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The truth about alcoholics anonymous
The truth about alcoholics anonymous
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In the article "The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous", Gabrielle Glaser contravenes the sacredness of Alcoholics Anonymous and how it is believed to be the only treatment for alcohol abuse. She starts the article with a narrative of an alcoholic and shows us how he was failed by the Alcoholics Anonymous. Using this, she further explains her point and how the program's success rates have been exaggerated. Glaser disagrees with the claim that the program is the only way out for alcoholics. She travelled to Finland for research where she discovered that abstinence may cause more drinking than usual, and the use of the drug naltrexone for treatment. The author endorses the drug, after she did an experiment on herself. She criticizes the fact
“The harmful use of alcohol is a global problem which compromises both individual and social development. It results in 2.5 million deaths each year. An intoxicated person can harm others or put them at risk of traffic accidents or violent behavior, or negatively affect co-workers, relatives, friends or strangers. Thus, the impact of the harmful use of alcohol reaches deep into society.” This is a scary statistic which figuratively states that every thirteen seconds someone dies in a death related to alcohol. CBS news reported that more than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives. This is a staggering number which is widely overlooked because alcohol is legal. Those who suffer feel helpless and trapped by their addiction being unable to stop and quit on their own. Thankfully a man named, Bill Wilson, lead a group of men to write how to become set free from the slavery of addiction.
Should alcohol be considered a drug?. The columnist, Anna Quindlen, discusses this question with a strong position in her article "The drug that pretends it isn 't", published on April 9, 2000. During her argument Quindlen tries to convince her audience with rhetorical features about her concerns with alcohol, referring to it as a "habitual drug of choice". In a very supportive organization of her claim, she emphasizes that alcohol is a substance that facilitates terrible consequences to the public and for this reason, she justifies that it should be banned . Throughout the article, reinforcing her opinion, she explains about the repercussions that alcohol creates; refuting with relevant statistics that demonstrates a high rate of alcohol abuse related problems, as well as the disturbing effect on the country 's economy. Nevertheless, Quindlen uses a critical but also sarcastic tone during her writing, questioning and criticizing why society prefers to pay attention to illicit drugs, and
When the term alcohol anonymous is said most of us think of a group of drunks that can’t seem to get themselves together and stay clean. For the student nurse this is the view that she had going into her first alcohol anonymous meeting. As bad as it sounds, it is kind of hard to imagine what goes through the minds and lives of people who deal with this struggle on a daily basis. Innervison was the eye opener that the student nurse needed to clear all the stereotypes, and negative thoughts about people that just seemed to want to drink and never get their lives together. Innervision is a non-profit organization that specializes in help with recovery patients, helping consumers find employment, education, and provides resources for patients with psychiatric disabilities.
Kaskutas, Lee Ann. "Beliefs on the source of sobriety: interactions of membership in Women for Sobriety and Alcoholics Anonymous" Contemporary Drug Problems, Winter 1992 v18 i4 p631-648.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has been around for more than 75 years. The biggest controversy about AA is if it is effective or not. Some people find AA to be an effective aid to sobriety; others find AA to be damaging and can lead to increased drinking. AA meetings are groups of people with the desire to quit drinking that help one another achieve and maintain sobriety. These meetings may include readings from the Big Book, sharing stories, discussing the traditions and 12 steps, and celebrating members’ sobriety. Because AA is anonymous, many people feel that participating in a study would be a breach
I attended the Alcohol Anonymous (AA) twelve step meeting on Friday December fourth at 8:00 p.m. at the community center at Roxbury Park in Beverly Hills. The people were middle aged men and women of different ethnic backgrounds. The meeting started in an arranged fashion. I sat in the back and was addressed by an elderly man who wanted to know who I was to and I replied that I was a student writing a paper for school. He was fine with my answer and departed. The meeting started with people presenting themselves. First, there was an open conversation that started was with the storytelling of one member’s endeavors with alcoholism. After this heartwarming account, other people in the group provided how the
A major question that has been asked ever since the creation of AA, people have questioned Bill Wilson’s theory on Alcoholism; whether it’s a disease or a spiritual problem. In addition to the question of the origins of alcoholism another question is if the “Big Book” and 12 step program about alcohol or about finding God. This paper is about Alcoholics Anonymous and how the organization treats alcoholism as a disease that it impossible to cure unless the individual finds God. I believe that AA operates in a fashion similar to that of a cult because of what the book teaches and the message that AA members are instructed to carry out.
