No, You Can’t Define Sobriety On Your Own Terms & Here’s Why
As a member of various online sober communities, I see more and more people attempting to define sobriety on their own terms as if this descriptor is somehow fluid. Peppered into my Facebook Newsfeed are various iterations of the following:
I identify as sober but I still drink a little here and there. I had a glass of wine at dinner last night, but I’m still sober. I’m not going to let it get to me!
In the comment thread, an inevitable war ensues. Those who have a few years of sobriety under their belt are quick to call the commenters out. And equally, there are the sober curious and newbies who come to rally in support.
Sobriety By Numbers
In one of these groups, a well-intending newcomer posted the following comment (which I am paraphrasing out of respect for her privacy):
Why do we have to start over at zero if we make a mistake and drink? It ends up making me feel so much worse about myself. Why can’t we just use fractions? Why can’t we say I’ve been sober 44/45 days? A lot of people get depressed by the number when they slip up and it drives some people to suicide. I think fractions are better.
Before I dive into why I believe this way of thinking is dangerous, let me say that I empathize with the woman who wrote it.
She lost an alcoholic parent to suicide. I also understand completely the devastation of making it 30, 40, or 50 days without alcohol and then drinking again.
But here’s why you can’t do fractions or play around with the number.
- The definition of sobriety is fixed for those who cannot control or have a healthy relationship with alcohol. You cannot change it. It is an abstention from alcohol and it’s not up for negotiation.
- If you are in recovery or have a problematic, addictive relationship to alcohol the number matters. You cannot allow yourself to entertain loopholes like fractions.
The Definition of Sobriety
If you open up the dictionary, you’ll probably see something like this.
Sobriety (noun) — 1. The state or quality of being sober 2. Temperance or moderation, especially in the use of alcoholic beverages 3. Seriousness or solemnity Sober (adj) — 1. Not intoxicated or drunk, 2. Habitually temperate especially in the use of alcohol
Someone with a discerning eye might say, “A ha! See that bit about moderation? It can mean drinking A LITTLE or not at all!”
Yes, the literal definition of sobriety does mean that, but we aren’t talking about the dictionary definition of sobriety when we speak about it, are we?
If you are a member of sober online communities, chances are you joined because you recognize that there is or might be a problem with alcohol in your life. If you are on the path to sobriety, the end-goal has to be a total abstention from alcohol.
If you are on a path to moderation, one I do NOT recommend at all for people who abuse alcohol, then you’re not sober and you’re not trying to be (which is perfectly fine!).
Moderation is a GOOD thing. In fact, it’s what everyone who doesn’t routinely abuse alcohol should aim for. It’s important to note this distinction.
Who is sobriety for?
Regarding the aforementioned comment thread about fractions, one particular comment stood out to me. Again, I will paraphrase to respect the woman’s privacy.
I totally agree! The longest I quit was for 10 months and I refused to count the days. I’d still drink here and there but I didn’t start over. I just accepted that I didn’t drink, but occasionally I did. In the end though I ended up binging for two years.
This comment fully encapsulates why counting and being a stickler about what sobriety means actually matters. Never mind the inherent contradiction of not drinking, but occasionally drinking. Look how she ended it.
…I ended up binging for two years.
Mindset is everything in sobriety.
I’m not hating on her because I used to be her.
This was my mindset. I didn’t hang around in sobriety groups on Facebook (perhaps I should have) because my denial was next-level, but I was always trying to negotiate my sobriety.
Every negotiation was a nudge in the direction of moderation, a fantasyland I refused to stop believing-in. And what would happen?
I would binge even harder than before, digging myself deeper and deeper into alcohol addiction. People like me for whom moderation is not remotely possible need the numbers. We need to know that sobriety means no drinking and that’s not up for interpretation.
Because if you give us an inch, we’ll take an entire mile.
The Semantics of Sobriety
One thing I frequently hear people in various sobriety groups bemoan is the idea that the recovery community does not have a monopoly on the term sobriety. My response to that is, “Well, yah of course not.”
