Today I am honoured to be celebrating two years of freedom from addiction thanks to the help of Narcotics Anonymous.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the language we use in NA especially the idea of “total abstinence from all mood- and mind-altering substances.”

I get the intent. For a lot of us, drawing a clear, hard line is what keeps us alive. I’m not arguing against that. But the wording itself feels outdated and kind of disconnected from how we actually live today.

If we take it literally, almost everything is mind-altering to some degree: caffeine, nicotine, sugar, prescribed medications, even things like sleep aids or antidepressants. Most people in recovery including long-term members use at least one of these. So the phrase ends up being more symbolic than practical, but we still talk about it like it’s absolute.

That creates this weird gray area where people either quietly make exceptions, or feel like they’re “not really clean” for things that are medically appropriate or relatively benign.

I’m not saying we should throw out the principle of abstinence. I’m questioning whether the language still serves us, or if it unintentionally creates confusion, shame, or gatekeeping.

Would it be more honest or more helpful to define recovery in terms of avoiding substances that trigger our addiction or lead to loss of control, rather than “any mood-altering substance” full stop?

Curious how others interpret this. Do you take it literally, or more as a guiding principle?

Edit

I have been clean and in the program for two years (on May 8th) with regular meeting attendance, service work, both sides of sponsorship, the steps - I did all the things suggested to me. All I was doing with this post was wondering how other people view this particular topic.