Both men immediately set to work with alcoholics at Akron’s City Hospital, where one patient quickly achieved complete sobriety (Pitman 69). In the fall of 1935, a second group of alcoholics slowly took shape in New York. A third appeared at Cleveland in 1939. It had taken over four years to produce 100 sober alcoholics in the three founding groups. That same year, the Fellowship published it’s basic textbook, Alcoholics Anonymous. The text, written by Bill, explained A.A.’s philosophy and methods, the core of which was the now well-known Twelve Steps to Recovery (Pitman 75 & 76). The book was reinforced by case histories of around thirty recovered members. From this point on, A.A’s development was rapidly growing (Wekesser 36).
On February 27, 2014, I visited an Alcohol Anonymous (A.A) therapeutic group meeting called Another Chance. Another Chance is an intergroup meeting located inside the Concord Baptist Church of Christ, at 833 Gardner C. Taylor Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY 11216. Another Chance has been in operation for over thirty years, and holds open discussion meetings on alcohol use and prevention, every Thursday from six in the evening until seven o’clock. This group interaction with alcohol substance use and abuse focuses on helping all members regardless of race, ethnicity or culture, to abstain from drinking one day at a time; and encourages them to maintain healthy thoughts and emotions through the use of the “Twelve Steps and Traditions” of recovery and intervention approaches.
My assignment was to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting and write my observations and thoughts on the meeting, its structure and philosophical beliefs. I was extremely uncomfortable about attending such a personal meeting. Would individuals welcome me or feel as if I would judge? Even though I was uncomfortable, I am glad I attended the meeting as it was a very enlightening experience for me.
Alcoholics Anonymous When I saw the Alcoholics Anonymous assignment on our syllabus earlier this semester I thought, "Oh my god, I have to go to some stupid AA meeting. " In the weeks prior to attending the meeting, I was very nervous about attending it because I did not know what to expect. Some of the questions going through my mind were: "Was everyone expected to talk at the meeting?" and "Was I going to be criticized as the outsider wanting to know what AA was all about?"
This research paper will help enable sociologists to determine what the ongoing effects have on an alcoholic and further provides information on the long-term effects that society has to deal with. The significance of alcoholism and sociology is the ability of sociologists to research and discover how human behaviour is affected on many aspects of its effects on a person. An alcoholic can be described as someone who is addicted to drinking alcoholic beverages in excess. What starts out as social drinking can lead to excessive drinking and the many problems associated with alcohol abuse and i...
I walked into the house where the "party of the century" was going to be held. I was psyched to be going. At the time I was a little naive freshman invited to my first official high school party at a senior’s house. I was at the party no more than 30 minutes when this boy offered me a drink. Thinking nothing of it, I agreed. He brought back a half-filled cup.
“For every family that is impacted by drugs, there are another 10 to 15 families impacted by alcohol abuse. It's a pretty big deal. We have a tendency to only look at part of the puzzle.” (Kevin Lewis). As a society we tend to categorize the severity of addiction in a way that drugs are the most dangerous and alcohol being just a problem. Because alcohol addiction can be a slow progressive disease many people don’t see it in the same light as drug addiction. An addiction to drugs is seen as being a more deadly and dangerous issue then that of alcohol because a drug addiction can happen more quickly and can kill more quickly. Alcohol is something that is easy to obtain, something that is found at almost every restaurant. People with an alcohol addiction can not hide from alcohol as easy as a drug addict. Approximately 7 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse and another 7 million suffer from alcoholism. (Haisong 6) The dangers of alcohol affect everyone from children with alcoholic parents, to teenagers who abuse alcohol, then to citizens who are terrorized by drunk drivers.
... Alcoholism is a serious problem in today's society. It is extremely important that the public, including the large groups of users and abusers of alcohol, gain as much knowledge as possible about the symptoms and effects of alcoholism if we ever want to see the reduction of statics involving fatalities, injuries, diseases caused from the use and abuse of alcohol. Education and realization of the effects alcoholism can have on the different aspects of a person's life are the best ways that we can help control the number of alcoholics in the United States.