Abstinence vs.
Recovery
By:
Charles N. Roper, PhD, LCDC
A familiar story
among 12-step program members and within the alcohol/drug abuse
treatment community is of an AA newcomer who approached an old
timer and said, "You know, I'm starting to connect with these
ideas and with you people, but there's one thing that I'm just not
getting. What's this 'spiritual' part of the program that y'all
keep talking about?"
The old timer scratched
his head, thought for a moment, and then responded, "Well, I
guess I could explain the spiritual part if you could tell me what
the other part is."
Of course, there is no
other part. Recovery is a spiritual process. But
understanding that concept is not always easy, even for people who
have been around recovery for some time. It is often not
understood by helping professionals outside of the alcohol/drug
abuse field, and even occasionally by some within the field.
People, both those in or around recovery and those not, often
mistake abstinence for recovery.
Abstinence begins when an
alcoholic/addict quits consuming alcohol and drugs. It occurs at a
point in time, as an event. Recovery, on the other hand, begins
when an abstinent alcoholic/addict starts growing and
changing in positive ways. It occurs over a period of time, as a
process. Abstinence requires a decision; recovery requires time
and effort.
It has been suggested that
chemical dependency is a four-fold disorder—one that affects its
victims physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If
that’s true, then for recovery to be real and lasting, it must
occur on all of these levels—that is, in all areas of one's
life.
Physical recovery
is the least complex of the four, even though it is often the most
immediate. Physical recovery happens primarily as the result of
abstinence alone. The body has an amazing ability to repair
itself, especially when combined with medical attention.
Mental recovery
is more complex because it includes not only issues associated
with brain function and brain chemistry but also with issues of
attitudes, belief systems, and rational, abstract thought.
Emotional recovery
is more complex yet. It involves not only attitudes, belief
systems, and rational thought, but also thought’s first
cousin—feelings. Emotional recovery involves learning to deal
with feelings openly, honestly, and responsibly. It includes
learning to express and resolve feelings in appropriate and
effective ways. For most people in recovery, emotional recovery
takes years.
Abstinence alone seldom,
if ever, encourages recovery on mental and emotional levels.
Indeed, some individuals find abstinence alone to be a hindrance
to mental and emotional recovery. This notion brings to mind the
familiar "dry drunk" individual who is more
"restless, irritable, and discontented" dry and clean
than he/she is wet and using.
Spiritual recovery
is the most complex of all because it involves all of the
following:
It incorporates aspects
of the other three life areas;
It occurs on a deeper
human level that the others;
It takes a lifetime and
is never completed; and
It is rather abstract
and illusive in nature.
If a dozen spiritual
"professionals" were asked to define spirituality and
spiritual recovery, they would surely produce a dozen different
definitions. Therefore, it may be useful to discuss spirituality
and spiritual recovery as broad, generic concepts which
incorporate several or perhaps many components.
In its broadest sense,
spiritually is a way of life. It is an attitude toward life. And
this attitude toward life is demonstrated through one's values,
beliefs, and personal characteristics. If asked to list positive
spiritual qualities, most people would include at least some of
the following: Serenity, peace of mind, peace of conscience,
goodness, honesty, genuineness, integrity, humility, kindness,
generosity, courage, faith, tolerance, acceptance, discipline,
etc.
Of course, each of these
positive spiritual qualities has a negative counterpart. Hence,
the not-so-obvious fact that spirituality has a dark side as well
as a bright one, with negative spiritual qualities being the
opposites of the positive ones. If spirituality is a way of life
and an attitude toward life, then, negative spirituality might be
exemplified by the attitude "Life's a bitch and then you
die" and by personal qualities demonstrating that attitude.
These personal
qualities—both positive and negative—all have something in
common. They run very deep. Indeed, they are the essence of one's
"being." Personal spirituality resides, and therefore
spiritual recovery occurs, at that very deep level—at the
alcoholic/addict's core.
Deep and profound
alterations in one's "internal being" might take the
form of the following transformations: From a place of fear to one
of faith; from pride to humility; self-pity to gratitude;
resentment to acceptance; dishonesty to honesty; cynicism to
trust; isolation to connectedness; and from reliance on self-will
to reliance on God's will.
Profound internal changes
such as these typically occur quite subtly over extended periods
of time. That's the way recovery works.
Internal changes don't
stay hidden internally. They become visible externally. They
manifest in behavior, which in the final analysis is the outward
expression of what is within. They show up especially in the
quality of one's relationships. Those relationships include all of
the following:
- The one with oneself, in terms
of self-esteem, self-acceptance, and one’s sense of meaning
& purpose in life;
- The ones with other people, in
terms of openness, genuineness, and depth; and
- The ones with Higher Power, in
terms of faith, trust, and connectedness.
Fortunately, help with the
process of spiritual growth and change—with recovery—is very
readily available. The availability of help is fortunate because
help is an essential ingredient in the process. Spiritually weak
or spiritually bankrupt individuals don't recover just on the
basis of will power alone. In fact, strong will power impedes
spiritual growth more than it helps.
Structured treatment
programs, substance abuse counseling, and 12-Step programs do
help. They are not the only sources of help, but they are the most
consistently effective, especially when combined in some
systematic, consistent fashion.
Treatment and counseling
provide structure, support, and intervention, encouraging insight
and movement through denial, which blocks recognition of the need
for both abstinence and recovery. Treatment and counseling
facilitate trust by creating a supportive and accepting
environment.
Twelve-Step programs, such
as AA, NA, CA, Al-Anon, and Alateen, provide powerful blueprints
for spiritual growth and change, which when followed, lead to a
positive spiritual way of life. Furthermore, support groups offer
fellowship and opportunities for service to others with similar
problems.
Recovery is said to be
simple but not easy. Simple, because spiritual concepts are
simple. Truth is truth. Not easy, because work is work. Recovery
requires effort and patience and then more effort and patience and
then more.... It's worth the effort, though.
Recovery breeds greater recovery;
growth and change open doors for more growth and change. Finally,
as recovery deepens, abstinence simply becomes another of its many
wonderful by-products.
Please email your
comments or questions regarding this article to: croper1(at)austin.rr.com
(not a direct link in order to avoid address being picked up
robotically for spam).
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