An interesting, informed and insightful contribution - a check list for AA?
Quote:
Hi, I find the best way to get my point across about things is to use the facts. The groups in question cannot deny the facts as they are the truth. I would like to ask that you do not post my name onto your website.
Big Book- Dr's Opinion page xxx paragraph 3 line 6
"There is the manic depressive type, who is, perhaps, the least understood by his friends, and about whom a whole chapter could be written."
Why didn't they write this chapter, maybe because they weren't qualified to do so. It is also why AA has no opinion on medication.
Bi Polar is the modern term for Manic Depression it means as I am sure you know "2 opposites". There are also 3 levels of severity, the first 2 have to be medicated and the last is, but if the sufferer leads a structured life can come off the low level of medication if they wish. All of this should be done through a Doctor/Psychiatrist.
Big Book "The Family Afterwards" Page 133 Paragraph 1 thru 2.
"Now about health: A body badly burned by alcohol does not often recover overnight nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling. We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative. We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health. But we have seen remarkable transformations in our bodies. Hardly one of our crowd now shows any mark of dissipation."
"But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterwards"
Bi Polar is misconstrued as being a Psychosomatic disorder, that is why it gets such a negative shake in AA. We all walk through the door suffering from varying levels of depression and for the most part these are of a psychosomatic nature brought on by years of Alcoholism. Once we get through the steps these symptoms usually dissipate and we are able to lead lives free from emotional depression. For some though even after completion of the Traditional AA program they are left with feelings and emotions that they just can't shake no matter how much they try. It is then if they haven't done so already that they need to seek professional help. The misconception that they are just doing it wrong is erroneous as Bi Polar is not a Psychosomatic disorder it is Physiological one like diabetes. A chemical imbalance that at present can only be corrected by psycho-tropic medication. Some people in AA demonise this and make the sufferer the problem as those around us did when we were drinking.
Big Book page 18 Paragraph 1 line 3
" If a person has cancer all are sorry for him and no one is angry or hurt. But not so with the alcoholic illness"
If an AA member was to get cancer and the only medication offered to them had a mood altering effect do we deny them the right to live a life free from pain?
As to Step 4, our basic text does not give instructions for any of the suggestions they are making. If it is not in the Big Book then it is not the AA program. If they read on Page xiii Paragraph 1 Line 1:
"We of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book"
The key word being "precisely". This is a text book, it was written so that the AA program could not be changed or interpreted in any way other than it is intended.
Furthermore if they asked them selves the question posed by the statement in the Doctors opinion on Page xxvi Paragraph 1 Line 1
" You may rely absolutely on anything they say about themselves"
The question then being " Am I willing to rely absolutely on anything they say about themselves in this book?"
If I then begin to propose that the book is saying something else, reading between the lines to suit my own agenda then I am breaking the Traditions
From the pamphlet "The AA Group."
"Some groups take inventory by examining our Twelve Traditions, one at a time, to determine how well they are living up to these principles."
The following questions were taken from the core of what is said in the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" pages 564 - 568 and also from the book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions." Read the corresponding Tradition out of the Big Book then the consideration. If you can answer yes to any of these it is against the Twelve Traditions
One:
Does our group put the interests of any individual above the welfare of the group or of AA as a whole?
Two:
Does our group do anything that misrepresents the conscience of the majority of the group?
Three:
Does our group exclude anyone with a drinking problem from attending the group?
Four:
Does our group do anything that does not conform to AA principles and affect other groups or AA as a whole?
Five:
Does our group do anything that conflicts with our carrying the AA message to alcoholics who want a way out from their drinking problem?
Six:
Does anything we do affiliate, endorse or bind the group, actual or implied, to any related facility or outside enterprise?
Seven:
Are donations received from anyone other than an AA member?
Eight:
Are there any fees besides meeting expenses being charged for Twelve Step work, ie: fellowship, sponsoring, step work, counselling?
Nine:
Is there a governing individual or exclusive group authority that dictates organization?
Ten:
Does our group do anything that publicly states an opinion or takes sides on any issues or controversy outside of AA?
Eleven:
At the general public level of press, radio, film, and television, does the group publicize any individual AA member's name or picture as a self-appointed representative of AA?
Twelve:
Does our group give personal distinction to any AA member either among fellow alcoholics or the general public that puts their opinions above the conscience of the group or AA?