I’m not interested in the weird West Side Story battle that gets waged in these groups.
If you can moderate your drinking and live a wonderful life, kudos to you! You’re not a big drinker? Maybe you like a little cocktail once in a blue moon but for the most you don’t drink?
I am radiating with envy, my normie friend. Truly!
But you’re probably not in these sobriety groups because your relationship with alcohol is healthy enough that sobriety isn’t something plaguing your thoughts on a daily basis.
I’m worried about the people for whom alcohol IS a problem.
The people who are constantly trying to define sobriety in terms that will allow them to drink a little despite knowing full well that it will probably lead to dangerous behavior and binging.
Here’s where the semantics game becomes problematic. When these groups are mixed with people who are “sober curious”, folks in denial about the extent of their drinking problem, and teetotalers, things get messy.
I don’t believe that everyone has to take a black and white view on alcohol consumption. I just believe that everyone for whom drinking is a problem should.
If you’ve reached the point in your life where drinking is causing major problems for you and you’re unable to cut back or stop drinking despite the tremendous harm it’s doing, then you have to stop. You need support, a recovery program or counseling, and a firm commitment to sobriety.
What you do NOT need is a bunch of strangers on the internet giving you any bright ideas that you can claim sobriety and still have a glass here or there.
Please recognize that when people do that, they’re not helping you. In fact, you’re both enabling each other to get away with drinking a little even though you know shouldn’t.
When someone sees those comments as permission to have “just one” and it turns into a full blown relapse, they know they can return to this echo chamber and receive assurances that’s it’s all okay. Just keep trying!
How is that useful?
Fractions, Moderation, and Other Ways We Try To Get Out Of Quitting
When I see comments from people in these groups that seek affirmation for not starting over at zero if you drink, or counting days, or reclaiming the title of “sober” after a couple drinks at dinner, I feel sad.
The reason I’m sad is because I know where this is leading.
These women (these are generally women-only groups) are at a crossroads in their lives. They know drinking is a problem. Perhaps they’ve done some truly awful things and they’re trying to get a handle on it by themselves, and it’s hard.
But hanging out in the gray area is dangerous. It’s a one-way ticket to relapse.
If you don’t commit fully to the recovery process, you’re going to find yourself in a similar headspace. You’ll want to say that you have 44 out of 45 days sober so you can erase the big mistake you made, but guess what is going to happen?
That little voice inside your head trying to get you to drink? Oh, that little voice is going to seize upon your new outlook on sobriety.
Next thing you know, 44 out of 45 will probably become 44 out of 46. Still a good number, right? It’s just two days. What’s the harm?
And then that ratio is going to continue until you’re facing 44 out of 70 and ready to give up and go back to binging if you haven’t already.
You can’t live happily inside this kind of purgatory.
That nagging little voice is BEGGING for a way out. Every time you try to negotiate the definition of sobriety, or whether you need to start at zero if you drink, you give it an opportunity to do its thing.
Coming To Terms With Sobriety
During the last few months before I chose sobriety for good, I was on a similar path. I drank after a three month stint at sobriety. Then I didn’t drink again for about a month. The next time I drank, three weeks had passed.
Some people may look at that and think, “Okay! That’s normal.”
It wasn’t though.
Every time I drank, I binged. I binged cigarettes and alcohol. And in between those episodes, I wrestled with whether or not I was going to keep this up. I thought about it constantly.
Can I just drink every few weeks? What if I go back to binging every night? How long before I can drink again? What are the conditions under which drinking is okay?
People who do not have issues with alcohol do not have to think about these things.
The effort was exhausting. Even though I hadn’t gone back to my daily binge YET, I knew I couldn’t keep going like I was — what it would eventually devolve back into.
You’re either on this path to sobriety, or you’re not. There’s no room for wiggling.
Once I accepted that, an enormous burden lifted off my shoulders. Sobriety was going to take a lot of hard work, but at least I didn’t have to keep fighting myself about whether or not I was actually going to do it.
