Loosid Sober Tip of the Day November 25

Sober Tips
#1

A disease that tells us we don’t have a disease.

The diseases of alcoholism and addiction are both diseases that trick us into thinking that we don’t have a disease. Although the jury has been ‘in’ for a very long time, it still tries to pull the wool over our eyes.

Addiction does not occur because of moral weakness, a lack of willpower or an unwillingness to stop.

There has been decades of work investigating the effects of substance use on the brain.

Here are the facts:

  1. In 1956, the American Medical Association (AMA) declared alcoholism an illness
  2. in 1987, the AMA and other medical organizations officially termed addiction a disease.
  3. Alcoholism, as defined by The American society of Addiction Medicine, is “a primary, chronic disease characterized by impaired control over drinking and preoccupation with the drug alcohol.”
  4. The definition also states that alcoholism is often progressive and fatal.

So why do millions of people still think it’s not a disease?

Well, one reason is because of lack of information. We simply have not read the above; what the medical community has concluded through decades of research.

Another reason is because our disease tells us so.

Still another reason for this is because there has been a stigma that has been created by people who are not properly armed with the facts that both alcoholism and addiction are not diseases, and it is these false stigmas that kill tens of millions of people every year.

If you are amongst the many who believe you have a lack of willpower, or have shame or guilt wondering why you cannot control or ‘handle’ your drinking or drug use the way others can, take solace in the fact that the science is in and this could not be further from the truth.

It is a disease and is not your fault.

Here’s the great news. Your disease is 100% treatable provided that you work a spiritual program of recovery.

How did this tip resonate with you? Let us know your thoughts below. There are many people in the Loosid community who need to hear what you have to say.

With Love, Loosid :pray::heart:

5 Likes
#2
#3

Loved this and needed to see this this morning

1 Like
#4

I am grateful to learn about my disease through this spiritual program of AA. Coming to AA has taught me so much about addiction so that I can properly learn the tools I need to remain sober one day at a time!

1 Like
#5

Right before i opened this tip this morning i broke down to my partner and blaming myself for not having a handle or control of my addiction…. This is exactly what i needed to hear this morning

#6

Love this! When I finally started looking at my drinking from this perspective, things really started to fall in place for me regarding my illness (my thinking), the AA program, and the solution to my problems.

#7

They still need to polish up their wording. It is not an inability to stop drinking. It is a genetic adaptation that makes us produce an overabundance of dopamine in response to alcohol AND all the other addictive substances that cause dopamine production. That's why you meet people who made it through Navy SEAL training but couldn't kick alcohol. It's not about willpower. It's about getting the right treatment and then not relapsing. Good message though. The AMA just still remains behind the times with the known facts on the matter.

1 Like
#8

I’m so used to no room for error and everything is our own making that I lose the disease part.