LIFE SUCKS BETTER CLEAN is an information and relief source for those in recovery from addiction and those thinking about getting clean. Unapproved program wisdom here with contributions from NA, AA, and other 12 Step program members: Some laughs, some hints, some tears, a bit of grit now and then, and a lot of hope.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
CHANGE
God changes not what is in a people, until they change what is in themselves. —The Koran
There is no research, none, that indicates that people with substance abuse or addiction problems require a surfeit of platitudes for recovery. Intuitively, I might even think the opposite was true. Why is it that recovery is inexorably associated with truisms, platitudes, and moral cliches? Nothing is more discouraging than the thought of being subjected to mental pablum during a recovery period.
The fact is that recovery from addiction requires a large number of changes in both thinking and acting. The programs that have been successful have found that the repetion of certain truisms works better than hoping for enlightenment. "One day at a time," for one example. The disease insists that the addicted take the entire world all on at the same time because failure is assured, and failure is the path back to using. If you want to recover, you hang onto that one day at a time because, platitude or not, it works.
2 comments:
There is no research, none, that indicates that people with substance abuse or addiction problems require a surfeit of platitudes for recovery. Intuitively, I might even think the opposite was true. Why is it that recovery is inexorably associated with truisms, platitudes, and moral cliches? Nothing is more discouraging than the thought of being subjected to mental pablum during a recovery period.
The fact is that recovery from addiction requires a large number of changes in both thinking and acting. The programs that have been successful have found that the repetion of certain truisms works better than hoping for enlightenment. "One day at a time," for one example. The disease insists that the addicted take the entire world all on at the same time because failure is assured, and failure is the path back to using. If you want to recover, you hang onto that one day at a time because, platitude or not, it works.
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