Found this blog, which has some great content about addiction. This post in particular (about destigmatizing addiction) is especially interesting. Loving the teetotaler tattoo. Thought I would share.
What are your thoughts?
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Is there a more modern term for teetotaler? Or can we bring back flappers and speak easy’s too?
Personally I have no problem with being an alcoholic/addict, but I understand how that stigma can prevent people from seeking treatment.
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Ya know…not a lot of synonyms (abstainer, prohibitionist😮), but oh so many antonyms (alcoholic, carouser, boozer, drunk, bacchanalian, tippler, stiff, debauchee, lush, toper, sponge, sot, wino, drunkard, souse, tippler, hooch hound, barfly, biber, guzzler, and my personal fave dipsomaniac). Maybe that is kinda the point. We have so many words for people who have a problem with drinking, but hardly any for people who make it to the other side and rocover, or for those who just choose not to drink. The list of words in the same list as alcoholic show the kind of stigma that surrounds that word. I kind of like the idea of reclaiming an old word that defines a choice to not be a boozer any longer.
Hell, if we can bring back mom jeans, crop tops, DIY denim jackets, and shoulder pads…why not flappers, and teetotalers 
?
Also, isn’t teetotaler just a fun word??
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Good article I like it because it focuses on what I am rather than what I was
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I loved this article. As both a cancer survivor and someone who has an alcohol problem, I can see both sides. I don’t necessarily need an alcoholism 5K (although Buffalo has loads of beer 5ks -weird) but I do like the idea of changes the dynamic and stigma.
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There is that.
I don’t mind labels, but I don’t refer to myself with one. I don’t drink, it’s just part of who I am…like my food preferences or hobbies.
Doesn’t bother me if someone uses a label to describe my non-drinking though, mostly…depends on the word used, the tone, and the context in which they choose to apply it.
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I’ve found teetotal is quite a good way of saying it. Seems to suggest more permanence than I’m not drinking, more of a positive/proactive choice.
Not sure I’d get a tattoo of it but like the general idea!
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I personally don’t mind alcoholic, for it cuts right to heart of it. I also use sober to describe myself. I don’t ever feel the need to explain to anyone why I have made my choice to not drink because it’s my choice, not their’s. I don’t drink period, if they can’t take it at face value or want me to clarify why I move on.
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