sobriety without faith

hello lains, i'm an addiction struggler and i've found that the only thing to reliably make me quit for more than a few days is religion, usually christianity but sometimes buddhism, but after a while i eventually lose my faith and relapse. many former addicts in the media quit after finding faith and orgs like AA are also faith-based so it seems like i'm kinda fuarrrked. if you're sober and non-religious, can you share how you managed to successfully quit?

>>19859 you need friends to walk your path with

>>19862 really? fuarrrk... i'm doomed

What void are you trying to fill? And can you substitute it with something else or some other activity? AA also works due to the accountability partner system. And getting out of addiction is a struggle that will have falls on its path. There's no shame in that. You just got to realize each time that you got to get back on track. Do you have anything to look forward to? What would that be? Like I believe life is something good and a gift worth escaping my own vices and excess of ego. Not sure there's a plan but I see what's around me. Or be damned if I don't. Also remember that there's often greater strength in us to get through struggle than we ourselves tend to assume. You got this, king.

>>19865 Blessed post. I should member this.

>>19865 >What void are you trying to fill? idk. mostly i just wanna chill out and be "out of it". i guess nothing emotionally fulfilling happens to me day to day which kinda is like kicking dead whales down the beach >And can you substitute it with something else or some other activity? i used to exercise a bunch when i was sober so maybe that but idk >Do you have anything to look forward to? yeah not really

>>19867 No, I meant if you could think of anything that would keep you going, what would that be? No need to tell it here since the answer really is just meant for you. I personally have some ambitions of grandeur. Something many people keep dreaming about but really only a handful ever manage to achieve. I'm aware it's delusional but I mostly stopped drinking due to it. Because I can't work on it while buzzed out. No more hour long goon sessions either because I couldn't figure out where else to put my energy towards. Now I'm beginning to cross the Rubicon one step at a time, pretty scary actually and high risk. Gonna lose my safety net soon too. Relapses and moments of weakness? Sure. But I am running out of paths besides forward, into uncertainty. And if I somehow manage to succeed, that I'm not the only one benefiting from it. But you don't need to go that far. Maybe just going to Church or some gym club for the community might suffice. Our bodies crave the easy pleasures and escapism but our mind and soul seeks some sort of fulfillment. It's a constant inner conflict. Good luck.

>>19868 thank u wise anon <3 i'll take it to heart

get a grandma with Alzheimer where only person who takes care of her is You. No time to be addicted, because she shat herself again. My alcoholic father (15 years of drinking, clean for 10) who is an hardcore atheist is still clean even after her death.

>>19871 you know what lainon i actually do not want that. my grandma who's my only remaining grandparent told me she'd rather die than have dementia. but also i'm not super sure that would work since taking care of an alzheimers patient is kinda like taking care of a kid and that famously almost never cures addicts

>>19873 understandable, have a great day

There is a group called SMART Recovery. They are more science based. https://www.smartrecovery.org/ All the rest are Christian cults to point some Christian groups have called them out as exploitive cults. I have no issue with addiction personally. There is some studies on use of N Acetyle Cystine (NAC) for addiction. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2024.1462612/full

>>19883 >Christian cults Have you actually been through a 12-step program? This isn't a snipe at you at all, I'm genuinely curious, but as somebody who got sober through a 12-step program for 7 years and then stepped away and has been sober for another 7 years, I don't entirely agree with the word cult with a massive caveat There are some groups that stray from mainline AA which are absolutely cult-like and it's sad. It varies from place to place, and the reason why I asked if you have been through them firsthand because I know that AA in some areas is pretty bad. I'm fortunate to have gone through it in a place in the USA which is very agnostic and not "preachy." There are definitely heavy-handed judeo-christian undertones, there's no disputing that. My departure from AA came when I heard a newcomer in a meeting share about how amazing sobriety was for her and everybody in the room was telling her it was God's will, and her being sober was living life according to God's will. A few months later she died from an overdose, and some of those same old-timers were then saying that it was God's will for her to be an example for those of us to show what will happen if we give into temptation. I was so disgusted that I left after that meeting and never came back. I still have a lot of gratitude for my sponsors that carried me through early sobriety, which is where I think AA can do a lot of good. Long-Term sobriety, on the other hand, I'm not so sure of. Something else that I wasn't a fan of at all was how people would scoff at other recovery programs as if AA was the only panacea for recovery, and how they would tell people on methadone or Suboxone that they were sober regardless of the fact that they hadn't shot dope in months or years. It's unfortunate because there are some really cool groups of people with great advice on how to handle life and remain sober, but there are also a lot of fuarrrking idiots that probably lend a lot of credence people saying AA is a cult. Anyways, I hope you are well and I hope everybody in here who is struggling finds a solution wherever it may be.

>>19884 respectfully to Christ, and to the occasional person who seems to succeed in 12 step or AA, my impression from the few people I've seen who go to them is that they're not extremely effective. Not that that much stuff is extremely effective....

>>19885 True indeed. Of the people I knew when I went to and planned the International convention of young people in AA, and the state/regional conferences, only a handful are still sober and quite many have since passed. It's a horrible affliction, and I hope the future will include leaps in addiction treatment.