Alcoholics Anonymous Reviews

Taking a step through the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous is a marathon along the road to recovery.

Stigma is taken away because the support group members are non-judgemental, offering the strength that helps rebuild lives crumbled by the disease.

"AA is a universal solution to a universal problem," says Lisa (not her real name).

From her first introduction to alcohol at age five, alcoholism took over her life.

At the age of 30 she did not know how to behave, living through weeks of discontentment and recklessness.

When she went to work overseas things got out of control. Her world started crashing around her. It drove her to see a therapist, the Pakuranga resident says.

It was her first conscious decision to try to control her drinking. Lisa knew alcohol was getting her into trouble, but didn't identify with the word alcoholic because of the connotations it carried.

"I realised I was totally powerless over alcohol and asked God to forgive me," she says.

Seven years ago she discovered a substitute to alcohol - the fellowship of AA.

With trepidation she went to her first meeting which she says 'landed her in the right place'.

Drinking wasn't the problem, it was the time between the drinks, she says.

"The first year of sobriety was awesome, the next two years I was hanging on like grim death," she says.

"The feeling I had inside was the same as all other alcoholics. It's a disease of the spirit and mind."

Alcoholics Anonymous works on 12 steps to recovery which Lisa says gave her a way of 'clearing up the wreckage of the past'.

She says the mindset of the alcoholic is a vicious circle.

"I drank because it stopped me feeling guilty from what I had done when I was sober."

She says feeling not good enough made her drink.

Lisa had a pivotal moment when her daughter drew a picture of her with a glass of wine, and realised that must be how she thought of her.

AA's steps start with identifying the problem and taking an inventory of what has been done wrong.

The next step is taking action to undo the problems and to make amends, whether financially or by writing letters to apologise to people.

Maintaining the steps requires constant support, she says.

"The biggest difference in my life is that I have a conscience that is clean and I don't have to hide any more. I can walk through life knowing I am the best person I can be," she says.

She described getting herself to AA as one of the hardest things she did, but encourages others to do it.

"I am humbled by the fact that I was able to turn around the problem. If I didn't go to AA I don't know what would have happened."

Eastern Courier