When people talk about sober living, they are invariably talking about people who have been alcoholics or sometimes drug addicts or possibly both who have got clean and sober, and are trying to rebuild their lives both internally and externally.
Living sober is a title of one of the books published by Alcoholics Anonymous that gives a wide range of practical advice to people who are newly sober, about how to handle a wide variety of practical and emotional situations that they may encounter.
Sober living tends to refer to a much longer process, and sees day-to-day living as being that process in action.
Sober living can also refer to a development that has come about in recent years, which is commonly referred to as sober living in houses.
The scope of what sober living houses mean can vary quite widely, and sometimes can be linked to specific treatment centres or rehabs.
The intent behind sober living housing is for people who are in early recovery from alcoholism and possibly drug abuse as well can live together in a safe and clean environment, and have mutual support from each other, as well as possible input from some type of key worker or therapist.
Sober living housing can sound a great idea, and can often work really well in practice.
SOBER LIVING
Where sober living housing can run into problems is quite simply the nature of the environment.
Putting together a number of people who are in early recovery from alcoholism and drug abuse is both potentially hugely important in terms of providing a safe environment, but is also potentially something of a time bomb emotionally if not managed in an appropriate manner.
It is probably fair to say that anyone in the early recovery from alcoholism is struggling to deal with a wide variety of conflicting emotions, the most common one doing an oval office level of anger.
It often does not take much for these emotions to spill over, and in the context of alcoholics and addicts in recovery living together this can be a tense situation or environment.
Luckily most sober living housing will realise this potential conflict, and will put in place a number of practical measures to minimise such confrontations.
Sober living generally, aside from sober living housing, is a hugely important aspect of recovery, and is a hugely broad subject come sing a wide range of approaches and techniques that people use in order to be able to live a life with a degree of stability in a world that used to frighten and overwhelm them.