Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting Observations Per my customary tradition of attending anything for the first time I arrived early to survey the environment as well as obtain a seat that would provide the most optimum observation vantage point. The alcoholics anonymous (AA) meeting I attended was held at the House of Disciples Life Recovery Center, a ministry of Wiseman Ministries. Interestingly enough, it used to be a funeral home. As I walked through the doors the first thing I noticed was a faint but distinct smell of burnt coffee, tobacco, and donuts. Making my way deeper into the meeting hall I located the source of the smell. After helping myself to a cup of java I walked over to a table sitting in front of chairs placed in a …show more content…
The leader read from the AA book and afterwards invited anyone to share what was on their mind. After what seemed a lifetime, an elderly man raised his hand and then, after a nod from the leader, he stood up saying, “Hi. I’m “Bob” and I’m an alcoholic”. “Hi Bob”, the group said together. Bob then began sharing a lifelong struggle with alcohol that started in high school as a teenager and spanned a course of some twenty years. Two decades of conflict and disharmony that seemed to connect with many of the attendees displayed by their numerous head nods and looks of shared shame. He said he never intended to become an alcoholic. He was just trying to “fit in” with friends. Another reason given for using alcohol was to squash the stress and anxieties all too familiar with the formative years of pre-adulthood. “Little did I know”, he said that he was setting the stage for how to handle all his subsequent problems later in life. Problems with his parents, he would drink. Disagreement with his girlfriend, he would drink. Bad day at work, he would drink. No matter what difficulty he encountered or strain life would throw at him alcohol was always the answer. This, on top of the good times. Favorite sports team won, he would drink. Concert at the coliseum, he would drink. Fishing with friends, he would drink. The problem, he stated, was that his problems only got worse when he drank. So, he figured the answer was to drink more. After Bob shared there
The third chapter of the Alcoholics Anonymous book develops the idea of what alcoholism involves and how people with alcoholism differ from normal people. This chapter elaborates on the idea that there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic, meaning an alcoholic will never be able to have a few drinks and then stop. It is also believed within the alcoholics’ anonymous community that at in the early stages of their drinking careers, they could have stopped drinking. The first step in recovery is to acknowledge that there is a problem, the book describes different ways a person can be an alcoholic. Not every alcoholic is going to drink a long time nor take large quantities, but the inability to stop makes the alcoholic. The chapter explains how an alcoholic is still unable to stop on the basis of self-knowledge and will power. In order to protect against taking that first drink again, there must be a higher power. Chapter three outlines that there is more than one option of what
AA member #1 attended both meetings. He shared that he started AA 2 years ago AA member #1 shared that he had trouble sleeping and began taking a drink or two each night before going to bed. He later found himself needing more alcohol to sleep and began drinking earlier during the day. He encountered three DUI accidents which caused him physical harm and a court
I have never experienced what it would be like to be a part of an AA meeting. The only time I have had seen or heard someone mention meetings for alcoholics has been TV shows and movies, which would portray these meeting as a circle of strangers just deliberating stories of their life and how this disease has changed them forever. Therefore, I had no idea what to expect. I felt intimidated and had a sense of nervousness, so I decided I would not go alone and brought a friend. My expectation upon entering this meeting was to see beat up people with bad hygiene and a homeless appearance. As a matter of fact, the expectations I had upon walking towards this place was that I was going to get hit on and even get kidnapped. As crazy as it
I did not wish to interrupt the natural flow of the meeting with my presence. However, that is exactly what occurred highlighting to me a duality in why AA can be both helpful and harmful depending ton the individual. One member spoke during the open testimony about his desire to only attend meetings with people that have 20 plus years of sobriety because he finds a newcomer to be distrustful to his experience in the group. During his five-minute monologue, it became clear to myself and other group members that he did not appreciate me observing his meeting. As other members spoke after him, he became increasingly agitated in his movements. When the group paused to collect the donations, he left the meeting and did not return. That experience highlighted the negative aspects of AA because the open honesty could be damaging or discouraging to newcomers. I tried to imagine myself a newcomer to AA, seeking treatment for something that I may not fully understand myself. After hearing his dismissal of newcomers and everyone under 20 years sobriety that feeling of “otherness” in a newcomer could push them to not return. Therefore eliminating the AA support for
Chris Farias was an alcoholic who was arrested several times for driving under the influence. Farias had a family who always celebrated special events consuming large amounts of alcohol, and him as a kid he always watched how they drank excessively like if it was nothing bad. His parents never really taught him the dangers of consuming alcohol because their perceptions and experiences where different from any other person. He and his siblings grew accustomed to celebrating any special event with alcohol. As he got older he began to notice that his father was an alcoholic, and worried about his health he tried to help him better himself, but at the end continued to drink. He seen how alcohol ruined his father life, and he spent most his life
Alcoholism has little to do with what kind of alcohol one drinks, how long one has been drinking, or even exactly how much alcohol one consumes. But it has a great deal to do with a person's uncontrollable need for alcohol. Did you know that 88,000 deaths a year are attributed to excessive alcohol abuse? Today, you will be hearing about a young gentle man just at the age of 22 that struggles with alcohol addiction and how it has affected his future. His name is Mike, a college baseball player that struggles with alcohol because he grew up witnessing alcohol addiction in the family. Mike’s father struggled with alcohol addiction as well as his grandpa back in the day when receiving 7 total D.U. I’s. At age 13, Mike began drinking because his
In “I stopped drinking, and it made some of my friends uncomfortable” I was surprised at how many people that Petrow encountered could not rap their brains around the fact he did not want alcohol. People who were drinking around him, found it hard to understand why he did want to drink. He didn’t want to announce it to the whole world that he was suffering from depression and he thought maybe cutting alcohol out of his life would help with that.
