You have power
over your mind,
not outside
events.
Marcus Aurelius
Ancient tools for modern struggle

Ataraxia
A philosophy
for recovery

/ a-ta-RAK-see-a / n. tranquility free from anxiety and disturbance

Recovery is not about force. It is about clarity. You do not need to fight your mind. You need to understand it.

Open the Insight Tool What is this?
This is not treatment. Not medical advice. Not a substitute for professional care. If you are in crisis, please reach out to AA, NA, SMART Recovery, your GP, or a crisis line.
What this is

Built for the analytical mind
in recovery

You already know how to think carefully. This is a place to apply that thinking to something that matters.

01
A philosophical framework

Stoicism is not self-help. It is a 2,000-year-old framework built for adversity. Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca wrote for people navigating real suffering. Their tools apply here.

02
An interruption tool

When the urge arrives at 2am, after an argument, after a good day, you need structure, not a slogan. The Insight Tool gives you a way to reason through the moment before acting on it.

03
Not a clinic. Not a blog.

No ads. No email capture. No stock photography. Just structured thinking for difficult moments. This site exists because philosophy genuinely helped, and that is the whole reason.

04
Free. Anonymous. Always.

No accounts. No data collected. Nothing stored anywhere. The Insight Tool runs entirely in your browser. This is a private space and it will stay that way.

The philosophy

Why Stoicism
makes sense here

"You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength."
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
I.
The Dichotomy of Control

The urge is not in your control. What you do next is. This single distinction, Epictetus's foundational insight, changes everything about how you can respond to cravings. You are not fighting the urge. You are choosing not to follow it.

II.
Negative Visualisation

The Stoics practised imagining difficult outcomes not to create despair, but to defuse them. Clearly seeing what relapse actually costs, specifically and honestly, removes the haze that surrounds the craving.

III.
Amor Fati

Love of fate. Not passive acceptance. Active engagement with what is. The slip happened. The struggle is happening now. The Stoic question is not about shame. It is: given this, what is the next wise thing to do?

The Insight Tool

A Stoic
interruption
for hard moments

Describe what triggered the urge. The tool identifies the Stoic principle that applies and gives you something concrete to do right now.

→Choose what triggered the urge from a structured list of emotional states and situations
→Receive a Stoic quote, a grounding explanation, and a specific action to take now
→No account needed. Nothing saved. Works at 2am on a bad night.
Open the Insight Tool
Insight Tool What triggered the urge?
Loneliness, no clear reason to reach out
What are you feeling?
Hollow. Like the evening has no point.
"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."
Marcus Aurelius
12 Steps and Stoicism

Ancient philosophy
alongside the programme

Each of the 12 Steps maps clearly onto Stoic philosophy. A parallel framework for those who think in systems.

01
We admitted powerlessness over alcohol
The Dichotomy of Control
02
Came to believe in a power greater than ourselves
Logos, the rational order
03
Made a decision to turn our will over
Amor Fati, embrace what is
04
Made a searching moral inventory
Radical self-examination
05
Admitted the exact nature of our wrongs
Truth and epistemic humility
06
Were entirely ready to have defects removed
Character refinement as practice
07
Humbly asked for removal of shortcomings
Humility before reality
08
Made a list of persons we had harmed
Justice as a Stoic virtue
09
Made direct amends wherever possible
Virtuous action over intention
10
Continued to take personal inventory
The daily evening examination
11
Sought through prayer and meditation
Discipline of attention, prosoche
12
Carrying the message to others
Service and virtue in community
Explore each step in depth
Professional support

This site is
not enough

Philosophy helps. Community and professional care are essential. These organisations exist for exactly this.

Alcoholics Anonymous

The original 12-step programme. Meetings available globally, in person and online. If you are drinking and want to stop, this is where to start. Free, anonymous, no judgment.

alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
SMART Recovery

Science-based, non-12-step alternative. Uses CBT and motivational techniques. Particularly well-suited to the analytical mind. Free meetings globally, strong online community.

smartrecovery.org
NHS and Crisis Support

In the UK, your GP can refer you to local alcohol services. For immediate crisis support, call 116 123 (Samaritans) or text SHOUT to 85258. Both are free and available 24 hours.

nhs.uk alcohol support