NLOL

Hello,

I have decided to go to AA but need some answers to some questions before I go. I plan to do a "purist" program only. By this I mean, if it's not in the original BB, I may or may not do it, probably will not do it. I figured this was the best place to post my questions and where I can get answers from experts well versed in the BB. So here are my questions...

1. Does it state in the BB one must get a sponsor?
2. Does it state in the BB one must acknowledge birthdays and take chips?
3. Does it state in the BB that one must say "I am an alcoholic" at every meeting?
4. Does it state in the BB that one must go to X number of meetings?
5. Does it state in the BB one MUST do the steps?

As far as I know, the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Also, if the answer is yes to any of these questions, can you please point me in the direction as to where I might find this in the BB? I don't have one but can always go online to read it myself. I guess those are all of the questions I can think of for now. I would appreciate any input and your expertise is valued. Thanks in advance.

CarolD

Welcome to SR ....

Glad you are considering AA.....it continues to be an awesome
adventure for me.

The best way to experience AA is to go to several groups
for awhile.....to see where you best fit in.
Each group chooses it's own format..they vary..

Here is the manuscript of our Book...Alcoholics Anonymous

The Original Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous

I'm no BB expecrts so I'll leave your questions for
others to answer. And anyway....
I don't work a "purist program" as you describe it...I use other literature too...

NLOL

Thank you for the info! I do hope I don't have to read the whole thing though, as I have ADD and it's quite the challenge for me to get through any book, so I thought I would put these questions out there to the experts.

I know there are people out there who have read that book several times over, so maybe someone can answer my questions, but thanks for posting.

CarolD

Ok...then please check out this link

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...aa-member.html

You might find it useful..I hope so.

preta

Well, the answer to all of those questions is "No." However, the best way to work AA and stay alive and sober IMHO is to get a sponsor, work the steps, and not only go to meetings but do service work at them too. The Big Book was written when many of the original members had only been sober a few years. Also, those who wrote the book were not perfect prophets from god, so following a purist approach, while noble, might not keep someone alive either. The supplemental volume 12 steps and 12 traditions fleshes out the steps and how they are integrated into ones life very well and is a good companion to the suggestions in the BB. Like Carol said, go to different groups, check stuff out. I remember being new, and looking back if I had just done what I thought was a good idea I would be very dead. I had to take suggestions from those who had been around, sober, and were sane and happy people on a spiritual path. If I may be so bold, I suggest you do the same.
I wish you the utmost success in your recovery from alcoholism and lasting joy throughout your sober life.

NLOL

Thanks so much for your knowledge. Trust me, I'll do much better just following the program as it was intended. That was the founders' views and I am better off that way. The fewer rules and structure, the better I'll deal with things. I am dual diagnosed which does mean that certain things work better for me than other things.

I do appreciate your well wishes and same to you. Now I can go to a meeting knowing it's ok to just go there with the desire to stop drinking and that is it. I like things very uncomplicated.

Sugah

I don't claim expertise, but I have read the book, more than a few times--several times while I was taking my steps formally and at least once each time I've guided someone else through them (sponsorship).

The chapter, "Working with Others" is all about sponsorship. Though the term came later, the role is the same--one alcoholic helping another to recover.

So, though the steps are introduced as suggestions, it's indicated that they are the path to sobriety--and recovery is promised to those who thoroughly follow it.

As for identification and chips--I'll step aside and let someone else deal with that.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

LexieCat

Not to be negative, but a plan to use AA to get sober without reading the BB (the first 164 pages, at least) AND without a sponsor sounds pretty difficult. The BB doesn't even require meetings, but it sounds as if you plan to go to meetings and simply absorb the program that way.

You will hear a lot of crap in meetings. I don't mean stuff that is utterly worthless, but stuff that really isn't AA, the extraneous stuff you claim you would prefer to eschew. If you can't read the book, a sponsor who has is pretty essential, IMO. Otherwise, you will be posting here after every meeting asking the "experts" whether what you heard at that night's meeting is "in the Book". And anyway, there is a lot that isn't in black and white in the Book, that is still a natural outgrowth or interpretation of what is in there. For example, the first 164 pages barely pay lip service to the existence of women alcoholics.

I know plenty of people in AA who have diagnoses similar to yours, and all the ones I know have a sponsor who helps them understand the BB and to sort the wheat from the chaff that you hear in meetings.

PLEASE consider getting a sponsor. Find one you are comfortable with, who will work with your desire to keep things simple. They are out there.

