Is it really a disease? Isn't that just a cop-out?
Yes, it is a fatal and progressive disease according to the American Medical Association.

It has well defined symptoms and has long been accepted as a medical condition with an inevitable prognosis of death or insanity. It is considered incurable, but it may be treated, arresting the physical effects and allowing the nervous system to function at an acceptable level. That is if the victim has not already done irreversible damage to liver or brain.

The behavior of an alcoholic is typically self-centered, weak-willed, inconsiderate and socially unacceptable due to drinking (a voluntary activity to normal people, but a necessary one to alcoholics to feel normal).

Two of the symptoms that build the impression that alcoholics are somehow to blame for their condition are:

• Dangerous and extremely unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when quitting is tried.

• Relapses after periods of sobriety, due to the mental obsession that characterizes the disease.

It is very difficult for a non-alcoholic to understand why alcoholics cannot simply quit drinking when the drinking is so obviously devastating their lives.

An alcoholic (or addict) has three choices:

1. continue drinking and end up incarcerated in a correctional facility or mental ward.

2. continue drinking and die one of a variety of deaths resulting from the disease (car wrecks, liver failure,...

That is how one of my instructors in intervention training described it. Usually an addict or alcoholic who has not hit rock bottom and asked for help must be faced with a crisis, at least, if not the shock and awe of an ambush laid in love. If done properly, such a confrontation can break through denial and convince even an unwilling addict that treatment is the only option.

A trained interventionist can minimize the risks and optimize the chances of achieving the primary goal of getting the addict into treatment. Of course, there are no guarantees.

Whether or not that happens, the intervention process can be considered well worthwhile because those who participated have taken the necessary action. They have confronted the problem head-on and squarely placed the ball in the addicts court. Becoming introduced to the recovery process, they are made aware of steps they can take to heal whether their loved one seeks help or not.

A&E's series "Intervention" has popularized the Johnson model of intervention which stresses a surprise confrontation with enforced ultimatums from all erstwhile "enablers".

There is also a "Family Meeting" model which is often effective in a less confrontational setting and does not involve subterfuge.

An intervention optimally requires a pre-arranged treatment option and consultation. Interventions vary widely as to cost, usually from $500 to several...

In the Prayer of St. Francis, he states “It is in dying to one’s self that we are born into everlasting life” This paradox, a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth, goes hand-in-hand with several spiritual principles of recovery that are counter-intuitive but indispensable.
One of these, “to keep our sobriety, we must give it away” is an expression of the importance of service in recovery, reminding us that true joy comes from giving rather than receiving. If we get complacent and cease to share our life in recovery with others, it will only be a matter of time until we lose our joy and drink or use again.
A well loved expression in recovery circles is “my best thinking got me here”. When the truth of that statement is accepted, the question then becomes, “So what do I do now? How do I get to a better place?” If my current misery and despair are the result of my best figuring, or my own self-will given free rein, what specific steps should I take to escape this hell of my own creation?
The answer: Surrender my own will (my plans, even my ideas how things should go) and let someone else “do the driving” for a change. My life is a train-wreck so I need to find a better “engineer” to take over.
I can tell you from experience that this works. When I stopped insisting on doing things my way, realized that my compulsion to control everything was a futile fantasy and just gave up, things immediately...

Who would have thought that there was a place right here in Freeport like this? A simple room with tables and chairs where everything bad in your life can change. An event that happens weekly in which people come together for a common purpose and bare their souls--sharing their lives’ shortcomings and failures. Not a dour or glum conclave, but a celebration of life-affirming hope and laughter. There are never two of these happenings exactly the same, and there are many versions in countless other places, too, but always the result is that most who attend leave refreshed and renewed in their resolve.

It costs nothing to participate, though it is true that all who find their way here have paid some heavy “dues”. For those who have never been to this place, have never felt the need to go, perhaps even fear and resent a suggestion that they try it, words are hard to find to describe the magic that happens within these walls. Invariably the threshold is crossed for the first time by those either desperate for change or pressured by courts or loved ones. Newcomers are usually surprised by the warm and enthusiastic welcome they receive, often being told that “they are the most important person there”.

It is kind of a tool shop where one can find the equipment they need to rebuild their broken lives, and some helpful guides to demonstrate, step-by-step, the procedure to do it. At first appearance these helpers seem like common folk, maybe the guy from...

While most treatment programs and therapy for addiction carry a hefty pricetag, many people are unaware that the program that has proven to be the most effective in the world is quite affordable.

How about free? Alcoholics Anonymous and its many offshoots have demonstrated their effectiveness to be greater than programs like the Betty Ford Center and Narcanon, yet operate on the voluntary contributions of their members.

The vast majority of therapy/treatment programs are multifaceted, but strongly emphasize participation in AA or another 12-step program as imperative to recovery. Aftercare usually is founded on a regimen of meeting attendence and continued participation. As a veteran of several $10,000+ treatments, I personally feel that AA and the 12 steps was the "main active ingredient".

THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT IMMEDIATE, FREE HELP IS AVAILABLE TO ANY ALCOHOLIC, ADDICT, GAMBLER OR FAMILY MEMBER SEEKING HELP.

This resource is available at times and places convenient to all and no one that I know of has ever been turned away. Money is never the issue or a requirement to participate. Most in attendance toss a dollar or two in the basket that is passed if they desire, primarily to assure these meetings can continue.

Here are two links with further information:

For family members looking for help: http://www.alnwfl-al-anon.org/images/meetings/Districts/Dist15/meetings-D15.htm
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