Who doesn’t love some good, clean fun? The term takes on a hilarious new meaning thanks to the rising popularity of sobriety-related memes. There are a small but growing number of social media accounts dedicated to finding humor in hardship. No, there’s nothing funny about addiction, but there’s no shortage of stories and first-hand accounts about how challenging recovery can be. This has led to the topic of addiction recovery– an incredibly courageous act of self-love that should be celebrated–being seen as more of a bummer. Sober life memes, on the other hand, offer a refreshing commentary on the good, bad, and ugly of addiction recovery.
It is very likely this is the reason why using the, albeit sometimes dark, humor of this subject has been so well-received by the recovery community. However, these memes do something far more important than providing a quick laugh. They create a sense of solidarity, helping those in recovery realize there is a huge chunk of the internet (there are over 22 million Americans with a substance use disorder after all) that can relate to their experiences. These memes also have the potential to have a positive impact IRL, such as Amy’s story which was featured in the New York Times. She found a page dedicated to sober life memes which eventually got her to attend 12 step meetings where she met another young lady who found the group the same way.
If you’ve yet to discover the power of dank memes for addiction recovery, look no further. Here are 6 of the funniest, encouraging, painfully-accurate sobriety memes on the internet right now. You’ll find clean and sober memes, inspirational sobriety memes, 1-year sober memes, and more. Talk about #relatable.
With over 100K followers on Instagram, this St. Louis-based account takes a no-holds-barred approach with memes that cover everything from the type of people you always seem to find in treatment to a running gag on Alcoholics Anonymous members versus Narcotics Anonymous members. Still, this account keeps things relatively lighthearted but without any duds. They get extra points for creating their own original content. You can also find @dankrecovery on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
- @sobergrind
If you don’t mind a healthy dose of F-bombs, and dark humor, you’ll find yourself in good company with @sobergrind’s 60K+ Instagram followers. These memes are a bit on the darker side, but manage to somehow be both brutally honest and surprisingly encouraging, all while making us laugh and feel seen.
This Instagram meme account with 205K+ followers gets an A+ for originality. If you’re tired of coming across the same tired meme formats, this one is sure to give you fresh fodder to keep you laughing (and probably cringing). Although the memes are far from feel-good, @f*cking_sober’s trove of self-deprecating memes makes you feel like this account is filled with people who really get you.
Don’t let their description fool you. Though it says that these are recovery memes for “you and your family” some of these memes can get a bit raunchy and overall, are pretty dark. There’s an emphasis on “hard” drugs, with many a meme related to Narcotics Anonymous. However, in the comments, you’ll find a surprisingly positive environment made up of the 26K+ followers who aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves.
As its username implies, this account with over 85K followers is unabashed in the fun it pokes about addiction and life in addiction recovery. A personal account created by a young woman on her own journey, these witty-but-savage memes have occasional personal stories and updates woven in (there’s also a podcast for those who want to know more about the personal aspects). Despite the account’s owner being a woman, @brutalrecovery is pleasantly gender-neutral in its jokes. Memes tend to be text-heavy, but if you don’t mind a bit of reading before getting your laughs, you’ll find these memes to be both highly original and spot-on in their commentary.
Probably the most relatable sober-life account you will ever follow. Also, it’s worth noting that even though it’s a self-dubbed account about addiction there’s very little actual mention of drugs or drug use. Instead, most of the content is based on mental health (or lack thereof) and coping with stress or other negative feelings. Most “memes” are compilations with a theme–some are snarky but others are genuinely insightful, and dare we say, even sweet? If you’re looking for the lighter side of sober life memes, you’ll find them here.
As much as we love memes, there’s no replacing the benefits of actual human interaction. Find Alcoholic Anonymous meetings near you or other addiction treatment services, today.