2 min read

Relapse ↻

Keep it your program
Relapse ↻
GDMNT | Unsplash

"Our national drug is alcohol."

William S. Burroughs

> how to hug a man | painful stories

I've learned that the path to sobriety isn't selfishness, its sovereignty. 

Because the world outside addiction knows not, it has to stay "my program of recovery" from alcoholism

Only a judge or addiction center can overrule my program. 

  • Giving control over to others to meet their expectations risks one relapse after another. ꩜ 🔄

It troubles me at meetings for Alcoholics Anonymous to hear a young man say he's going to AA for his family or kids.

I worry what would happen if he told his kids they were keeping him sober

If he then relapsed (which, statistically speaking, is very possible), he'd be telling his kids they're not good enough to keep him from drinking alcohol.

I'm fortunate. My family has my back. 

🔳
www.apa.org. "Understanding Alcohol Use Disorders and Their Treatment." Accessed December 25, 2024. ln.run/Aus4O

But I hear the painful stories at Alcoholics Anonymous. From AA’s literature:  

>> "The family of an alcoholic longs for the return of happiness and security. … Today's life is measured against that of other years and, when it falls short, the family may be unhappy."

We know so much today about the mind and addiction thanks to the work of scientists.

More than anything else, perhaps, we know now that addiction makes us as human as any human can be.

  • next time "Artists, writers, and musicians drink so you don't have to."
  • listening Mobb Deep "Shook Ones, Pt. II"

>> full series | alerts | playlist / social | tip jar