What is Alcoholics Anonymous?
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
- The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop drinking.
- There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
- AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
- Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
Copyright © by The A.A. Grapevine, Inc
Am I an Alcoholic?
Nobody in A.A. is able to answer this question definitively. The only person who is truly able to determine this is you.
What we can say, concerning this very personal decision, is that we were all faced with one, if not both, of the following two conditions:
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"If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or
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if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic."
Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 4, Page 44
“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.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 3, Page 30
If you have said to yourself: “Yes, I'm one of those people who are powerless over alcohol. My life has become unmanageable. I can't stop drinking and I want help”, you have made a good start on Step One and discovered, as it says in the Big Book, “We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 2, Page 24
What Do I Do Now?
Recovery for each of us began only when we were able to reach out and ask others for help. In almost every case, this was most difficult at first but, over time, has become an essential component of our continuing recovery.
There are countless others in the area who are willing to help. All one has to do is ask.
Go to meetings: Every day of the year, early morning, afternoon, evenings and even late at night, there is help in the form of meetings for you and for every alcoholic who wants help.
Use this website's meeting database (or the print version obtainable on meeting literature tables) to find meetings in the area.
Go to as many meetings as you can.
Call us at 541-548-0440 if you'd like to talk to someone.
A.A. does not promise to solve your life's problems. But we can show you how we are learning to live without drinking "one day at a time.
