SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - View Single Post - A Newbie, needing all the input she can get.

Gmoney · 07-07-2007, 01:36 PM

Well said Jim!!

I recall being in a treatment center and the staff forced me to admit I was an alcoholic - or else they wouldn't grant me a "successful" release. Naturally, I wanted to go home with the feeling I had completed the "course," so I said I was. And because AA meetings were so plentiful, comibined with the facilities endorsing AA, I initially went to AA meetings and identified myself as an "alcoholic-addict" out of respect. Although there were many addicts at those AA meetings, and plenty of AA's who had used drugs...I struggled to identify.

Sure... I started with alcohol, but I never liked it nor could I drink as much as my peers. I can count the times I actually got drunk on my fingers, but I continued to drink to fit in. Once I added drugs to the mix, I found that I could tolerate alcohol much more but I could take it or leave it. It appeared to be the same with drugs, because there were numerous periods when I could go without getting high at all. Yet, that was in the beginning. In the end, I couldn't stop using drugs if I wanted to and I needed help to get clean.

I'm grateful for NA showing me the way - that I am an addict who suffers from the disease of addiction; not drug addiction, but simply addiction. I can become addicted to anything I like. In NA, what you used isn't as important as how we can help you to recover.

07-07-2007, 01:36 PM	#6 (permalink)
Gmoney Evolving Addict Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: New York State Posts: 2,910	Well said Jim!! I recall being in a treatment center and the staff forced me to admit I was an alcoholic - or else they wouldn't grant me a "successful" release. Naturally, I wanted to go home with the feeling I had completed the "course," so I said I was. And because AA meetings were so plentiful, comibined with the facilities endorsing AA, I initially went to AA meetings and identified myself as an "alcoholic-addict" out of respect. Although there were many addicts at those AA meetings, and plenty of AA's who had used drugs...I struggled to identify. Sure... I started with alcohol, but I never liked it nor could I drink as much as my peers. I can count the times I actually got drunk on my fingers, but I continued to drink to fit in. Once I added drugs to the mix, I found that I could tolerate alcohol much more but I could take it or leave it. It appeared to be the same with drugs, because there were numerous periods when I could go without getting high at all. Yet, that was in the beginning. In the end, I couldn't stop using drugs if I wanted to and I needed help to get clean. I'm grateful for NA showing me the way - that I am an addict who suffers from the disease of addiction; not drug addiction, but simply addiction. I can become addicted to anything I like. In NA, what you used isn't as important as how we can help you to recover. __________________ "We are never forced into relapse. We are given a choice. Relapse is never an accident." - Basic Text, 5th Ed.