The False Gospel of Alcoholic Anonymous
In this essay, he False Gospel of Alcoholic Anonymous, the writer is telling his audience about a young lawyer, who is struggling with an alcohol addiction. The seemingly careless lawyer, who would go into work drunk, would defend all of his dui clients. After continuously going into work intoxicated, the lawyer decided enough was enough. He’d final check himself into an alcoholic treatment program. The writer goes on to say that the lawyer was struggling to try to keep him self motivated to stay in the program because it was faith based and the thought of him wanting to have another drink. This lawyer was defeated. I believe that the lawyer was experiencing distorted perception.
In this essay,
…show more content…
Why her claim has some credibility to it, a person will still need to attend substance abuse programs and not rely solely on prescription drugs alone. A person will need to continue to go through substance abuse programs, while speaking with a therapist, and a psychiatrist. This will be an ongoing process until the person shows true signs of improvement.
During this essay, the writer is researching various ways to beat alcohol addiction for the lawyer and many other people in the United States that is trying to beat this addiction. The writer seems as if she is researching information for a quick cure to beat an alcohol addiction when there are none. The writer starts to experiment with prescription drugs bought online. Purchasing non-prescription pills online very dangerous and can cost you your life as you do not know what you are purchasing from a company.
After all the research the writer has done on how to beat an alcohol addiction, the lawyer finally found help at a rehab in Minnesota were her receives help once every 12 weeks and receives a prescription for Baclofen, which helps with anxiety and alcohol cravings. The treatment seemed to work for the lawyer because he has not had anything to drink since being in the rehab center. Drug Abuse is a major issue in the United States. Many people struggle with controlling their
It is explained within this chapter that a higher power must be found in order for the person’s problem to be solved. Once an alcoholic express willingness to believe in a power greater than them, they started to see results. Each individual can have their own conception of God, but to start they must be willing to accept the realm of spirit. The alcoholic will not be able to complete this journey alone, their decisions and will power have left them in the situation they are in. The power higher, will accomplish the miracles that are not humanly possible. The path can not be walked alone so being able to believe in a God, creates the feeling of having a friend. The fourth chapter creates the idea of how important it is for a person to believe in some conception of God, there is no other way of getting
As you read the chapter, you easily feel a sense of acceptance, support and hope through the Alcoholics Anonymous community. It would seem as if this chapter was designed to target the hopeless and the downtrodden in an attempt to say, we are here for you and we recognize this is hard, but there is help out there. Chapter two also talks about how religion has a strong foundation in Alcoholics Anonymous and in the road to recovery. Yet the writers tell the reader even though there is a strong religious background, you do not need to follow one specific background to receive support or assistance. What in found fascinating from the reading, was a comment about how members of Alcoholics Anonymous are comparable to passengers who have been shipwrecked and are now coming to be rescued. This reference truly made me feel how massive and formidable an individual’s feeling of loss and
Many people have been misguided about whether or not alcoholism is “disease” that attacks a person’s good health. A key suggestion of those that believe alcoholism is a disease is that a disease is uncontrolled. This is not so. When people develop an addiction to alcohol they tend to push everything of importance out of their lives: family, friends, and sometimes even jobs. People with addiction to alcohol throw
With this in mind, it is clear that it can be all too easy to fall into the same sort of alcoholic cycle as Duane and Holly, and that without help, addicts like them may never escape the clutches of alcoholism. To elaborate on what can be done to help people with the disease of alcoholism from a pharmaceutical standpoint, Becker writes:
According to the NIAAA (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), about how many previously diagnosable alcoholics matured out of their dependence? A. none B. only a fraction C. one third D. most ANS:C PG39 19. According to Hester and Miller’s empirical research, the highest treatment effectiveness scores were obtained for A. harsh confrontational techniques B. motivational enhancement. C psychoanalytical treatment D. treatment that focused on the underlying cause of the drinking or drug use. ANS:B PG39
The 12-step program used by Alcoholics Anonymous is a well-known treatment method that’s used for many types of addiction, not just alcohol. Alcoholics are encouraged to “work” the 12-steps. The first step involves admitting the powerlessness over alcohol. The second step has the alcoholic believe that there is some type of a greater power working that will help aide the alcoholic to reach sobriety, as well as maintain is once reached. This step is an example of the religious influence on the 12-step recovery process.
5. Corrective recapitulation of primary family group - experiencing transference relationships growing out of primary family experiences providing the opportunity to relearn and clarify distortions. Members learned that they could resolve issues from the past
For the support group observation assignment, I attended the Gateway Group’s Alcoholic Anonymous (A.A.) meeting. The Gateway Group is part of a larger organization called the Tri-County Intergroup Association of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Tri-County Intergroup serves A.A. members in Franklin, Wake, and Warren Counties and is broken down into 113 separate groups. As the preamble states, the purpose of all A.A. group meetings are for A.A. members to share their experience strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. There are no dues or fees for being an A.A. member, and the only requirement for membership is to have a desire to stop drinking ().
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
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is the largest and most commonly known self-help group in the world. Since the creation of AA in 1935, there have been many programs modeled after it, which are also based on the 12-Step Program. Some of these include Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Chemically Dependent Anonymous, as well as programs for specific drugs, such as Cocaine Anonymous (CA) and Crystal Meth Anonymous (NIDA, 2012). Attendance and participation for self-help groups are open for anyone to attend and free of cost for all members, with meetings typically held in locations such as churches and public buildings. “Metropolitan areas usually have specialized groups, based on such member characteristics as gender, length of time in recovery,
Alcoholics Anonymous is a group composed of men and women who want to stop drinking and help each other stay on the path towards sobriety. They are not affiliated with any other organization, denomination, or institution and the only requirement for membership is the desire to stop drinking (Fisher & Harrison, 2013). They meet at least once a week, if not more to support one another and to share their experiences, struggles, and successes.
The second speaker was a male attorney who had struggled all of his adult life with alcoholism. He stated that he would work the program and find success in staying sober but whenever he lost a case that resulted in someone
Today, one out of every thirteen adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. That means nearly thirteen million Americans have a drinking problem. (www.niaaa.nih.gov) This topic offers a broad range of ideas to be researched within the psychological field. For this particular project, the topic of alcoholism and the psychological effects on people best fit the criteria. Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning. (www.dictionary.com) Through this project, the most important information regarding personal experiences
There are millions of people who have and who are suffering from alcoholism. For those seeking help with their addiction, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) may be the right for them. While this program is not promised to be a cure, and the authors of this program does not promise full recovery, it provides an atmosphere where members can be honest about their dependency on alcohol. Furthermore, AA provides support from other alcoholics, and rewards for meeting certain sobriety anniversary dates. This paper explores the history and major developments of AA. Furthermore, this paper explains the structure of meetings, and the roles the leader and members play during meetings. This paper also touches on AA’s definition of success and how it handles members who relapse. Additionally, this paper explains this student’s experiences of two AA meetings she attended, which include what she learned from attending the meetings, and what she learned from the people she met at the meetings.
Finally, chapter eleven discusses how the alcoholic, fully accepting his recovery, will not seek to drink again. The alcoholic will change the people, places, and things that have made them an alcoholic as much as possible and will live a life of sobriety and become a living success for others. The chapter reiterates Doctor Bob and Bill’s first visit together and their eventual creation of Alcoholics Anonymous. Lastly, the chapter continues