alcoholics anonymous

Despite recent progress in the medical understanding of addictive disease, the amateur self-help group known as Alcoholics Anonymous, and its affiliate, Narcotics Anonymous, are still regarded by many experts as an essential mode of treatment for recovering addicts. One of the oldest approaches to alcoholism, the movement arose in 1935 when an Ohio alcoholic named Bill Wilson teamed up with a physician to form the amateur self-help program better known as A.A. The groups now accept anyone who is dependent on any addictive drug.

Bill W. created a twelve-step program of mental, physical, and spiritual recovery. A.A. is an association of peers seeking to combat what its founders referred to as “an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind.” However, coffee and cigarettes  have traditionally been tolerated at meetings. Twelve-Step blogs are numerous and easily found, including These Rooms and the Recovery Blog.

A.A. is not a medical treatment, and it is not a formal psychiatric program. It is based on the concept of “hitting bottom,” which may come in the form of a wrecked car, a wrecked marriage, a jail term, or simply the the burden of drug-seeking behavior and its consequences.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “alcoholics anonymous”

• I Didn’t Quit Drinking to Get High On Hope and Change

  
  Big Hollywood — Authority: 804
  With the holidays fast approaching, I thought it might be a good time to jot down some thoughts on drinking.  Or, more specifically, not drinking – booze  or Kool Aid. Recently, I celebrated my eighth year of sobriety.  I have 9/11 to thank for that; it was shortly after the attacks that I began attending ...
  2 days ago

• Dysfunction Fantasies

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Dysfunctional people may have blurred insight Dysfunction people have many beliefs. Not all of these are in one person but if there is a great many then that person may be dysfunctional. Alcoholics, addicts, codependents and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA’s) may identify with these. Some of these ...
  2 days ago

• AA Voices From the Past MP3 Tracks

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Free AA MP3 tracks dowloads The Akron AA Archives has been blessed with stewardship of a substantial, rare collection of recorded speaker “leads” dating back to the early days of our fellowship. Currently there are over 400 of these talks representing a treasure of early AA history, many in their original form ...
  2 days ago

• 15 Points for an Alcoholic to Consider

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  15 POINTS FOR AN ALCOHOLIC TO CONSIDER WHEN CONFRONTED WITH THE URGE TO TAKE A DRINK THE UNHAPPIEST PERSON in the world is the chronic Alcoholic who has an insistent yearning to enjoy life as he once knew it, but cannot picture life without alcohol. He has a HEART-BREAKING OBSESSION that by some miracle of control ...
  2 days ago

• US: Studies redefine concept of alcoholism

  
  Fight Hangovers — Authority: 157
  Link: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/nov/23/studies-redefine-concept-alcoholism/ Seventy years ago, Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, declared his powerlessness over alcohol. The failed businessman contended that, as an alcoholic, he had to “hit bottom” before changing his life and that ...
  3 days ago

• US: NIAAA Official Says Alcoholism Isnt Usually a Chronic, Relapsing Disease

  
  Fight Hangovers — Authority: 157
  Link: http://reason.com/blog/2009/11/19/niaaa-official-says-alcoholism Jacob Sullum The Los Angeles Times notices that people can overcome drinking problems without abstaining from alcohol for the rest of their lives. More important, the Times quotes Mark Willenbring, director of treatment and recovery ...
  5 days ago

• Canada: Alcoholism affects families

  
  Fight Hangovers — Authority: 157
  Link: http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_north/campbellrivermirror/lifestyles/70540742.html By Alistair Taylor The scene is familiar to most people: a person stands up in the meeting and says, “Hi, my name is John and I’m an alcoholic.” “John” is in a good place. He’s where he can get help ...
  6 days ago

• Dysfunctional Elitism…

  
  Unsaved Loved Ones — Authority: 93
  Eh, not too much going on here of late…looking for jobs, cooking and cleaning, going to meetings….and of course I HAVE been watching plenty of reality television.  I’m hoping that Bret Michaels will be back for a new season, but in the meantime I have to say that Tool Academy is a fine, fine substitute.  [...]
  1 week ago

