Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
I was just reading the Problems other than alcohol pamphlet and an interesting question arose out of it for me regarding anonymity.
Here is the particular part that leap out at me whilst reading it:
"Some years ago, a number of us AAs wanted to enter the field of alcohol education. I was one of them. We associated ourselves with some non-alcoholics, likewise interested. The non-alcoholics wanted AAs because they needed our experience, philosophy, and general slant. Things were fine until some of us AAs publicly disclosed our membership in the educational group. Right away, the public got the idea that this particular brand of alcoholic education and Alcoholics Anonymous were one and the same thing. It took years to change this impression. But now that this correction has been made, plenty of AA members work with this fine group and we are glad that they do.
It was thus proven that, as individuals, we can carry the AA experience and ideas into any outside field whatever, provided that we guard anonymity and refuse to use the AA name for money-raising or publicity purposes."
I understand from this passage that Bill felt it fine to publically announce your alcoholism (and even talk programme) but not fine to use the AA name. Therefore Anonymity in that sense is about keeping your MEMBERSHIP of AA to yourself.
However I have also seen in the big book this advice on anonymity:
"When writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism, we urge each of our Fellowship to omit his personal name, designating himself instead as "a member of Alcoholics Anonymous." "
This seems to be more in line with principals before personalities - so again, one does not cower at admitting ones alcoholism, but in this case one also does not shy away from mentioning one's membership of AA.
I also hear a lot of talk from people who wish to keep their alcoholism (and therefore naturally their membership of AA) to themselves in say a working environment.
So what does anonymity really mean? Your alcoholism? Your membership of AA? Your name when talking about alcoholism or AA?
I know the likes of Dr. Bob and Clarence Snyder believed we were as much in violation of tradition 11 by keeping our anonymity at other levels aside from press, radio and films than by breaking anonymity at those levels.
Any thoughts?
Here is the particular part that leap out at me whilst reading it:
"Some years ago, a number of us AAs wanted to enter the field of alcohol education. I was one of them. We associated ourselves with some non-alcoholics, likewise interested. The non-alcoholics wanted AAs because they needed our experience, philosophy, and general slant. Things were fine until some of us AAs publicly disclosed our membership in the educational group. Right away, the public got the idea that this particular brand of alcoholic education and Alcoholics Anonymous were one and the same thing. It took years to change this impression. But now that this correction has been made, plenty of AA members work with this fine group and we are glad that they do.
It was thus proven that, as individuals, we can carry the AA experience and ideas into any outside field whatever, provided that we guard anonymity and refuse to use the AA name for money-raising or publicity purposes."
I understand from this passage that Bill felt it fine to publically announce your alcoholism (and even talk programme) but not fine to use the AA name. Therefore Anonymity in that sense is about keeping your MEMBERSHIP of AA to yourself.
However I have also seen in the big book this advice on anonymity:
"When writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism, we urge each of our Fellowship to omit his personal name, designating himself instead as "a member of Alcoholics Anonymous." "
This seems to be more in line with principals before personalities - so again, one does not cower at admitting ones alcoholism, but in this case one also does not shy away from mentioning one's membership of AA.
I also hear a lot of talk from people who wish to keep their alcoholism (and therefore naturally their membership of AA) to themselves in say a working environment.
So what does anonymity really mean? Your alcoholism? Your membership of AA? Your name when talking about alcoholism or AA?
I know the likes of Dr. Bob and Clarence Snyder believed we were as much in violation of tradition 11 by keeping our anonymity at other levels aside from press, radio and films than by breaking anonymity at those levels.
Any thoughts?
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Today is my 25th birthday, to my somewhat lack of surprise I can see already no one really seems to care. I've always been the kinda person to make sure that everyone I Care about feels appreciated and knew somebody had their back. I can count 4 times this year when I Went out of my way to make sure a "friend" felt good on their birthday, especially if they got left hanging. Its early in the...
My experience is this;
Once I felt solid in my recovery I felt free to share when I was asked what had caused the changes in my life.
I worked at the state employment office. For some reason many drunks show up there. I made my co-workers aware that at anytime if they had a client who had a problem and wanted help I was available.
That's the one that makes most sense for me. So it's all about keeping stum about your membership then?
What say yee?
Keep it simple works for me here :)
Keep WHAT to yourself?
1) Your alcoholism?
2) Your membership of AA?
3) Your name when talking about acoholism publically/in aa meetings?
However I think that the principal of anonymity is more about protecting AA than protecting ones own ego or precious little reputations etc.
Please don't take that the wrong way - my idea of anonymity is in a state of metamorphosis and I'm trying to grasp what it really means to me.
In all honesty, I have got to a point where I don't really care too much who knows I'm an alkie, in fact I feel it my duty to let people know that i'm an alkie and now live 'normally'.
It's the anonymity as a spiritual principal that intrigues me at the moment - I still don't have all my answers i suppose.
You show growth in your recovery by not minding anyone knowing that you are in the program but I can guarantee you wouldnt have felt like that at the start of your journey.
Maybe get yourself to a tradition meeting and hearing someone else share on 10, 11 and 12 might give you the answer you seem to so be in need of (or maybe someone else will come along after me, that is what I love about DS).
Personally, it is what it is and I choose to keep things simple.
If I am asked about my alcoholism I will say that I recovered through the 12 step programme and AA. This is ONLY on a private level.
I go into schools as a member of AA and talk to the students there, staying away from controversy like 24 hour opening etc and state that I do not speak FOR AA, I am just sharing my experience of recovery within AA. One of the schools asked if they could take my photo to include in a display about the PSHE programme, part of which are the talks from AA. I explained the principle of anonymity at public level and did not have my photo taken.
My anonymity extends only to public level and my membership of AA. I will share with anyone who asks me how I recovered.
It is not the custom in my area to use our last names when introducing ourselves in a meeting but I have no problem with people knowing my last name - it apparently never used to be like this 25 years ago, everyone used their last name.
I am more keen to protect my personal anonymity now because of the work that I do, it is not appropriate for my clients to be able to find out details about me, and that includes my alcoholism and recovery from it.
Being open about being a recovered alcoholic has never had any detrimental side-effects - quite the opposite in fact because people approach me about alcoholism if they need to know how to recover, or how to help a relative etc. It is important that we are able to carry the message not only to alcoholics but also to those who may be connected to one.
Remember that Step 12 was initially written as 'Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps we tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs'
http://aa.org/lang/en/results.cfm?results=anonymity