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People who struggle with addiction are often not regarded as reliable reporters on their own experiences.

Questions about addicts' abilities to be honest create a dangerous set of twinned stereotypes.

People in recovery may never be taken or respected as experts on their own recovery.

Can someone who has struggled with addiction be an expert on their own addiction and recovery? This may seem a puzzling question, but it is one that is emerging in the context of Brad Pitt’s announcement that he has decided to drink in a moderate or restrained way after seven years of being sober. His sobriety was in the context of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which makes it fair to assume that for him during that time, he abstained from alcohol.

Pitt’s decision is being second-guessed by many in different corners of the recovery world, most especially in Alcoholics Anonymous. Consider what Joe Schrank, a clinical social worker and person in recovery, offered in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

When he said he's drinking moderately after seven years of abstinence, there's a bunch of different things going on there. Typically speaking, alcoholics are just a horrible source of information about themselves. Matthew Perry walked around reeking like booze telling people he was sober.

When he said he's drinking moderately after seven years of abstinence, there's a bunch of different things going on there. Typically speaking, alcoholics are just a horrible source of information about themselves. Matthew Perry walked around reeking like booze telling people........

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