Addict/alcoholic 11 years sober. I got sober at a rehab and stayed sober through Alcoholics Anonymous. First, there’s a difference between chemical dependence and addiction. Often these things go hand in hand. Chemical dependence means your body will go through withdrawals if you stop taking in the substance. Something like weed has no chemical dependence aspect, but you can still be addicted to it. Heroin and alcohol can have heavy chemical dependence, and you can be addicted to those.

What AA teaches is not that alcohol is bad. Alcohol is a solution to the problem, but the solution no longer works. The base problem is I wanted to change the way I feel. AA creates a new way to change the way you feel in a healthy way.

If you look at it from that aspect, what you’re replacing is how you change how you feel. Personally, between ADHD and addiction, I very much display addictive behaviors to other things. Whether that’s hyperfixation or addiction, I’m not sure.

What I do know, is that I have no moderation to mind and mood altering substances. If they came out with a miracle pill and said, take one and your addiction will be gone forever, I’d ask for 2.