Is it acceptable to call oneself a “recovered” compulsive overeater, as I read in a past Lifeline story? I thought we were never really recovered?

Since our OA program is based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, many OA members refer to the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous) when seeking information about recovery. In the Foreword to the First Edition, the word “recovered” is used in the first two sentences: “We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred 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.” The word “recovered” is used 10 more times in the first 164 pages of the Big Book.

Some OA members like to make a distinction between being “recovered” and “cured.” On page 85 of the Third Edition we find, “We are not cured of alcoholism,” but it also says “…the problem has been removed.” However, there is a contingency that “…we keep in fit spiritual condition.”

The use of these terms has been of interest to OA members for quite some time. The following is a helpful answer to a similar question that appeared in the Lifeline Ask-It Basket in November 2001:

“Many OAers use the term ’recovered.’ Many use the term ’recovering.’ Those who use ’recovered’ are emphasizing the change within that has given them the miracle of recovery. Those who use ’recovering’are emphasizing the day-to-day work they do to keep recovering. There are no rights or wrongs in this regard. We use the words that feel most comfortable to us, keeping in mind that our primary purpose is to carry the message of recovery to those who still suffer, as Tradition Five points out.”

— Members of the Board of Trustees provide answers to these questions

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