• People in recovery learn it’s not ‘all about me’

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Narcissism In the study, two thirds of 16,475 students surveyed responded positively to statements like “I think I am a special person,” or “I can live my life any way I want to.” Students in 2006 scored 30 percent higher on the standardized inventory than students in 1982, ranking their narcissism ...
  1 week ago

• Chalk Talk by Father Martin

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  The Rev. Joseph C. Martin dies at 84; expert on alcoholism and drug addiction Martin’s lectures and films have been leading tools in recovery programs for more than 40 years. His book ‘Chalk Talks on Alcohol’ was published in 1982 and is still in print. The Rev. Joseph C. Martin, an expert on alcoholism and ...
  1 week ago

• A.B.C. of Recovery from Alcoholism

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  The ABC’s of Recovery From a portion of Chapter 5 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas: a) that we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives; b) that ...
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• The Role of AA Sponsors

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  A pilot study of the role of AA sponsors An AA sponsor is a close 1-on-1 collaboration between an older sober member and a relative newcomer to sobriety. Its a two way helping relationship, the sponsor affirms their own sobriety and the sponsee gains new insights. AIMS: The aim of this study was to explore the ...
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• Recovery for Alcoholic Women

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Factors that Foster and Hinder the Process of Recovery for Alcoholic Women. Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive, potentially fatal disease that crosses gender, race, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic strata. Much of what is known about the disease of alcoholism has been uncovered studying male alcoholics. ...
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• Al-Anon 12-Step Recovery Program

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Families of alcoholics / addicts often walk on eggs For those who don’t know or have never heard of Al-anon, it is a 12-step recovery program that is the counter-part to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step recovery program. It was initiated by Lois Wilson (the wife of Bill Wilson; one of the original founders of ...
  1 week ago

• 12-Step Speaker Tape Links

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Yoda´s Playlist XA-Speakers Tapes have 1,232 AA and other 12-Step related MP3 recordings. XA – Speaker Tape Category AA – Alcoholics Anonymous – » Speakers who identify as alcoholics Al-Anon Family Groups – » Speakers who identify as Al-Anons NA – Narcotics Anonymous – » Speakers ...
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• 12 Rewards of Recovery

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Sobriety disc Twelve Step fellowships such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-anon, Cocaine Anonymous and others don’t just address the substance or overt behaviour. In progressing through the 12 Steps other benefits will be realized. These are know as the rewards of recovery. One example is; THE ...
  1 week ago

• 10 Steps to Happiness

  
  Recovery Is Sexy.com — Authority: 436
  Start happy, be happy, stay happy Ten Keys to Happiness By Deepak Chopra Physical well being is inseparable from emotional well being. Happy people are healthy people. The wisdom traditions of the world tell us that happiness does not depend on what you have, but on who you are. Let’s take a moment to reflect ...
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• Winona Ryder starring in TV story of addiction hero

  
  Celeb Binge Blog — Authority: 133
  Winona Ryder is pushing her comeback forward with a television movie, When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story. The Hollywood fallen angel stars in the tale of the challenges faced by the co-founder of Al-Anon. Barry Pepper will star opposite her in the movie that began shooting in Toronto, CBS said. When Love ...
  1 week ago

• Review: The Labrys Reunion by Terry Wolverton

  
  Daisy's Dead Air — Authority: 494
  I had put off reading and reviewing The Labrys Reunion because I knew it was gonna get to me, big time. Flipping idly through the novel, I could see that Wolverton was attempting an authentic examination (even if in a fictional setting) of some of the tensions between second and third wave feminists, as well as ...
  1 week ago

• US: You can cut back on alcohol

  
  Fight Hangovers — Authority: 157
  Link: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-alcohol16-2009nov16,0,3127580,full.story By Shari Roan Research has shown that there are different degrees of drinking disorders, and many people can change habits on their own. Some of the nation s leading scientists say that humans travel a long road ...
  1 week ago

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