Beating addiction and alcohol

The use of the phrase "beat addiction" got me thinking and researching. Bear with me.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines recovery, “As a process of change where individuals work to improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and reach their full potential.”

Recovery is supported by four main areas: health, home, purpose, and community.
Health involves managing symptoms and making healthy choices.
Home means having a stable and safe place to live.
Purpose includes engaging in meaningful daily activities, like work or school.
Community refers to having relationships and support systems that provide love, hope, and encouragement.

SAMHSA also outlines 10 guiding principles of recovery. Hope is the foundation of recovery. The process is person-driven, meaning individuals take the lead in shaping their own path. There are many ways to recover, and no single approach works for everyone. Recovery is holistic—it involves the whole person, including mind, body, spirit, and surroundings. Peer support, where people with similar experiences help each other, is an important part of the process. Recovery also recognizes the impact of trauma and works to address it. It focuses on individual strengths and the importance of taking responsibility. Culture plays a key role, as each person’s background, values, and traditions influence their recovery. Supportive relationships are vital, and everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect throughout their journey.

SAMSHA- https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep12-recdef.pdf

Notably, nowhere in this definition does it say a person will “beat” addiction. Rather, it emphasizes ongoing growth, healing, and managing life in a way that supports well-being and personal goals.

A ton of great thoughts and personal experiences have been shared, @sisyphus, @surechamp, @diverdown1, @az53, and many others on this thread. Especially for those who have shared they have long bouts of sobriety, @fletchette (30 years), @joiful (33 years), @rocksology (19 years), @dfb (4 years), @trooperdogg1960 (4 years), I'd like to ask:

What are your thoughts and experiences with the four main areas, or 10 guided principles?

42 years straight line sobriety will respond to you in a few.

I know you did not specifically ask me, but I would like to share. I have 7+ years sober. I found that community, specifically AA helped more than anything in the beginning. It is a group of people that understand what I have and am experiencing and they provide solutions. My family is very supportive of my being sober as I put them through decades of worry and fear. They are not alcoholics, however there are certain situations that help them relate to certain aspects of alcoholism. Diabetes for example or impulsive spending. Staying busy is also something that is helpful. Boredom, for an alcoholic or addict in my experience, allows my mind to wander and spin. If I am busy, I tend not to think about the negative. Another extremely helpful aspect of staying in recovery and sober is being mindful and staying present. One day at a time (is all we have anyway) is key. Allowing my thoughts to wander into future events and become fearful or anxious is not healthy. If I remind myself that today is Thursday and all I have to do is Thursday, I remain more present and can do the tasks in front of me today. I have been lucky (this time, as I have tried to get sober for years) that I have not had a craving. I have had some hopeless feelings. I learned about gratitude in AA. What am I grateful for today. I am grateful to be sober, have a place to live, food, a car, my dogs and cats, people that care about me. I find that gratitude lifts me out of wallowing in the negative. I have had so many traumatic things happen in the last 3 years. I have not had to pick up a drink or drug. If I ever think about doing that, I play the tape forward in my mind. I know that if I play that tape, which always winds up the same (miserable merry go round of addiction) it helps.

Thank you for your knowledge and support...I'm 15 months clean after 30 + years of addiction some days are a challenge .

Very thoroughly summarized, Kelsey!
And SAMSHA is a great source to find info on this area.
What I find interesting is that the 'recovery' is placed in the context of how we live our lives. Fix life and the part will get well, in fact that's what Plato seems to say.
I also remember Dr Thomas Insel, Former Director of NIMH, who talks about 3 Ps: place, people, purpose, that is a place to live, supportive human connections, and purpose in life, in his book Healing.

More importantly, two of the Ps are really free: friends and purposeful life. It's a shame that we live in a time where loneliness has become so widespread that its damage is considered comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This is one area that one cannot do alone, on their own.
So WHY is finding friendships is so damn hard?
I have wrestled with this question and it seems very few have talked about shame that people feel deep down about being perceived as "friendless." No one ever wants to be SEEN that way, even with the slightest hint.
An yet it's this uneasy feeling as if everyone would know I am friendless, and so they act aloof, sinking deeper in their pain of not having rewarding, enjoyable meaningful connection. That's my reason to have failed for over a year despite focused effort to find opportunities leading to developing mutually rewarding social connections.

I believe because places like AA help provide close, safe comradeship, it spikes their healing. Strange, in life most important things are still free.

Addiction is the result of underlying trauma.

Heal the trauma end the addiction.

Time clean and sober heals.

Heal; body, mind, spirit, environment.

The rest follows.

We are not born addicts or alcoholic we are made so by life’s vagaries.

AA and other support programs heal the brain by adaptation.

The more the brain gets what it needs. The faster it heals.

I got sober at 18 stayed that way to age 50 with no troubles. 10 years of psyche meds and I drank for six months.

Psyche meds gone and lots of therapy and I’ve been sober and have no issues now for years. That’s 42 years less six months.

Disease can be treated and sometimes cured entirely.

Good health is our birthright let no one tell you otherwise.

Claim it.

@dfb Well said, and I needed to hear that this morning!

We are not just stronger together we are transcendent.

Thank you,

David

Love that!

I am studying Social Work now that I am sober. My past degrees (while using) have helped me some, but not in the job world. I truly believe that most mental health issues and addictions are trauma based, although I believe that there may be a genetic component. It is hard to say. Neither of my parents are addicts, however, on my dad's side alcoholism is huge. That being said, there is also a lot of abuse on his side (generational).