Reading the Message of Addiction Recovery

Many recovering alcoholics, gamblers and addicts in their early days read avidly the message of recovery as published by the likes of Alcoholics Anonymous. At last we find that there is something there that can help us. That others have experiences similar to ours.

The best known and most widely read book is ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’, the basic text book of AA experience. This book spawned the AA fellowship and was originally written by the first 100 or so alcoholics who got sober by helping each other. After a few years of staying sober, they wrote down what they had done. They gave the book the title Alcoholics Anonymous to describe themselves. They could not have known then how famous and widely known their book title was to become! The first eleven chapters were written by AA co-founder, Bill Wilson. The book also contains many personal stories of the first AA members.

Identification – Recovery

Reading these personal stories, many of us can identify with at least one of the characters – 80 years later. Simply reading this book was enough to sober some people up in the early days. Now, identifying and sharing with others in recovery is the way many of us modern day alcoholics sober up. But this is usually through meeting in person at AA meetings rather than through just reading literature.

‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ is sometimes called the Big Book, which some of us can find slightly off-putting. However, if we realise that this was a standing joke when it was first published. It was called this because intended to be a slim volume but grew and then was printed on thick paper. So was literally a big book. It becomes more understandable and less authoritarian.

Relate

Many people read the book the first time and particularly relate to the individual stories. Some are put off the Big Book by the God word but it is important to remember it was written in Akron, Ohio (the Bible Belt) in the 1930s. I have met many people who want to re-write the Big Book but to date no one has come up with an equally successful alternative.

Principles of AA

Another widely read book of Alcoholics Anonymous is ‘Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions’ (sometimes called the Twelve of Twelve). This also contains fundamental principles of AA, written 13 years after the Big Book, and explaining the fundamental principles of the organisation. The Twelve Steps are also in the Big Book . These are the steps to recovery and are guides to individual growth and a healthy way of living (spiritually). The Twelve Traditions characterise the movement.

Recovery – Daily Reflections

Daily Reflections is a useful AA book. It contains for each day of the year a quotation from AA literature and literally some thoughtful reflections on that quotation. The sister book from Narcotics Anonymous is ‘Just for Today’. Many recovering alcoholics and addicts start their day looking at one of these readings and spending a few moments thinking about what it means for them.

There are many other books and also up to date pamphlets and leaflets produced by AA and NA on an ongoing basis. Many recovering alcoholics and addicts have some literature on their person permanently just in case they need additional help to keep them away from that first drink or drug. The ‘Just for Today’ card is useful for this purpose.

If you have an alcohol or drug related problem. Please call 01462 851414 for free and confidential advice and help.