Sugah

In following the link that Carol provided, I see I mistakenly substituted some revised words for the original--"path" rather than "directions," "take certain steps" rather than "follow directions," "a program of recovery" rather than "your Program of Recovery." I don't think the meaning changes, though. It's still saying that the steps are indispensable if you want to recover.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

stugotz

Hmmm.....

omegasupreme

The steps are the program of recovery that we suggest, NOT the steps are suggested. So many people get that confused and think that it's multiple choice or maybe one day they will do them. You don't have to work the steps but then it's kind of pointless to come to AA. For the real alcoholic, the person on pg 21, there are only two options: 1. seek spiritual solution (the steps or some path to God) OR 2. die an alcoholic death. Sponsorship is how we work the steps. How do you know what you don't know??? Back in the early days, if you are talking about fundamentals. Ebby T. sponsored Bill W., Bill carried it to Bob S., then to number three, Bill D. and so on and so forth until someone carried it to me. How nifty is that...that at some point down the line I am either hooked into Bill or Bob. I highly recommend reading the first 164 of the BB...more than once. Another good book as far as fundamentals are concerned is Back to Basics by Wally P.

keithj

The single biggest hurdle to my getting sober was my thinking that I knew what I needed to do. The fact was, that I was a pretty hopeless drunk that had lots of ideas about sobriety, but zero experience with actually maintaining any lasting sobriety.

When that delusion was shattered, I was able to accept the spiritual help that was offered in the BB as shown to me by a recovered alcoholic who had a spiritual awakening as the result of the Steps.

Mark75

That's right.

Honesty, Open Mindedness and Willingness are essential, however, if one is to have a spiritual awakening and recovery in AA.

Get a Big Book, go to some meetings and and keep coming back!!

NLOL

Thanks for all your responses. I will keep an open mind, but was really just looking for yes or no answers to my questions. ADD is not my only problem. I am also bipolar with phobic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. I've read that for the dual diagnosed, actually other approaches work better in attaining sobriety than AA. The truth is I want to keep it simple, take what I need and leave the rest. What I need is to not drink (in large part so my medications can work and this depression will possibly go away) and get out of my house and be around other people who share my same struggle with addiction or addictions and possibly my psych issues (which is to say they may just happen to have the same psych issues). I know AA is not about psychiatric stuff, but something like 60% of those with alcohol problems have psych issues or the other way around. I isolate so much and just want to stick to the basics and not make things more complicated than they have to be. Appreciate everyone who took the time to post.

keithj

NLOL, you're going to do what you want. Alcoholics always do. The question to yourself is, "How do I know what I need to do?"

There is some inconsistency here. If you know what you need, and know what you want, then just go do that and best of luck to you. Because there isn't anything any of us with long term successful sobriety can offer you, if you already know how to get and stay sober.

NLOL

Fair question. I know what I need to do as my Dr. has told me what I need to do, only he just told me to minimize my drinking (and did not even suggest AA but I isolate too much and that just makes the depression worse). I also know that I should not be drinking at all on the meds I'm taking or they might not work as well as they could or maybe not even at all. Plus, think of how hard it is on my liver if I drink and take eight different meds a day.

Also, if I had other choices and types of meetings where I live (I'm talking volume and number) I would most likely go to those meetings rather than AA meetings, but I don't have that option here.

Part of why I drink is because I am lonely and if I am around other people I am less likely to feel as lonely. Maybe I'll even meet someone like me and make some friends. Who knows? At a minimum, it will force me to do things like take a shower, wear normal clothes, leave my house and that will be a step in the right direction. Since the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking, and I have been Dx'd with alcohol dependence, I guess I qualify for membership. I can just go to certain meetings where I don't have to say anything at all.

Also, if just doing what is in the BB was good enough for the founders, it's good enough for me. I don't like all the additional stuff that has been added along the way.

I do promise I won't come back here bugging anyone for help. I just needed to know what is really in the book and what is not so I can feel comfortable sticking to my guns when people start pressuring me to do more than I am comfortable with. Take what you need and leave the rest, right? Thanks for your post. Anyway, signing off here.

Kjell

The best advice I can give you is to calm it down a bit.

AA has worked on millions of recovering alcoholics.

Do you really think you know best? If you do, then why even go to AA?

Be willing.
Be humble.
Be honest.

Let some folks who know something about getting and staying sober show you how.

No need to keep fighting...surrender and recover.

Best of luck.

Kjell

Sugah

I'm not sure exactly what the criteria is for "alcohol dependence," though from what you're describing, I wonder: are you an alcoholic? Do you understand what it means to be an alcoholic?

Peace & Love,
Sugah

Mark75

Go to some meetings... It will give you focus, get you up and out of the house and you will be around other people... No one is gonna make you do anything. But they will help you when you want to.

Eddiebuckle

NLOL,

I'm glad you're here and asking questions. That shows you are willing. But the one sense I get from your posts is that you are over-analyzing this. Just go to a meeting - and if that meeting/group doesn't speak to you (trust me, you will know it when it happens) go to another meeting - each is unique, a reflection of the experiences of its participants. Ultimately you will find YOUR meeting. Then start considering the details.

If we wait until all the lights on our intended journey are green, we will never leave our driveway.

Good luck!