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.
In simple terms my problem with alcohol can be defined in terms of powerlessness. I couldnt stop drinking entirely no matter how much I wanted to (no effective mental defense against the first drink) and when I drank I had little control over the amount I drank.
If I hadnt have been powerless and therefore had some control/choice in my drinking I wouldnt have had a drinking problem. I would either have controlled the amount I drank or chosen not to drink at all.
I understand from reading many peoples experience on DS that this is not the case for everyone and that some people have control/choice in regard to drinking.
I am not in much of a position to help those people as they do not have the same problem as me therefore my experience and the solution I have found are of little help to them.
However I would like to understand more about the nature of drinking problems where powerlessness is not the problem and people have a drinking problem despite the fact that they have control/choice.
Would anyone be able to share their experience on this so that I can understand a little better?
Many thanks.
If I hadnt have been powerless and therefore had some control/choice in my drinking I wouldnt have had a drinking problem. I would either have controlled the amount I drank or chosen not to drink at all.
I understand from reading many peoples experience on DS that this is not the case for everyone and that some people have control/choice in regard to drinking.
I am not in much of a position to help those people as they do not have the same problem as me therefore my experience and the solution I have found are of little help to them.
However I would like to understand more about the nature of drinking problems where powerlessness is not the problem and people have a drinking problem despite the fact that they have control/choice.
Would anyone be able to share their experience on this so that I can understand a little better?
Many thanks.
can't you even remember you own nonsense slogans?
"it works if you work it." that means it won't work if you don't go to meetings, and those who don't drink are expected to "keep coming back" and share their experiences and help others.
then there's "thoroughly followed our path." it's a bunch of nonsense. anyone who gets sober is NEVER advised to be happy then and get on with his life. no, they're said to be 'in denial' if they feel they're no longer and alcoholic. no amount of sobriety is enough for AA to grant someone the privledge of living a normal life. you're expected to always "keep coming back" over and over.
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phil,
you can stop "blessing" everyone. it's delusional people like you that got the world the way it is already. obviously all your prayers and blessings are not saving the world.
It is fine if its not your thing but if you are not going to respect others ways of recovery then you could at least get your facts right before you criticise.
It works if you work it is not an AA slogan. It was coined in treatment centres and has been brought into AA meetings by people who attended those centres. In any case if you work it doesnt refer to going to meetings it refers to working the 12 step program.
I am in AA and live a completely normal and very happy life (like many, many people I know). The fact that I choose to go back to AA meetings to share my experience with others who want to recover from alcoholism does not make my life abnormal. It just means that I am not the selfish person that I used to be.
i've been to AA meetings outside of treatment centers, and after they say the serenity PRAYER or (worse) the lord's PRAYER while holding hands in a circle, they say "keep coming back cuz it works if you work it!"
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phil,
i take only ONE medication on a regular basis, and it's not for ANY of those conditions listed. it's for a heart condition. i don't take an anti-depressant, nor a mood stabilizer, nor anti-anxiety medication, nor an anti-pyshotic, AND
NEITHER do i attend meetings on a regular basis!
I am fully able to deal with my problems ON MY OWN.
on the other hand, if YOU were on your own without your sponser and groupie meetings (both of which, by the way, are codependent relationships!), you'd still be a pathetic drunk whose life is on the line.
the fact that i'm so young and have dealt with what i have been given means i'm much stronger than you are and will ever be, and people will learn from me.
I personally dont like it and never say it.
In the UK we dont say the Lords prayer at the end of meetings (except for in a very few overtly Christian groups). I am pleased that it is not used here as personally I dont think that a specifically Christian prayer has any place in an AA meeting.
You post here as if you are an expert on AA but you know jack. AA members are aiming to live 'happy, joyous and free' - perhaps that's not a normal life - from your own experience. I live a normal life, I as I have already said, do not need to spend it in AA meetings. If I was not able to go to another AA meeting in my life, I would still be assured of continued sobriety if I was living by spiritual principles.
Don't believe all that you read, or think!
i'm sorry. did you say something? i can't read your post very well as it has absolutely no punctuation. did you say something about 2 weeks?
yes, honey pie. 2 weeks is right, and that's good. can i get a 2 week chip in AA? ha ha ha! how about 15 days? can i get half a chip?! ha ha ha ha!!
like i said in the other post: it's about frequency, not strictly how long you've been sober. you've got to look at the BIG picture not just the last 30, 60, etc...days.
if i develop a program one day, i'll be sure it includes a good algorithm for calculating progress. it's time for out with the old and in with the new.
One thing I can see from reading your comments is that you are one angry person. You seem angry at the world and at god and at the people in this world. I take it you have control issues and that, if everyone did as YOU pleased, the world would be a better place.
May God bless and help you
i love it how you know all about me judging by what you have read in my posts to this topic. or, wait, have you also read my profile and noticed what other groups i belong to so that you can give the most accurate and complete assessment? share your secrets with the group!
i'm not angry, and i'm not an angry person. i do get irritated with some people here because they present these one-side arguments. so, i take the time to fully express a different point of view if i have one.
it's like some of you get such tunnel vision you don't know what else is out there. people like me create change, and people like you keep things the same. being things are as they are, the world needs more people like me, and fewer people like you.
now, shouldn't you be on your knees...praying for me? love ya brotha!
i'm in this group so that i can help people get better. not everyone is interested in "thoroughly following your path" (whatever that means anyway), so if they don't, then they can see what i have done and try things my way or someone else's way. it's important that people have options.
the treatment world is so dominated by 12-step programs as it is, that's why it's so important for me to advocate alternative routes. i certainly wish someone would have been there to offer me alternatives before i was labeled a "diseased incurable alcoholic." not everyone believes in that. you don't have to get defensive and feel threatened when someone doesn't support you.
1)have you found a solution that has worked for you in enabling you to achieve long term sobriety?
2)If so why do you not spend more time sharing your experience of that solution and less time criticising the solutions that other people have found?