2-8
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As we look back, we feel we had gone on drinking many years beyond the point where we could quit on our own willpower. If anyone questions whether he has entered this dangerous area, let him try leaving liquor alone for one year. If he is a real alcoholic and very far advanced, there is scant chance for success. In the early days of our drinking we occassionally remained sober for a year or more, becoming serious drinkers again later. Though you may be able to stop for a considerable period, you may yet be a potential alcoholic. We think few, to whom this book will appeal, can stay dry anything like a year. Some will be drunk the day after making their resolutions; most of them within a few weeks.
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If drinking is causing us trouble, why don't we try this test? If we are successful, we probably are not alcoholic. If we can't do it after sincere effort, we are probably alcoholic. Go ahead, give it your best shot. We hope you will be successful, if you are not, AA will be there, ready to show you what we have done to recover.
Once again the ineffectiveness of using resolve to overcome alcoholism is made clear. How have our resolutions not to drink as much or at all worked in the past? What makes us think that this time our resolve will work any better?
9-15
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For those who are unable to drink moderately the question is how to stop altogether. We are assuming, of course, that the reader desires to stop. Whether such a person can quit upon a non-spiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not. Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet, we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it---this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.
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Are we baffled by our inability to quit drinking entirely? The most dire necessity and most sincere desire are not sufficient to keep us away from that first drink. Even when we can plainly see that the first drink will lead to another spree, we always succumb to our overpowering desire for alcohol. What hope is there for us? Where can we find the power to resist our compulsion to drink?
When reviewing our drinking history we can ask ourselves if we are able to drink moderately? If we are unable to drink moderately, we can ask ourselves if we desire to stop drinking altogether? If we desire to stop, we can ask ourselves if we can do it on our own? How has our desire to stop drinking worked in the past? If a sincere desire or great need to stop drinking is insufficient, we may be unable to quit on a non-spiritual basis.
16
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How then shall we help our readers determine, to their own satisfaction, whether they are one of us?
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The many definitions of alcoholism, descriptions of symptoms, and the personal accounts illustrating the progression of this illness, are included in the first chapters of this book to help us determine if we are alcoholic or not.
This chapter focuses on the mental component of alcoholism. We have seen the physical symptoms clearly illustrated. Now, the authors address the mental symptoms in the hope that we may see whether we possess an alcoholic mind.
Source:
The Annotated AA Handbook
Frank D.