Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international community of men and women who have had or still have a problem with alcohol. They share their own experience and hope that they can resolve their common problem and help others regain sobriety. It is an honorable, apolitical community available almost everywhere. Membership is open to anyone wishing to quit drinking alcohol. There are no age or education requirements for participants.
What is Alcoholics Anonymous?
The main goal is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. Alcoholics Anonymous is a community of over 2 million recovering alcoholics worldwide. Their activity is to create small self-help groups.
The meetings gather different numbers of people depending on how big the town is or how many other AA groups are in the neighborhood. The Alcoholics Anonymous Group is made up of alcoholics themselves. A.A. does not have offices, doctors, counselors, or psychologists. All members help each other out of alcoholism. There is no central auditing body that checks how AA groups operate. It all depends on the members of the group. They decide what they do. However, the A.A. program has been proven so successful that nearly all groups benefit from it.
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Does Alcoholics Anonymous relate to any religion?
Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religious organization or sect. Self-help groups involve both adherents of different religions, as well as agnostics and atheists. You do not need to register to become part of A.A. You become a member of the group when you are determined to do so. You can come and go whenever you feel like it.
12 step program
Alcoholics Anonymous runs self-help groups on the basis of the 12 Step Program, which is a framework for self-control and the path to recovery from alcoholism. The program involves the alcoholic exposing his illness and going through his drinking history all over again. He describes how he achieved sobriety and asks the newcomers to join the self-help group.
Family codependency – what to watch out for
People living in an alcoholic family are often unaware of and do not understand the concept of co-dependence on alcohol. It is sometimes confused with joint drinking and becoming addicted. First of all, it means silent and pointless consent to the development of alcoholism in the family. Most often it affects partners and spouses, but some of the features of codependency can also be distinguished in children and parents. How do people who are co-dependent on an alcoholic behave? They don’t let anyone find out about alcoholism at home. They deny any suggestions and make things look normal as if nothing is happening.
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The co-addicted person forgets his needs and gives up social contacts. He devotes all his time and energy to taking care of and caring for his drinking partner. He tries to make the family, which has long ceased to be a refuge of peace and security, although it looked like it in the eyes of others. This is just one of the characteristics of a codependent person. Each of them is difficult to spot without knowing the situation, even if you know the definition of alcoholic co-dependence.
The End of Alcoholic Co-dependence – How to Help Yourself
Addicted people as well as alcoholic co-addicts live in denial. They deny their addiction and do not treat alcoholism as a disease. Over time, however, partners or spouses begin to feel the effects of such a life. Constant stress, fear and shame lead to a change in attitude. General fatigue and powerlessness follow. How to help a codependent person?
Only a conversation with a psychologist and specialist therapy can be an effective option. Then everyone can understand the mistakes made and learn about the abnormal mechanisms of behavior. Leaving the alcoholic on his own is not easy, especially when addiction has a negative effect on children. In other situations, however, he will not understand his mistakes and will not feel the negative effects of drinking alcohol. Especially when everyone will adapt to their reality.
The addict must decide about the changes. Coercion and ultimatums rarely give the expected and long-lasting effect. The beginning of a sober life is difficult, but it is possible to achieve by constantly working on yourself. Questions like how to convince an alcoholic or how to help a co-addict are common. People affected by addiction must want this support themselves. Forcing to act usually fails.
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