You Can't "Casually Enjoy" Something You Were Addicted To

I've heard some recovering addicts claim that they can casually enjoy drugs they were addicted without ever worrying about compulsively using said drugs again. To them, they say, this is evidence that they are finally in control. IMHO, this doesn't prove anything because if you wanted to stop using drugs why should you look back and want to continue using the drugs again [now that you are in control]?

Wouldn't this eventually end in addiction when you want to have just a little more?

It doesn't really matter if you think you are strong enough to use a drug without getting hooked once again. It's not worth the risk because there's a high probability eventually your "defenses will be worn down" and you'll start using drugs like as you did in the past.

Well, I believe it really depends on the person. As for me, I have not yet fully stopped drinking alcohol. From being a heavy drinker, I have now became a social drinker, and I could say that I know now how to control myself whenever there's booze around me.

If someone feels it could be a risk trying to use just use a little of what they were addicted to, they shouldn't do it. There are people who can develop self control, it is possible, but if you feel that you can't do that there's nothing to be ashamed of. You have to do what's best for you. Addictions are just as much mental as physical, that's why triggers can cause relapses the most.

I don't that somebody can casually use a drug once they were addicted to it. Once they use it once there is a chance that they will relapse. Dyanmarie I am glad it works for you but not everybody has that kind of control and discipline. I think once you get clean you should use again.

I say there is no need to deliberately put yourself in temptation. If the drug caused so many problems the first time why go back? Then having the attitude of using it "casually" just might make your defenses go down. Why risk that at all? If you slip into a relapse for thinking you would do the drug " casually" will really set back your progress as a person.

Most people unfortunately aren't able to control themselves or at times when something bad happens to them though they thought they were in control they'll lose their grip.

Abstinence I believe is the one way to permanently beat an addiction.

That to me sounds like an easy way to stay an addict under the guise that you're cool with the substance now so can use it freely.

It's not like that in my experience. A big part of the reason we are addicts is because we are wired that way - and it's not as simple as saying "fixed - so let's give that a try again!"

To me staying away and not partaking is the best sign I'm recovered - I don't need to test the waters anymore.

Right that it will be very risky for them and that might made them fall again into addiction. Better to avoid using again especially if you had a very hard time getting rid of it. Prevention is better than cure again.

Sounds like they are lying to themselves. Lol, I mean really. Makes me laugh that anyone would even say such a thing. Its just complete denial and they are justifying the lesser usage of the drug.
Maybe this could work for someone, but it just seems dumb. I think maybe this is just how addiction works though. Oh just a little bit is ok. People say that about so many things. Its part of the trap. Next thing they know they are right back in it all over again. This is the whole thing about it: really they don't want to do it because they know it is destroying them. Then they go and do a little bit against their own will. This right there is where they distort their own mind. It is damaging to do something you don't want to do no matter what it is. It is a self control issue and they literally talk themselves right back into it one way or another.

I have always been weary of somebody who makes a claim like that. If they are able to , then more power to them, but I am betting that most people could not do it. I know personally that I have thought about socially drinking again, mostly because I really miss the social aspect of it, and maybe just having one beer throughout the entire night. It sounds great in theory, but all it takes is one slip up and a drunk experience and you might be back to square one, which is a scary place for people who have been through addiction.

You got a point, but I think that it depends on the person. Yes, it is difficult for someone to casually use them and not get back to them, but I think it's possible, even if there are just a few people who actually can do this. They need to have a big self control and surely strong motives for it.

I've often wondered about this. Are former alcoholics able to casually enjoy some drinks like others? It probably depends on the person.

I think that yes, it can be done. But can it be easily done? No. Even the most in control person cannot fully say they can control their drinking or their drug intake. Because when you're intoxicated or high, you cannot really think straight. So just to be sure, I won't be casually enjoying alcohol just so I can bond with other people or be in parties. I would rather stay sober than be sorry in the end.

This is one thing I can never believe when it comes out of people's mouths. I've relapsed a few times, and it all started off with little bits of "I don't NEED it anymore, but I'd like to do it just once". Then you're constantly craving it again and convincing yourself that you still don't have to have it.

Yes, I think that it really depends on the person if they are strong enough to resist a full relapse. But I think that it's really counter productive if they would use again after all that hard work to become clean.

I mean.. after you get sober you understand how much damage those substances you used made, so you never want to try them again. People that still use them after rehab either aren't fully recovered or they didn't understand anything from their recovery process.

As soon as a recovering addict starts having that conversation in their head they are no longer in recovery mode. They are in relapse mode and desperately need to use the prevention tools they have hopefully developed. Should be no mystery how things will turn out if a recovering addict starts using again.

I would say it's very dangerous to treat something that has brought you so much harm and grief so casually. I mean you are venturing on a road that may bring you the same dire consequences as before. Even a chance of 1 in a million is too heavy a bet for your well-being and happiness.

As an addict, I can say with 100% certainty that there is no way you can go from being an addict to being able to enjoy a small amount of your drug of choice from time to time and be able to just walk away. I'm not saying that it isn't possible to do that once or twice, maybe even a few times, but once you've released the beast of addiction again, it will only grow stronger with each incident and before you know it, addiction will be back in the driver's seat of your life and you won't even know what hit you because you are sent back into hibernation until the end of that relapse. If you actually make it out of that relapse, that is. Any addict who would put themself in that position clearly hasn't learned that they are in a battle for their life, and that addiction will always be lurking around waiting for the second you let your guard down so that it can kill you. It's not worth the risk.

I know a former alcoholic who cannot give in to temptation and casually use alcohol, because he feels that he would quickly unravel and go out of control. For this reason, he typically avoids bars and other gatherings where there is alcohol, if possible. Using alcohol casually on occasion is not possible for him. Perhaps it is different for different addicts. However, I do not think using casually is worth all of the hard work and effort that goes in to quitting.