DylanS

As I'm finding it harder to stay clean than sober, I've been thinking about trying NA.

Years ago, when I was in AA, I was told to forget NA as it was, at least in that area I guess, pretty elitist as far as addictions go. If you used needles you were 'hard core' and serious. Cocaine was okay, but pills didn't really "count". I'm pretty sure, with the widespread opiate use/addiction these days, that this is no longer true, if it ever was.

Is NA more helpful or, are the meetings and folks in them so similar as to be interchangeable?

Thanks.

ANGELINA243

I have attended both AA and NA meetings. I am an alcoholic/addict. Both use the 12 steps. NA focus is on addiction--not a particular drug or substance. They do consider alcohol to be a drug.AA is centered around alcohol. Both groups have their own literature but the 12 steps/program has the same meaning. NA main book is Basic Text. AA book is usually referred to as Big Book( of Alcoholics Anonymous).

As with either fellowships, you will find that some groups are better than others. It would be a good idea to attend a few different meetings at different times until you get a good idea of what each group is about/has to offer. There are some groups of AA and NA that I love to attend while there are other groups
of AA and NA that I avoid completely because I feel that they are toxic to my recovery.

StevenT

I am rather biased against NA now due to some experiences I had with individuals and the approach the NA program takes on the 12 steps through the new "flatbook", or the step study guide. However, my experience is my own and is tied to the area that I am in. And I still attend NA meetings from time to time because I hear more of my detailed story there then I do in my AA homegroups. I am more of a drug addict then an alcoholic in how I was before recovery, yet I find my recovery through the AA program.

I do not believe that they are the same program. Yes, NA reprinted the 12 steps and the 12 traditions for adaptation with permission of AA world services and they read nearly identical, but from my perspective that is just about where the similarities stop, atleast in my area. Meetings are ran slightly differently, steps are worked slightly differently, people are sponsored slightly differently etc. Just slightly, but it's enough for me to say "It's worked since the 30's, why change it?"

Lets keep it simple though. Whether it be addiction or alcoholism, both programs offer a spiritual solution, for that has been found, through experience, to be the problem. A spiritual malady. An obsession of the mind coupled with an allergy of the body. So, in essence, if you work the steps through AA you are getting the meat and bones of NA as well, but missing out on the 12th step work and honest sharing that is related to the drug issue.

Just a few questions you might want to ask yourself:

Have you found that defense against the first drink/drug that the big book directly talks about? It says lack of power is our dilemma.

Are you continuing to surrender not only the issue of drinking and drugging over to the power that you found, but your life as a whole? Remember, we don't become a hole in a doughnut, we turn it over to the care of, like taking our car in to get fixed. Still ours, but that power we turn it over to fixes things in a way that we cannot.

Are you keeping up on the work associated with the steps in general? Most importantly carrying the message to the one who doesn't have the message?

The spiritual program of action does work, but it must be worked in order for it do do anything. The lawn won't get mowed if you aren't willing to push the lawn mower

I'm not saying any of this to try and sound better then, or all knowing, or any of that ego-centric bs. I just hope that what I've learned through going it the hard way might help you. I've gone back to drinking and drugging because I wasn't willing to answer the above questions honestly and then move into action when I found my answer.

I truly hope this helps,

Gmoney

As already stated, NA is a program of recovery for addicts adapted from the AA program of recovery for alcoholics. In NA, the focus is on recovery from the disease of addiction (which is all-inclusive). In AA, the focus is on recovery from the disease of alcoholism. Both programs/fellowships use the 12 Steps as the solution to a seemingly hopeless state of mind, body and spirit. Although there are differences in the interpretation, wording and application of their programs, the spiritual principles contained in them are the same.

Both NA and AA meetings differ from town to town, city to city, region to region and state to state. It is always a good idea to attend a variety of meetings to find one that is best suited to the seeker.

As a newcomer, I attended both because not only was I an addict...I was also a problem drinker. Today I only attend NA because that's where I found recovery and I am better able to relate to the addict as opposed to the alcoholic. If there were no NA meetings in my area I would most definitely attend AA. For me, it is really about what I want to do about my problem and how they can help. Help only becomes available once we surrender and get honest.

G

Threshold

The language of the Basic Text (NA) is more modern than that of the Big Book (AA).

As mentioned above NA addresses the disease of addiction, doesn't matter what you are addicted to. AA addresses focuses on alcoholism.

I had a hard time working through the language of the Big Book and find the NA literature (there is lots of literature beyond the Basic Text) more useful to me as I was not always balking at the wording. Also, I have multiple addictions, so addressing the disease of addiction was more fruitful to me than focusing mainly on alcoholism.

It was important for me to find a group I could feel part of, identify with rather than having to keep "stretching" to feel like I belonged. I found that I identified with NA more than with AA.