Alcoholism is a severe disease that affects many people around the world. The person that the learner chose to write this paper about is a 30+ year alcoholic. The disease has taken a toll on said person, as well as on the family. Alcohol is the most dangerous recreational drug to use (Comer, 2011). It affects millions of families across the world as well as social relationships (Comer, 2014). The first thing the subject did as they awoke was cough and spit severely as if they were chocking. The subject went outside and continued to gag and cough, each time louder. The subject went back inside, walked to their room, and opened up a beer that was in one of the dressers. This was the routine that said person did daily. The subject also spent most of their time in their room, or outside talking on the phone while intoxicated. The subject called their parents while intoxicated and mentioned that they forgave their dad. It is likely that the subject went through some sort of trauma as a child with their father. As the day went by, the subject would drink until intoxicated, which took about three beers. The learner thought this was odd because the subject had been drinking so long, however, this happens to severe alcoholics whose liver doesn’t function as well. The subject became intoxicated and the behavior of the subject changed drastically. The subject went from being very antisocial, sitting in their bedroom watching TV, to talking to the other family members, becoming
He has been drinking for fifty-four years with gusto. Which tells us that when he drinks, he doesn’t really pay too much attention to what’s happening around him or how his body is responding. He does acknowledge that alcohol has landed him in some serious trouble. He’s been jailed many times, he’s been hospitalized multiple times, he’s lost countless of jobs. He has even attempted suicides. He doesn’t seem to be ashamed of that, he actually sounds very proud. He is proud mainly because he feels like those experiences have helped him master alcohol. He expresses that by saying “It takes many years to get damn good at anything even being a drunk”(380). Also at the end of the poem he implies that it’s better to have mastered alcohol than not to drink at all. He mocks young individuals who have recently quit drinking. He says that they are not any smarter when they are sober. This makes the reader question his motive for writing the poem. Perhaps he is jealous of non drinkers, maybe he feels like so much of his life revolves around alcohol, and in order to make himself feel better he wants to belittle the ones who manage to live their lives without consuming alcohol. This can also mean that he does not have complete control of his life, alcohol might still be controlling him. His methods for mastering drinking seem unconvincing and highly
Many people use drinking for different outcomes. Some drink for entertainment and fun with friends, and others use it as a way of escape or to deal with emotions. Mel’s drinking problem isn’t uncommon especially since he started so young. When you view the effects, drinking has had on his life and from different psychological approaches it could help with providing the tools needed to get to the root of the problem. Mel’s issue could be viewed from biological, sociocultural and psychoanalytic approaches.
It’s hard to understand alcoholism when your parents can have a glass of wine with dinner without finishing the whole bottle. Or if they can have a beer when they go out with friends and stop themself so they can actually drive home at the end of the night. My mom has struggled with alcoholism her entire life. Once a drop of alcohol touches her tongue, she doesn’t stop until she’s on the floor. She’d quit, and a month later drink again: the theory of an alcoholic. There was nothing I could do, I was eight years old; innocent. I believed her when she said she’d never drink again. I never realized it was a disease, a sickness, an addiction. I wasn’t aware that it was going to take more than her word for the drinking to stop. Alcoholism affects the drinker’s body, but more emotionally, it affects every single person around him or her.
The early stages of alcoholism usually go unnoticed by not only friends and family but also the drinker. A person begins drinking in this stage for new reasons such as daily stress or a personal or professional problem. They may drink to change their mood or avoid the one they are currently feeling.
Imagine you are at a family wedding reception where there is alcohol being served. As the night progresses you notice your Uncle Bob frequenting the bar in the corner of the room for nearly one drink after another. He is reaching his limit for liquor he can handle, and you notice him acting increasingly disoriented, obnoxious, and tipsy. The rest of your family watches him as he virtually makes a fool out of himself and comments about him fill the room. "He has always been drinking way too much since his days in the frat house at the university," states one relative. "He is just like his father," comments another. Such a story sparks a debate as to the foundation of alcoholism. Merriam-Webster 's Dictionary defines alcoholism as continued
Drinking is one of people’s main problems. Drinking distorts self-perception and actions. There are many reasons for drinking: depression, happiness, a social event. These incentives are developed in “The Three-Day Blow” by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway uses drinking as a form of expression through his character Nick and his inner conflict.
People drink alcohol only for the effect it has on the way they feel. The social drinker may get a feeling of relaxation and freedom from tension. The alcoholics however, show a great change in personality, they may become angry or argumentative, or quiet and depressed. Often a small amount of alcohol causes a person with alcoholism to feel even more anxious, sad, tense, and confused. They seek relief by drinking more. This is how alcoholics get caught up in a web of ever increasing need for dependency on alcohol.