Sober Dictionary
abstinence: The conscious choice not to use drugs.
addiction: A chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive (loss of control) of drug-seeking and drug-taking despite adverse health, social, or legal consequences to continued use, and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain.
alcohol addiction: A condition that includes alcohol craving and continued dependence on alcohol, repeated excessive use of alcoholic beverages, drinking alcohol despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law or the breakup of one's family.
Alcoholics Anonymous: One of the earliest forms of addiction treatment in the United States, AA developed the 12-step approach to assisting recovery from alcohol addiction.
Binge: Uninterrupted consumption of a drug for several hours or days.
coping styles: the ways in which people react to threatening events.
cognitive restructuring: any behavior therapy procedure that attempts to alter the manner in which a client thinks about life so that he or she changes overt behavior and emotions
defense mechanisms: devices used to keep threatening material out of awareness and therby reduce or avoid anxiety.
dual diagnosis: refers to those who have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and alcohol or substance addiction at the same time.
detoxification: a medically supervised treatment program for alcohol or drug addiction designed to purge the body of intoxicating or addictive substances. Such a program is used as a first step in overcoming physiological or psychological addiction.
group cohesiveness: qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking between members.
intrinsic motivation: the desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it interesting, not because of external rewards or pressures.
primary treatment : introduction to understanding addiction and the information and experience necessary to be free from its control.
priming: the process by which recent experiences increase the accessibility of a trait or concept.
residential program: residential treatment centers provides 24 hour day care, generally in a secluded setting. The best-known residential treatment center models are therapeutic communities, but residential treatment may also employ other models, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy. Residential treatment centers have planned lengths of stay of 30 to 90 days.
transitional living : Minimal therapeutic support while patient re-enters life, assumes a job, returns to living context and becomes a contributing member of their community.
relapse: defined as return to excessive or problematic use.
self-awareness theory: the idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values.
self-handicapping: the strategy whereby people create obstatcles and excuses for themselves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves.
self-sufficiency: ablility to provide for or support oneself without the help of others.
sober:habitually abstemious in the use of alcoholic liquors or drugs; temperate; Not intoxicated or affected by the use of drugs.
sober living: A semi-structured residential setting of alcoholics/addicts who have completed treatment and need continued support for up to a year.
sponsor: a mentor who shares personal experience, strength, and hope in finding and keeping recovery. A sponsor is a guide through the steps.
stress: the negative feelings and beliefs that arise whenever people feel unable to cope with demands from their environment.
substance abuse: the use of a drug to such an extent that the person is often intoxicated throughout the day and fails in important obligations and in attempts to abstain, but there is no physiological dependence.
substance dependence: the abuse of a drug sometimes accompanied by a physiological dependence on it, made evident by tolerance and withdrawl symptoms, also called addiction.
thought suppression: the attempt to avoid thinking about something we would prefer to forget.
alcohol rehabilitation:reprieve from the domination and control of a disease through maintenance of a fit spiritual condition through prayer, meditation, active participation and use of the principles of recovery.
