I have some kids who are freaking adorable and charming. I have a job where co-workers ask me for my feedback and then use it. When I moved into a new house, friends showed up to help. That may all sound like normal stuff to a normal person, but for me, it’s a miracle. The next night, I went to my first AA meeting, but to be honest I only went to keep my boss from firing me. The only things I knew about AA were what I had seen on TV.
– Alcoholics believe that “alcoholism” is not the real problem, just the symptoms. The root cause is something else or nothing at all. Alcoholism doesn’t care what your reasons are for starting or continuing to drink alcohol. Once again, this could lead to alcoholism pride as well because since it wasn’t anything significant like trauma or mental health issues causing your alcohol dependence, it must be all in your head. Alcohol is society’s great leveller – alcoholism doesn’t care about where we come from, where we live, or how successful we are. Rosemary further believes that the breakdown in the way we identify ourselves puts a serious strain on our unity and singleness of purpose.
Am I an Alcoholic: The Warning Signs of Alcoholism
Separating the person from the addiction can be empowering. I can actually say I am grateful that alcoholism took me to a place where I would cry out to God for help. I am grateful that I was desperate enough to try things that I was sure wouldn’t work for me. I learned that God gives his grace out the nanosecond you ask for it. There is a song that says “like a tidal wave, it washes over me,” When I think back to the moment I found out about that, I still tear up. I am free from cravings but more importantly, I am free from shame.
After-all the Big Book devotes the first 43 pages to the subject of Step One. Maybe it was helpful in those early days to hear A.A. Members declare themselves as alcoholics in the meetings, thereby creating a safe environment for the newcomer to declare their Step One. I drank until thoughts of ending my life were as ordinary and routine as choosing what to wear on any given day. Despite all of the physical, mental, and emotional torment, there was a little part of me that knew I did not really want to stop living. In retrospect, people had been talking to me about my “partying” for years.
Ways To Stop Drinking Alcohol
If you’re ready to leave your addiction in the past, put your trust in our licensed and certified addiction therapists. We have more than 120 years of combined experience helping people just like you move past addiction. “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.” (p.. xiii, A.A. 4th Ed. If you listen to recordings of the original A.A. Pioneers, none of them identify themselves in this manner.
Drinking to find “relief”
Recently ran into an amusing situation because of the same A.A. He was attending a business convention of all the important bigwigs of his firm and was unexpectedly called upon to address the convention. Unprepared but unflustered, he stood up and spontaneously said, “My name is Joe Doakes and I am an alcoholic! “Hi, my name is… and I’m an alcoholic” is of course the more traditional way of introducing oneself at a meeting. However, I have never been comfortable with this approach.
My recovery is more important than any label or identifier because it’s through my recovery that I’ve been able to reclaim my life and rebuild my relationships with my wife and son. See, I’m no longer drinking alcohol — why would I identify myself as someone who does so compulsively? Identity is complicated and those of us who are in the fellowship tend to complicate things. Perhaps, it was hard in those early days for someone to admit they were an alcoholic.
- It’s why we are insert every terrible human behavior here.
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- Sometimes – quite often, really – the stigma is what keeps us drinking.
- This means that the body has adapted to constant alcohol exposure.
Every time I introduce myself at a meeting, I struggle with how to label myself. I wrestle with a few phrases in my head, more often than not, I default to using these words even though they irritate me. An alcoholic is someone who cannot stop drinking, no matter what they do.
If you think you might have an alcohol use disorder or if you are worried that your alcohol consumption has become problematic, it is important to talk to your doctor to discuss your treatment options. If you are ready to discuss treatment, our admissions navigators are available 24/7 to speak Recovery National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA with you today. I’ve been to meetings in Cape Town, Venice, Paris, Cannes, Edinburgh, Honolulu and London, where an Oscar-winning actor told his story. Driving in a tiny rental car in Oahu in February 2014, I called myself an alcoholic because somewhere along the way I’d forgotten I had a choice in the matter. I didn’t use the word often, but whenever I did, it felt wrong, or maybe not true, or maybe like a machete to my throat.
Others, particularly many who have been successful with the Sinclair Method (TSM), consider the term a hindrance, and prefer to separate from the label and move on. For decades, comradery in recovery groups of Alcoholics Anonymous emerged from the pronouncement of that sentence. That statement prefaced countless stories of individuals who struggled with an addiction to alcohol and sought a path to recovery and permanent sobriety. Simply and concisely, one admitted to having a problem, and thus took the first step. The fellowship of AA was revolutionary for its time, and for me it was the first introductory step in my long journey to recovery. Sometimes – quite often, really – the stigma is what keeps us drinking.