AA Lingo: Recovering vs. Recovered
Just about everyone, I think, knows that members of Alcoholics Anonymous often introduce themselves at meetings with, "My name is (blank), and I'm an alcoholic," to which the group replies by rote, "Hi, (blank)".
Awareness of our fellowship has entered popular culture to the extent that most people also know we usually refer to ourselves as "recovering" alcoholics. It is much less common to hear a former drunk referred to as a "recovered" alcoholic.
I've sometimes wondered why the present tense suffix ("ing") is favored over the past tense ("ed"). I've never heard any definitive answers on the subject, but I have a few ideas.
When I was new to AA, I was told by more than one person, that we refer to ourselves as "recovering" alcoholics to emphasize the ongoing nature of recovery. "We never stop growing", I was told. "We have to continue working our program, or we'll be at risk of drinking again. So, we will always be 'recovering'."
As true as it is that we AAs must always be working on ourselves, it is also true that our basic text, nicknamed the Big Book, is full of instances in which alcoholics are said to "have recovered". I recently re-read the main part of the text (not including the Personal Stories section), and found the following examples of recovery from alcoholism being referred to in the past tense (I added the bold print for emphasis):
1. Title Page: "The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism".
2. and 3. p. xiii: ". . . men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book."
4. p. xv: ". . . membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics." [figures from 1955 Second Edition].
5. p. xvii: "Their very first case, a desperate one, recovered immediately and became A.A. number three."
6. p. xxv: "This man and over one hundred others [1939 figures] appear to have recovered."
7. p. 20: ". . . we have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body."
8. p. 25: "If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were . . . "
9. p. 29: ". . . clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered."
10. p. 90: ". . . then his attention should be drawn to you as a person who has recovered."
11. p. 96: ". . . many others, who have since recovered . . . "
12. p. 113: "He knows that thousands of men, much like himself, have recovered."
13. p. 132: "We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others."
And there could be even more examples. So, all of you AAs and other Big Book readers, if you run across any more "recovered"s, please drop me a line in the comments section at the end of this post. Also, let me know how many present tense "recovering"s you find. I didn't see any.
Why does it matter?
Because to emphasize that we "have recovered" is to acknowledge that there is a concrete process involved, during which our affliction is lifted. It is important for the AA newcomer to know that we can, in fact, get better. There is a fairly clear-cut point in the recovery process at which we cross the line. Before this point, we have quit drinking but don't have the tools necessary to stay quit. After this point, it's just a matter of maintenance.