A clear mind is synthesized as the convergence point of a clean mind and an addiction mind. With a clear mind, you're sober, but you also recognize warnings and take precautions to avoid relapse.
To have a clean mind is to be sober and free from problematic addictive behavior for an extended time, yet to be utterly ignorant of the risks and desires associated with returning to it. Having a clean mind might make you feel like you can conquer your addiction and never give in to the urge to use substances or drink again. This is the fallacy of sobriety, in that there is the conviction that one is no longer affected by addiction.
Having a clean mind might lead to complacency in the face of temptation and the inability to use previously learned relapse prevention measures. When you have a clean mind, people often weaken their barriers and give in more easily to external triggers and cravings.
When you give in to your addiction, this is called an addiction mind because your mindset changes to one of complete absorption in the behavior. Addiction mind can pose a problem whether you've never attempted to quit using substances before or if you have tried and relapsed. Addiction and addictive behavior become your masters in an addiction mind. Your ideas, emotions, and behaviors are governed by your desire to participate in the addictive activity and get high.
When you act with an addiction mind, you give in to your cravings. You use substances repeatedly or make a feeble attempt to resist urges to engage in addictive behavior and fail miserably. The risk of having an addiction mind is that you won't take action to break the addiction. The addiction mind is wholly focused on maintaining the pleasure the addictive behavior provides. For some individuals, this may include dishonesty, theft, isolation, broken promises, or even denial that they have an addiction.
The recovery process from addiction is analogous to waging a protracted battle against one's compulsive tendencies to return to destructive patterns of behavior and substance misuse. They win when you give in to your cravings for alcohol or drugs. However, you come out on top when you manage to resist temptation and not give in.
A clean mind may forget about this tug-of-war after a few victories. It's the mistaken belief that the cravings won't return after being resisted many times or that they'll be simple to resist next time. You have no guard up at this point. However, this is a surefire way to lose to cravings and urges if you aren't ready for them.
Addiction mind is like feeling under siege by your cravings and giving up hope of ever being able to resist them. Addiction alters one's state of mind such that one forgets about one's past successes. If you feel defeated, you may not be able to rally and fight back.
Being with a clear mind is preferable during recovery because it allows you to reflect on your experiences, both triumphs and losses, and recall how you battled with all your might and were always ready for the next round.
Get in touch with an addictions specialist or mental health professional at a drug and alcohol treatment center like Wish Recovery to learn new methods of dealing with stress and to build a strategy for resisting temptation and curbing cravings.
October 31, 2022
