovery until the day I leave this mortal coil.

I played a little mind game with myself the other week. It was Saturday night and purely mentally, I allowed myself a drink. That turned into basically getting drunk that night.

I automatically started thinking about hair of the dog on a Sunday and thinking "well, I may as well continue the weekend".

I stopped there. That was just a mental exercise. I went and made a cup of coffee and drank it knowing I'll never open those floodgates physically ever again.

LumenandNyx

Hear, Hear to that!

least

I consider myself 'recovered' but only in the sense that I'm no longer doing the addiction. Like Suki, I know I'll never drink again as it will always turn out badly. Someone on here once said that they can be recovered from a gunshot wound but that doesn't mean they're bullet-proof. I must be ever vigilant.

cerd2000

I'm far from being recovered (my longest sobriety streak was 14 days), but I have to admit I am really scared of some scientific study that'd say that "being recovered" doesn't exist at all and all former addicts are "in recovery" for a lifetime.

Like I just recently read about this famous actor Philip Seymour Hoffmann who was a former drug addict that successfully overcame his addiction, stayed clean for freakin 23 years, then relapsed and killed himself with an overdose in a short time. 23 years of sobriety and then relapse and death. God damn, how can this happen after so many years?

Made me think whether recovery is just a fake term and in fact once you are addicted you have to stay very vigilant until your last breath. Recovery doesn't exist maybe? Maybe in fact everybody is either a non-addict, an addict or an ex-addict and the latter two ones are always at risk as long as they live?

Dee74

I can only speak for myself Cerd. Even tho I see myself as 'recovering' that doesn't mean I'm allowing for the possibility of a drink.

I don't know what makes people try and drink again - maybe they move away from being vigilant for some reason, maybe they genuinely think that, after all this time, one drink won't hurt..

I call that confusing abstinence for control.

I only know that I've worked hard at getting & staying sober.

Still do.

It's not a constant effort for me tho and I'd hate anyone to think it is - my life is supportive of my recovery and my recovery is supportive of my life.

Recovery is not a fake term It's very real. I'm living it. I have no reason to lie to you

I'm a better person than I used to be, and my life is great.

I enjoy being sober - it's wonderful. Beats the heck out of being drunk all day long.
it's not a chore...noone would stay sober if it was

D

least

Altho I'll always be vigilant, that doesn't mean I'll always be 'edge of my seat' hyper. My sobriety is my normal now and I no longer have thoughts of drinking. Staying sober isn't a chore, it's a blessing. Makes my life so much simpler. Sober is normal, there's no struggling with it. It just IS. In early recovery I felt like I was in the fight of my life, but now there's no fighting, just blissful peace.

awuh1

Its a great question. IMO Much of the answer has to do with how a person defines the problem. If an addict or alcoholic is viewed solely as a person with a physical addiction then people tend to use the word recovered once the physical addiction has been resolved. Those who view addiction and alcoholism as having an emotional and behavioral component, (the use of substances to deal with difficult life circumstances) tend to also to use the word "recovered" when an individual also finds other ways of dealing with difficulties other than with mood altering substances.

In my experience people who use the term recovering tend to view the process as open ended. Recovery is the process of living life every day without a drink or a drug and living that fact takes on a meaning of its own.

I guess it comes down to what a person sees them-self as recovering FROM.

A person who fell off a ski lift and broke both legs might say they had recovered when their casts came off. Another might say their complete recovery came only after the emotional damage from the accident was resolved. Yet another might feel the need to do everything possible to make sure that the same sort of accident never happened to another person, and made that an active part of their life.

There was a person who posted here in the past who referred to herself as recoveringed. I always liked that.

How a person labels them-self is all that really matters.... but be willing to redefine your recovery. It may involve far more than than you now know.

MaximusD

Maybe a bad example but here goes anyway: I got the flu and was sick for a while and then I recovered from the acute affects. So even now I have recovered from my drinking even though I only have like 6 weeks. My brain has not however and I will always be addicted and can't ever drink again. I am okay with that as alcohol is a worthless poison anyway.

silentrun

I consider myself recovered. I think the recovery phase took about two years hard and another couple of easier years. I'm back to where I was before I started abusing alcohol. I keep an eye on it tho and I'm constantly monitoring my self-talk less I backslide. I don't think I'm immune to relapse but now I'm in maintenance mode and not actively trying to break patterns.

matt303

I do think past tense is hard because you’ll never get to the point where you couldn’t be right back we’re if you tried. I feel like recovery for me was when not using was hard. It’s much easier now, but if that’s recovered past tense then you can still definitely relapse from recovered.