Big Book- Dr's Opinion page xxx paragraph 3 line 6
"There is the manic depressive type, who is, perhaps, the least understood by his friends, and about whom a whole chapter could be written."
Why didn't they write this chapter, maybe because they weren't qualified to do so. It is also why AA has no opinion on medication.
Bi Polar is the modern term for Manic Depression it means as I am sure you know "2 opposites". There are also 3 levels of severity, the first 2 have to be medicated and the last is, but if the sufferer leads a structured life can come off the low level of medication if they wish. All of this should be done through a Doctor/Psychiatrist.
Big Book "The Family Afterwards" Page 133 Paragraph 1 thru 2.
"Now about health: A body badly burned by alcohol does not often recover overnight nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling. We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative. We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health. But we have seen remarkable transformations in our bodies. Hardly one of our crowd now shows any mark of dissipation."
"But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterwards"
Bi Polar is misconstrued as being a Psychosomatic disorder, that is why it gets such a negative shake in AA. We all walk through the door suffering from varying levels of depression and for the most part these are of a psychosomatic nature brought on by years of Alcoholism. Once we get through the steps these symptoms usually dissipate and we are able to lead lives free from emotional depression. For some though even after completion of the Traditional AA program they are left with feelings and emotions that they just can't shake no matter how much they try. It is then if they haven't done so already that they need to seek professional help. The misconception that they are just doing it wrong is erroneous as Bi Polar is not a Psychosomatic disorder it is Physiological one like diabetes. A chemical imbalance that at present can only be corrected by psycho-tropic medication. Some people in AA demonise this and make the sufferer the problem as those around us did when we were drinking.
Big Book page 18 Paragraph 1 line 3
" If a person has cancer all are sorry for him and no one is angry or hurt. But not so with the alcoholic illness"
If an AA member was to get cancer and the only medication offered to them had a mood altering effect do we deny them the right to live a life free from pain?
As to Step 4, our basic text does not give instructions for any of the suggestions they are making. If it is not in the Big Book then it is not the AA program. If they read on Page xiii Paragraph 1 Line 1:
"We of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book"
The key word being "precisely". This is a text book, it was written so that the AA program could not be changed or interpreted in any way other than it is intended.
Furthermore if they asked them selves the question posed by the statement in the Doctors opinion on Page xxvi Paragraph 1 Line 1
" You may rely absolutely on anything they say about themselves"
The question then being " Am I willing to rely absolutely on anything they say about themselves in this book?"
If I then begin to propose that the book is saying something else, reading between the lines to suit my own agenda then I am breaking the Traditions
From the pamphlet "The AA Group."
"Some groups take inventory by examining our Twelve Traditions, one at a time, to determine how well they are living up to these principles."
The following questions were taken from the core of what is said in the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" pages 564 - 568 and also from the book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions." Read the corresponding Tradition out of the Big Book then the consideration. If you can answer yes to any of these it is against the Twelve Traditions
One:
Does our group put the interests of any individual above the welfare of the group or of AA as a whole?
Two:
Does our group do anything that misrepresents the conscience of the majority of the group?
Three:
Does our group exclude anyone with a drinking problem from attending the group?
Four:
Does our group do anything that does not conform to AA principles and affect other groups or AA as a whole?
Five:
Does our group do anything that conflicts with our carrying the AA message to alcoholics who want a way out from their drinking problem?
Six:
Does anything we do affiliate, endorse or bind the group, actual or implied, to any related facility or outside enterprise?
Seven:
Are donations received from anyone other than an AA member?
Eight:
Are there any fees besides meeting expenses being charged for Twelve Step work, ie: fellowship, sponsoring, step work, counselling?
Nine:
Is there a governing individual or exclusive group authority that dictates organization?
Ten:
Does our group do anything that publicly states an opinion or takes sides on any issues or controversy outside of AA?
Eleven:
At the general public level of press, radio, film, and television, does the group publicize any individual AA member's name or picture as a self-appointed representative of AA?
Twelve:
Does our group give personal distinction to any AA member either among fellow alcoholics or the general public that puts their opinions above the conscience of the group or AA?
We would welcome contributions from AA members similarly contrasting the recovery programme, traditions and fellowship advocated by AA with that distorted version promulgated by the cult
Over to you
The Fellas
