RAW Recovery Podcast

Alcoholism and Other Mental Illnesses

The Big Book recognizes that some alcoholics also live with serious emotional and mental disorders—and says that many still recover when they are capable of the rigorous honesty the program demands. That makes an important distinction: alcoholism may not be the only thing we are dealing with, but recovery still requires us to become honest about all of it.

Today we’ll talk about alcoholism alongside conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma-related disorders, ADHD, and other mental-health challenges. We’ll also include PAWS—post-acute withdrawal syndrome—the term used for withdrawal-related symptoms that can continue beyond the acute withdrawal period, including problems with sleep, mood, concentration, irritability, anxiety, and cravings. The research also notes that PAWS is still an evolving concept without universally agreed diagnostic criteria.

Having more than one problem does not exclude us from recovery. It means we need to understand what we are dealing with, be honest about it, and use the appropriate solutions for each part of our lives.

#TheDailyTrudge #Alcoholism #MentalHealth #PAWS #PostAcuteWithdrawal #AlcoholicsAnonymous #BigBook #RigorousHonesty #Recovery #Sobriety

Healing Defective Relationships

The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 80, points directly at one of the places where recovery can get very real: our relationships. It says that defective relations with other people have often been an immediate cause of our troubles, including our alcoholism.

Today we’ll talk about what happens when we stop looking only at what other people did and begin examining the patterns we brought into our relationships—anger, dishonesty, selfishness, control, neglect, criticism, and the other ways we may have caused physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual harm.

Healing those relationships starts with seeing them clearly, understanding our own part, and changing the way we show up with other people.

#TheDailyTrudge #HealingRelationships #StepEight #TwelveAndTwelve #AlcoholicsAnonymous #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #Relationships #PersonalResponsibility

Purpose Over Popularity

It is easy to start measuring our value by attention, approval, numbers, or whether people notice what we are doing. But recovery keeps bringing us back to a different question: What is my purpose, and am I staying true to it?

Today we’ll talk about choosing purpose over popularity, putting principles before personalities, being honest about our intentions, and remembering that helping even one person can matter more than being seen by a hundred. The transcript you gave me also comes back to authenticity—being the same person wherever we are instead of changing ourselves just to fit in.

Popularity fades. Purpose gives us direction.

#TheDailyTrudge #PurposeOverPopularity #PrinciplesBeforePersonalities #AlcoholicsAnonymous #Recovery #Sobriety #AARecovery #Purpose #Integrity #Service

AA As Such, Ought Not Be Organized

Alcoholics Anonymous has groups, committees, service positions, and a worldwide service structure—but AA itself was never meant to become an organization with people in authority controlling the fellowship.

Today we’ll talk about Tradition Nine and what it means when it says, “A.A., as such, ought never be organized.” We’ll look at the difference between organization and service, why committees can be responsible to those they serve without becoming governing bodies, and how AA protects itself from turning into something it was never meant to be.

The goal is structure where structure is needed—without creating bosses, rulers, or a hierarchy over the alcoholic seeking help.

#TheDailyTrudge #TraditionNine #AlcoholicsAnonymous #AATraditions #AAService #Unity #Recovery #Sobriety #PrinciplesBeforePersonalities

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned to associate adulthood, responsibility, and recovery with being serious all the time. Fun started to look childish, irresponsible, or like something we had to earn.

Today we’ll talk about what happens when we forget how to enjoy life without escaping from it, why laughter and play still matter in sobriety, and how recovery is supposed to give us more life—not just fewer problems.

There is a difference between avoiding responsibility and remembering how to enjoy being alive.

#TheDailyTrudge #Recovery #Sobriety #EnjoyLife #SoberLiving #Laughter #HealthyLiving #RecoveryLife

A Tradition Born Of Our Anonymity

Anonymity is more than keeping our last names private. In Alcoholics Anonymous, it became a principle that protects the individual, keeps personalities from becoming bigger than the message, and reminds us that no one person speaks for AA.

Today we’ll talk about how anonymity helped shape one of AA’s most important traditions, why attraction matters more than promotion, and how humility, equality, and responsibility all come together when we place principles before personalities.

Anonymity is not about hiding who we are. It is about protecting what AA is.

#TheDailyTrudge #AlcoholicsAnonymous #Anonymity #AATraditions #PrinciplesBeforePersonalities #AttractionNotPromotion #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety

Where Rationalizing Leads

Alcoholics can be remarkably good at explaining away the very behavior that is putting us in danger. As Bill Sees It, page 197, warns that once we fully justify one slip, it becomes easier to justify the next—and eventually those excuses can lead us right back to drinking.

Today we’ll talk about the stories we tell ourselves, how rationalization differs from an honest reason, and how quickly “just this once,” “I deserve it,” or “my situation is different” can become permission to return to old behavior.

The question isn’t whether we can come up with a good explanation. The question is where that explanation is leading us.

#TheDailyTrudge #WhereRationalizingLeads #AsBillSeesIt #AlcoholicsAnonymous #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #Rationalization #Honesty

Stepping Away From Terminal Uniqueness

One of the easiest ways to stay stuck in recovery is to believe that nobody really understands us, that our situation is somehow different, or that the things that help other alcoholics will not work for us.

Today we’ll talk about “terminal uniqueness” and how isolation, pride, self-pity, and the belief that we are different can keep us separated from the very people and principles that can help us.

Recovery begins to change when we stop asking, “What makes me different?” and start asking, “What do I have in common with the people who found a way out?”

#TheDailyTrudge #TerminalUniqueness #AlcoholicsAnonymous #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #Identification #Connection #BigBook

AA #2 — Dr. Bob

Dr. Bob was one of the two men at the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous, but his story is much more than simply being “the other founder.”

Today we’ll look at Dr. Bob’s alcoholism, his struggle to stay sober, what changed when he met Bill W., and the role he played in shaping the early fellowship of AA. We’ll also talk about his approach to helping other alcoholics and why carrying the message became such an important part of his recovery.

Sometimes understanding where AA came from helps us better understand what the program was originally trying to accomplish.

#TheDailyTrudge #DrBob #AlcoholicsAnonymous #AAHistory #BigBook #Recovery #Sobriety #CarryingTheMessage #AARecovery

Phenomenon of Craving

The Doctor’s Opinion describes one of the central ideas behind alcoholism: once the alcoholic takes the first drink, a craving can begin that makes stopping far more difficult than it is for the average drinker.

Today we’ll talk about what Dr. Silkworth meant by the phenomenon of craving, why the first drink changes everything, and why repeated attempts to control drinking can fail even when we sincerely mean to stop.

Understanding the physical side of alcoholism helps explain why the solution is not learning how to drink better—it is avoiding the first drink and building a life that does not require one.

#TheDailyTrudge #PhenomenonOfCraving #DoctorsOpinion #AlcoholicsAnonymous #BigBook #Alcoholism #AARecovery #Recovery #Sobriety