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More About Alcoholism :::
Most of us
have been unwilling to admit we were real
alcoholics. No person likes to think he is
bodily and mentally different from his
fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising
that our drinking careers have been
characterized by countless vain attempts to
prove we could drink like other people.
The
idea that somehow, someday he will control
and enjoy his drinking is the great
obsession of every abnormal drinker.
The
persistence of this illusion is astonishing.
Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or
death.
We learned
that we had to fully concede to our
innermost selves that we were alcoholics.
This is the first step in recovery. The
delusion that we are like other people, or
presently may be, has to be smashed.
We
alcoholics are men and women who have lost
the ability to control our drinking. We know
that no real alcoholic ever recovers
control. All of us felt at times that we
were regaining control, but such
intervals-usually brief-were inevitably
followed by still less control, which led in
time to pitiful and incomprehensible
demoralization. We are convinced to a man
that alcoholics of our type are in the grip
of a progressive illness.
Over any
considerable period we get worse, never
better.
We are like
men who have lost their legs; they never
grow new ones. Neither does there appear to
be any kind of treatment which will make
alcoholics of our kind like other men. We
have tried every imaginable remedy. In some
instances there has been brief recovery,
followed always by a still worse relapse.
Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism
agree there is no such thing as making a
normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science
may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't
done so yet.
Despite all
we can say, many who are real alcoholics are
not going to believe they are in that class.
By every form of self-deception and
experimentation, they will try to prove
themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore
nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing
inability to control his drinking can do the
right- about-face and drink like a
gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven
knows, we have tried hard enough and long
enough to drink like other people!
Here are
some of the methods we have tried: Drinking
beer only, limiting the number of drinks,
never drinking alone, never drinking in the
morning, drinking only at home, never having
it in the house, never drinking during
business hours, drinking only at parties,
switching from scotch to brandy, drinking
only natural wines, agreeing to resign if
ever drunk on the job, taking a trip, not
taking a trip, swearing off forever (with
and without a solemn oath), taking more
physical exercise, reading inspirational
books, going to health farms and
sanitariums, accepting voluntary commitment
to asylums-we could increase the list ad
infinitum.
Official
Alcoholics Anonymous website: aa.org
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