The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Welcome Saving myself Alanon face to face meetings that are held in most communities would be the perfect place for you to receive the most help, support and knowledge about the disease. There is a great deal of literature at these meetings that offer hope and help for family members.
Alcoholism is a dreadful chronic, progresive disease that can be arrested but never cured. Living with the insanity of the disease, the family develops negative coping skills that are not effective and need a program of recovery to recover from. Alanon is that program The hot line number is in he white pagees Please keep coming back here as well. There is hope.
savingmyself - I too welcome you to MIP. Glad that you found us and glad that you share. Betty's has shared some basics which I second.
A great source to understand more about Al-Anon is the official Al-Anon web site. It gives insight into how the disease reaches beyond the diseased and to those who are family and friends. If yo google official AlAnon site, it should pop up - I believe it's got .org at the end of the address.
Cruising around here and reading present and past posts will give you some insight into how we support each other in recovery. Keep coming back - there is help and hope!
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
This is a good place to start! Reading here has helped me to understand so much more (thank you MIP family )and I have also learnt about myself and life in general through these pages. Sending (((((hugs)))))
Hi everyone, thank you for your welcome. I've done some reading on here over last night and this morning and have seen some great posts and some really appalling ones. I am going to do some more reading on here before opening up about my own situation. Some of what I've read has made me fearful to do so, truthfully. I am wishing everyone a peaceful day.
Despite several attacks I received in expressing my feelings on another thread, I'm going to continue to try and participate in this board. I need to hear about others stories and learn more about the disease and can't let a few abrasive members discourage me.
My wife is an alcoholic, or so I think. She maybe doesn't fit the typical mold though. A few years ago she checked herself into rehab for her problem. She did well for a while after that, but ultimately decided that she had misdiagnosed herself. So now she just monitors herself and the worst part is all the isms. It is hard to see how many pills she is taking, along with the drinking (which granted is not every day). She no longer admits to being an A. It makes me feel crazy for still thinking she is one. Im wondering if anyone has experienced a similar situation and or thoughts.
Thank you
My ex wife was a practicing alcoholic/addict and I use to think her perceptions were valid and knowledgeable and then came to realize over time that I knew nothing about the disease of addiction and alcoholism and so both she and I were ill informed and experienced. I hated the behaviors she did when drinking and using which came to find out were normal for the addict and certainly incomprehensible for me. I drank and am in fact I am alcoholic, (have a compulsion of the mind and an allergy of the body). I have the addiction and once I started I did not stop thinking I didn't have a problem with it while thinking she did. She admired the way I drank and I was confused how she did. I didn't know anything about the disease of alcoholism and neither did she and we both were dying from it. I stopped because I did...because some power greater than myself had me loose interest and the compulsion and addiction and I made it into the rooms of the Al-Anon Family Groups and remained there for 9 years sober until I made it into the rooms of AA after learning more about the disease and the issue of relapse. My wife made it into a major rehab and for the first 2 weeks wore a sack over her head explaining that "she had learned that if she did not allow herself to be blindly led thru recovery she would not make it." She became my metaphor for humility and I still keep that metaphor in front of me daily though we are divorced and have been for years and still care about each other.
This disease is cunning powerful and baffling and I hung around with in the fellowships daily and let the membership grow me and lead me thru my own recovery. I also went to college on the disease and became a therapist myself.
My suggestion can only be how I know I did it and the experiences that came with that. Recovery takes Trust and Commitment and Humility (being teachable) and practice, practice, practice. Keep coming back often and find yourself a "home" group you will commit to and a experienced sponsor and a power greater than your alcoholic and yourself together. (((hugs)))
Thank you for the warm welcome. It has been helpful to read everyones responses, along with many previous threads. I also just began reading the big book of AA.
Daily Readers The two Al-Anon daily readers the new Courage to Change and the classic One Day at A Time are available online along with many other books that have helped thousands of alcoholic families.
Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism Shows how Al-Anon helps families and friends of alcoholics.
The Dilemma of the Alcoholic Marriage Can Al-Anon help your relationship? Explores the problems of alcoholism in marriage, and includes tips for applying the Twelve Steps to relationships.
From Survival to Recovery: Growing up in an Alcoholic Home Al-Anon adult children tell their stories with pathos and humor, with courage and rigorous honesty revealing the pain, recovering the past, and renewing the hope for all of us.
Lois Remembers Lois W., a co-founder of Al-Anon recalls the eventful years before and after the founding of AA and Al-Anon.
Paths To Recovery Al-Anons Steps, Traditions, and Concepts Al-Anons Steps, Traditions, and Concepts Shares love, compassion and challenge; the experience, strength and hope of Al-Anon members personal growth experiences worldwide. Long awaited and asked for at last, an in depth study of Al-Anons three legacies, the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Concepts.
Savingmyself, all defenses aside, I do have to say the AA big book is really not an "Alanon" book and I would be remiss to present it as great alanon literature. That said, I think it is a useful read for alanoners, but I'd go with the ones Betty mentioned first.
)and I have also learnt about myself and life in general through these pages. Sending (((((hugs)))))
