Does Sobriety Only Mean Alcohol?

There are a number of substances, including alcohol, to which people become addicted. Battling an addiction to any substance can be challenging. While it may be surprising since alcohol legal, it is one of the most abused drugs in the world.

When it comes to being addicted, there is no difference between alcohol and street drugs. It can destroy your life’ even kill you. Millions of people have found a solution through recovery. But where do you draw the line if alcohol is your drug of choice?

Does sobriety mean only alcohol, if you label yourself as an alcoholic? Is it okay to take pills or smoke marijuana? This question can only be answered by applying an honest definition of addiction. Let’s look at why sobriety applies to all substances, including alcohol.

Addiction Is But a Symptom

The first thing you will learn in recovery has been an important concept for decades. The disease of addiction is viewed as but a symptom of other issues. These issues carry a myriad of causes and apply differently to everyone.

However, there is something creating a root cause of your alcoholism. You may reach a point where you cannot stay away from that first drink because of physical cravings. However, you launched your addiction long before you became physically hooked.

This principle is important to understand when we talk about sobriety applying to all substances. If you’re resorting to another substance to deal with life, you’re doing nothing more than changing the shape or color of the substance.

The problems that fuel your addiction are still there because an addiction is a symptom of deeper issues. Alcoholism is but a symptom of potentially dangerous emotional problems.

To try to mask these underlying symptoms with something other than alcohol does nothing to help the situation. It can even make it worse. Addiction is but a symptom of other issues, so any substance can trigger these problems.

Disrupts the Principle of Recovery

Recovery is based on living life on life’s terms. You learn, through professional advice and the shared suggestions of others, how to live clean and sober. Any mind-altering substance can compromise this goal.

A substance, even though it’s not alcohol, will still disrupt this key principle in recovery. There may be people in recovery who believe they still do other drugs besides alcohol, yet still claim sobriety. If such a list exists, it will be short.

A key principle of recovery is to live a life that does not require the use of drugs or alcohol to cope. Nearly every addict or alcoholic reached the point of addiction by trying to use substances to cope with life. Using anything during recovery, including alcohol, disrupts this principle of recovery.

Compromise Good Judgment

Since addiction is considered a symptom of other issues, trying to substitute another substance for alcohol can lead to unforeseen problems. The first thing another substance may do is compromise your good judgment.

One substance may not lead you back into addiction to that substance, but it may compromise your ability to realize how bad the idea of a drink really is. There is also the problem of becoming addicted to a different substance.

When you struggle with an addictive personality, using any type of mind-altering substance is a bad decision. It may be months before anything bad happens. However, anytime you use a substance to cope with life or deal with personal issues, you’re setting yourself up for problems.

Alcohol is so readily available and commonplace in society, it can be difficult to understand the psychological behind alcoholism. It is an addiction that steals the lives of millions, and can even bring your life to a horrific end. Alcoholism can kill.

But it’s also a problem when you think you can substitute something in its place. You stand a risky chance of relapsing on alcohol, or becoming addicted to another substance. Sobriety means all mind-altering substances, including alcohol.

If you feel you may have a problem with drugs or alcohol, you don’t have to struggle alone. There is a solution. This solution is found in recovery. To begin a new way of living, all you have to do is reach out for help.

Help is there. Asking for help is not a sign that you are a weak person. Asking for help shows you have the courage to accept that there might be a problem, and then do whatever it takes to heal. Begin healing today. Reach out for help at 614-705-0611.