Posted by Shar on December 10, 2001, at 23:46:48
In reply to alcoholic, posted by akc on December 10, 2001, at 16:22:37
"I don't seem myself in the same vein as hard core drinkers -- I'm just a crazy person who can't drink."
==================================I mean this in the most civil and respectful way possible, and not directly and only to you, akc. I am responding to this because it seems I've heard it a lot lately. The 'us' and 'them' approach to alcoholism. When I attended a family night at my son's rehab center, there were 3 speakers who came in and talked about their recovery.
Two of the speakers discussed their notions, when recovering, of how they differed from 'those other' alcoholics. The ways varied; might be related to what they drank, when they drank, who they drank with, the reasons they gave for drinking, frequency of drinking. Could be a lot of things, and the important part was the differentiation of the speaker from 'other alcoholics.' They categorized that thinking as denial.
Point they were making was there really is no difference. Doesn't matter who, what, when, where, why, how, etc. The commonality among AAers is that they ARE alike under the skin, and they DO deal with the same problem (addiction). That problem has many forms, but the form doesn't make a true difference between the folks you'll see at an AA meeting.
At my first AA meeting, a guy was relating a story about waking up in a Dempsey Dumpster with a horrible hangover and thinking "I don't want to do this any more." Well, I've never awakened in a Dempsey Dumpster, but I knew I could have (there but for the grace of god...) and that his problem and my problem were the same.
Shar
poster:Shar
thread:15305
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20011207/msgs/15327.html