Sobriety, Zeros, and Relapse
When you are addicted to something, relapse is likely to be a part of your journey. It doesn’t have to be! Please do not read that line and think it somehow gives you permission to mess up.
But here’s the reality — between 40–60% of people who have been treated for alcohol addiction will relapse within the first year . And that’s JUST for people have actively sought treatment. If you’re in that group, you’re not alone. I’m part of it, too.
Relapse does not feel good.
I’ve had three major relapses on my journey to sobriety. I consider any return to drinking after a 3+ month attempt at sobriety a major relapse. I’ve certainly screwed up countless times more throughout the years.
Relapses can feel utterly devastating.
But they count. Every single one of them counts. You HAVE to start over. But you do NOT have to let the number define you. It is possible to embrace the sober days that preceded the relapse positively while also acknowledging that you’re starting over.
Take the lessons you learned from your sober streak and apply it to the next one.
What To Do With Your Mistakes
There’s some talk about the difference between slips and relapse .
A slip is accidentally consuming alcohol (like when the waiter gives you an actual piña colada instead of the virgin one you requested) or when someone pressures you and you end up taking a pill or having a few sips of the drink that’s been shoved in your face.
A relapse would be going on a bender after that drink and abandoning your recovery plan altogether.
Someone who slips immediately realizes their mistake, removes themself from the situation, and goes see their sponsor or support system. Whether that person goes back to zero is up to them.
Personally, I say yes if they consciously made a slip, but that’s just my opinion. If you do start over, however, the narrative doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.
I had 100 days sober and then someone gave me a drink at a party and I caved by having a sip. I immediately saw my sponsor and now I’m back on my sobriety game. Stronger than before!
This mindset is worlds apart from the person who says:
I drank a glass of wine at my cousin’s wedding, but it’s fine. I’m still sober.
It’s okay to mess up.It is NOT okay to brush it off like it’s no big deal.
It is. Unless you treat it as such, that one glass will become two or three and before you know it, you’re right back where you started. You have to find the sweet spot between not beating yourself up and holding yourself fully accountable.
The other side of that spectrum is allowing yourself to plummet into devastation.
If you mess up and decide that it defines you as this hopeless person who will never get it together, you’re taking the easy way out too.
Think about it. If your relapse is a result of you being a fundamentally flawed person for whom there is no hope, then you’ve given yourself the excuse you need to stay exactly where you are. It’s not your fault you can’t get sober. You’re just built wrong.
This last place is where I frequently found myself — wallowing in a muck of my own making. I exhausted a lot of mental energy on hating myself, but did very little actual work in the real world.
My solution was to live inside my head and shut everything else out. You’ll never get sober if you’re doing that. You have to DO something.
Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight
This Japanese proverb has become a mantra for my life. I present it here as an alternative to the constant negotiation around what it means to be sober or how to track the days.
Everyone needs to take a step back and realize what these conversations about sobriety definitions and counting are masking — people’s attempts to try to fix a problem they haven’t fully admitted exists.
The problem is not that going back to zero makes you feel bad. What is zero? It’s nothing. But it represents a failure. If you’re drinking excessively, chances are you’re trying to drown out feeling like a failure already. That zero is gasoline on an already blazing fire.
This just makes it worse.
Eliminating the zero or negotiating what sobriety does or does not mean is not going to fix the underlying issues that make you want to drink yourself numb. Fixating on things like that is counterproductive.
Instead, I’d like to see the admins of these groups refocus the conversation towards solutions and actions. If someone in the group drank a glass of wine over the weekend, they’ve fallen down. How do we help them get back up?
Recovery is a process and I’m not suggesting people have to get it right the first, second, third, or fourth time (I certainly didn’t), but we need to do more than just offer words of encouragement.
What resources and assistance can we offer people for whom the cycle of sobriety and relapse is never-ending?
Because that’s what people need. They need the ugly truth from people who have been there, some love and support, and an extra hand to get back up.
Originally published at https://soberish.co on May 5, 2019.
