Who is aa for

Speak with an Addiction Counselor Today No obligation when you call. Call Now at Open AA meetings: Anyone interested in learning more about AA can attend an open meeting, including family members of alcoholics, or those with drug addictions.

These meetings usually feature a speaker who shares his or her story, including what their life is like today in recovery. Closed AA meetings: Only AA members or those who believe they have a problem with alcohol can attend closed meetings. Members often prefer closed meetings, knowing that others in the group are committed to both the step program and to anonymity. This makes it easier for group members to share their personal experiences, knowing that others in the group can relate, be supportive, and respect their anonymity.

That is one of the reasons we call ourselves Alcoholics Anonymous. There are, of course, no musts in A. The answer to this question is that if a person is an alcoholic, touching alcohol in any form cannot be risked.

Alcohol is alcohol whether it is found in a martini, a Scotch and soda, a bourbon and branch water, a glass of champagne — or a short beer. For the alcoholic, one drink of alcohol in any form is likely to be too much, and twenty drinks are not enough. To be sure of sobriety, alcoholics simply have to stay away from alcohol, regardless of the quantity, mixture, or concentration they may think they can control. Obviously, few persons are going to get drunk on one or two bottles of beer.

The alcoholic knows this as well as the next person. But alcoholics may convince themselves that they are simply going to take two or three beers and then quit for the day. Occasionally, they may actually follow this program for a number of days or weeks, Eventually, they decide that as long as they are drinking, they may as well "do a good job.

Or they switch to hard liquor. And again, they are back where they started. An open meeting of A. The only obligation is that of not disclosing the names of A. A typical open meeting will usually have a "leader" and other speakers. The leader opens and closes the meeting and introduces each speaker. With rare exceptions, the speakers at an open meeting are A. Each, in turn, may review some individual drinking experiences that led to joining A.

The speaker may also give his or her interpretation of the recovery program and suggest what sobriety has meant personally.

All views expressed are purely personal, since all members of A. Most open meetings conclude with a social period during which coffee, soft drinks, and cakes or cookies are served.

A closed meeting is limited to members of the local A. The purpose of the closed meeting is to give members an opportunity to discuss particular phases of their alcoholic problem that can be understood best only by other alcoholics.

These meetings are usually conducted with maximum informality, and all members are encouraged to participate in the discussions. The closed meetings are of particular value to the newcomer, since they provide an opportunity to ask questions that may trouble a beginner, and to get the benefit of "older" members' experience with the recovery program.

Generally, they last about an hour. In some cases, they could be as short as 15 minutes or as long as 2 hours. It's a good practice to arrive a few minutes early. If you have a paper that needs to get signed, give it to the secretary of the group before the meeting starts and you can pick it up after the meeting is over. If you like, shake some hands and introduce yourself just your first name is fine.

We find that speaking with others at a meeting is usually helpful. When you go to an AA meeting you don't have to give your full name. Some groups will ask the newcomers to introduce themselves and give "your first name only. All participation at AA is voluntary. It's not necessary to explain why you're there. Others will share but no one will think it odd if you choose to remain silent. There are many AA members who prefer to sit and listen at meetings.

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all of A. Please respect this custom and treat in confidence who you see and what you hear. You can count on others to respect your anonymity. About Alcoholism 1 What is alcoholism? Alcoholics cannot control their drinking, because they are ill in their bodies and in their minds or emotions , A. If they do not stop drinking, their alcoholism almost always gets worse and worse. Both the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association, chief organizations of doctors in those countries, also have said that alcoholism is an illness.

Physical Allergy - Any time you put alcohol what so ever into your system, it develops an actual physical craving which makes it virtually impossible for you to stop drinking after you've once started. Because of that allergy, which produces that physical craving, you'll never be able to safely drink alcohol again. Obsession of the Mind - An idea that overcomes all other ideas to the contrary.

From time to time, your obsession of the mind to drink will be so strong, it will overcome any ideas not to drink and your mind will actually lead you to believe it's ok to drink. Then you'll take that drink, you'll trigger that allergy and you'll be unable to stop. You can't safely drink because of your body, you can't stay sober because of your mind, therefore you've become absolutely powerless over alcohol.

No, not yet. Alcoholism is a treatable disease, and medication has also become available to help prevent relapse, but a cure has not yet been found.

This means that even if an alcoholic has been sober for a long time and has regained health, he or she may relapse and must continue to avoid all alcohol. So far as can be determined, no one who has become an alcoholic has ever ceased to be an alcoholic. The mere fact of abstaining from alcohol for months or even years has never qualified an alcoholic to drink "normally" or socially.

Once the individual has crossed the borderline from heavy drinking to irresponsible alcoholic drinking, there seems to be no retreat. Few alcoholics deliberately try to drink themselves into trouble, but trouble seems to be the inevitable consequence of an alcoholic's drinking. After quitting for a period, the alcoholic may feel it is safe to try a few beers or a few glasses of light wine. This can mislead the person into drinking only with means. But it is not too long before the alcoholic is back in the old pattern of too-heavy drinking - in spite of all efforts to set limits for only moderate, social drinking.

The answer, based on A. AA is not a religious organisation nor is it affiliated with any religious body. It welcomes members of all religions, agnostics and atheists alike.

You can come and go as you please. We work through the offer of help and suggestion only. AA works through members telling their stories of what we used to be like, what happened and what we are like now.

The AA program, known as The Twelve Steps , provides a framework for self-examination and a road to recovery, free of alcohol. Anyone may attend open AA meetings. But only those with a drinking problem may attend closed meetings or become AA members.

People with problems other than alcoholism are eligible for AA membership only if they have a drinking problem. The mission of AA is to help alcoholics.