http://powerfullyrecovered.com/what-is-addiction-anyway A Confirmed 12 Stepper Challenges the 12 Step Movement Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:09:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://powerfullyrecovered.com/what-is-addiction-anyway#comment-145 annew Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:54:04 +0000 http://powerfullyrecovered.com/?p=412#comment-145 Kyrsten, AA certainly isn't the only way... just the only way I know. The sober peers and the brutal self-honesty would seem to be key. Glad you're here and would like to hear more of your journey. Kyrsten, AA certainly isn’t the only way… just the only way I know. The sober peers and the brutal self-honesty would seem to be key. Glad you’re here and would like to hear more of your journey.

]]> http://powerfullyrecovered.com/what-is-addiction-anyway#comment-142 Kyrsten Bean Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:16:52 +0000 http://powerfullyrecovered.com/?p=412#comment-142 I write a lot about addiction in my non-fiction stories and on my blog. I've had many different experiences of "addiction". What finally led me to stop was wanting to feel, wanting to be clear, and finding that even when my use was completely socially sanctioned by one doctor, I was miserable and had lost what really makes me tick: my writing and my music. But like any bottom, you only reach yours when you stop digging. I don't use AA, I have in the past, but I do use a large network of sober peers, I don't visit old haunts, and I am brutally honest about my experiences. The part that helps me the most is sharing my stories with others who are struggling -- it keeps me honest, it keeps me sober and seeing their struggles reminds me that I don't want to go back and being clean is a choice I've made and want to keep making. I write a lot about addiction in my non-fiction stories and on my blog. I’ve had many different experiences of “addiction”. What finally led me to stop was wanting to feel, wanting to be clear, and finding that even when my use was completely socially sanctioned by one doctor, I was miserable and had lost what really makes me tick: my writing and my music. But like any bottom, you only reach yours when you stop digging.
I don’t use AA, I have in the past, but I do use a large network of sober peers, I don’t visit old haunts, and I am brutally honest about my experiences. The part that helps me the most is sharing my stories with others who are struggling — it keeps me honest, it keeps me sober and seeing their struggles reminds me that I don’t want to go back and being clean is a choice I’ve made and want to keep making.

]]>