Tonight's AA meeting

Tonight I attended an AA meeting at a local church. They had an outside AA group come and speak to the local group. There were two speakers, who gave really interesting, thoughtful talks about what their "bottom" was, and how they'd stayed sober. I really enjoyed their talks. They were very honest about how they drank. One only drank in bars, where the other couldn't stand to drink in front of people. They both stated that they no longer had the urge to drink. Their talks made the meeting fly by.

There were several things that surprised me about the meeting. No one introduced each other, like they had at NA. The crowd was much older than at NA. There were fewer women. At the NA meeting, everyone who spoke stated they had trouble with compulsion. The speakers at the AA meeting never once spoke of compulsion being a problem in their thinking or lives. I found this really interesting, especially as a counselor. It made me wonder if there are different mental illnesses associated with the type of "drug" you become addicted to. (alcohol, of course, being a drug as well.) Another very interesting thing was one speaker talked of being agnostic, and not doing the steps that related to religion. I had wondered what an addict who is agnostic or atheist would do in AA. The speaker just decided to do it it their own way, talk to their sponsor instead of going to confession. The speaker said they learned to say "ok" instead of "I'm not doing that", and to find their own way to handle it.

I thought this evening was very interesting. I would recommend someone going to an AA meeting because people take alcohol for granted. Most people don't think of what a dangerous disease it can lead to. Narcotics are obviously dangerous. Laws prevent us from buying them, there's tons of media discouraging their use, and there are programs in school teaching children to "Just Say No". Alcohol can be far more sinister in that it is easily accessible. It is acceptable to get drunk, and to do stupid things while you're drunk. Its a right of passage in many cases. Especially when you're young.