ABOUT AA

Alcoholism is an illness. It can hit anyone: young, old; rich, poor; black, white. Alcoholics aren’t just those old guys sitting on park benches. Young successful people can ruin their lives with alcohol too.

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been drinking, what you’ve been drinking or even how much.

It’s what drinking does to you that counts.

WHAT
IS AA?

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

COPYRIGHT © THE AA GRAPEVINE, INC.
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION

ESTIMATED WORLDWIDE MEMBERSHIP
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AA DOES
NOT

  • A.A. does not run membership drives to try and persuade alcoholics into joining. A.A. is for alcoholics who want to get sober.
  • A.A. does not check up on its members to see that they don’t drink. It helps alcoholics to help themselves.
  • A.A. is not a religious organisation. All members are free to decide on their own personal ideas.
  • A.A. is not a medical organisation, does not give out medicines or psychiatric advice.
  • A.A. does not run any hospitals, wards or treatment centres or provide nursing services.
  • A.A. is not connected with any other organisation. But A.A. does co-operate with organisations that fight alcoholism. Some members work for such organisations - as individuals - not as representatives of A.A.
  • A.A. does not accept money from sources outside A.A., either private or government.
  • A.A. does not offer any social services, does not provide housing, food, clothing, jobs, or money. It helps alcoholics stay sober, so they earn these things for themselves.
  • Alcoholics Anonymous lives up to the “anonymous” part of its title. It does not want members’ names to be used on TV or radio or in newspapers. Members do not disclose other members’ names to people outside A.A. Members are not ashamed of belonging to A.A.; they must want to encourage more alcoholics to come to A.A. for help. They do not want to make heroes or heroines of themselves simply for taking care of their own sobriety.
  • A.A. does not provide letters of reference to courts, social services, employers etc.

A BRIEF GUIDE TO ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF A.A. WORLD SERVICES, INC.

Only you can decide whether you want to give AA a try or if you think it can help you.

We who are in AA came because we finally gave up trying to control our drinking. We still hated to admit that we could never drink safely. Then we heard from other AA members that we were sick. We found out that many people suffered from the same feelings of guilt, loneliness and hopelessness that we did. We found out that we had these feelings because we were sick with alcoholism.

We decided to try to face up to what alcohol had done to us. Here are some of the questions we tried to answer honestly. See if you can recognise any of these situations in your own life.

Remember, there is no disgrace in facing up to the fact that you have a problem.

TWELVE
QUESTIONS

1. 
Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days?

Most of us in A.A. made all kinds of promises to ourselves and to our families. We could not keep them. But when we came to A.A., we were told: “Just try not to drink today.” (If you do not drink today, you cannot get drunk today.)

2. 
Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking — stop telling you what to do?

In A.A. we do not tell anyone to do anything. We just talk about our own drinking, the trouble we got into, and how we stopped. We will be glad to help you, if you want us to.

3. 
Have you ever switched from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this would keep you from getting drunk?

We tried all kinds of ways. We made our drinks weak. Or just drank beer. Or we did not drink cocktails. Or only drank on weekends. You name it, we tried it. But if we drank anything with alcohol in it, we usually got drunk eventually.

4. 
Have you had to have an eye-opener upon awakening during the past year? Do you need a drink to get started, or to stop shaking?

This is a pretty sure sign that you are not drinking “socially.”

5. 
Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble?

At one time or another, most of us have wondered why we were not like most people, who really can take it or leave it.

6. 
Have you had problems connected with drinking during the past year?

Be honest! Doctors say that if you have a problem with alcohol and keep on drinking, it will get worse — never better. Eventually, you will die, or end up in an institution for the rest of your life. The only hope is to stop drinking.

7. 
Has your drinking caused trouble at home?

Before we came into AA, most of us said that it was the people or problems at home that made us drink. We could not see that our drinking just made everything worse. It never solved problems anywhere or anytime.

8. 
Do you ever try to get “extra” drinks at a party because you do not get enough?

Most of us used to have a “few” before we started out if we thought it was going to be that kind of party. And if drinks were not served fast enough, we would go some place else to get more.

9. 
Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though you keep getting drunk when you don’t mean to?

Many of us kidded ourselves into thinking that we drank because we wanted to. After we came into AA, we found out that once we started to drink, we couldn’t stop.

10. 
Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking?

Many of us admit now that we “called in sick” lots of times when the truth was that we were hung-over or on a drunk.

11. 
Do you have “blackouts”?

A “blackout” is when we have been drinking hours or days which we cannot remember. When we came to AA, we found out that this is a pretty sure sign of alcoholic drinking.

12. 
Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink?

Many of us started to drink because drinking made life seem better, at least for a while. By the time we got into AA, we felt trapped. We were drinking to live and living to drink. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired.