“Submitted by Anonymous
on Sun, 2011-10-09 08:13.
“Two months before I
got sober I was hospitalized for two weeks, diagnosed with Bi-Polar
disorder/manic depression. I convinced my doctors that I was just an ACOA
blowing off steam and got off of medication. I went on a wild bender and soon
wound up in AA.
About 18 months into
sobriety I was hospitalized again, this time for six weeks. Thank God for the
support of my AA friends through that ordeal. My then sponsor accused me of
'chewing my booze'. I put her name on the "do not want to see list' and she
wasn't allowed in to see me. I later fired her and got another
sponsor.
I was discharged and
have been on Lithium ever since (22 years). For me, managing my mental illness
is crucial to my sobriety and staying sober is crucial to managing my manic
depression. I have had only one hospitalization since and that was after breast
cancer surgery. I was hospitalized for one week and had a second surgery, to
clear the margins, during that stay.
My doctors, especially
my psychiatrist, are wholly supportive of my sobriety and we work together to
keep me healthy.
I used to carry around
the pamphlet, 'AA Members Medication and other Drugs'. I'd read the section
about AA having no opinion, that it's between the member and their doctors, at
meetings, when so called old-timers would bash people for taking prescribed
medications, painkillers, psych drugs etc. I know it was helpful to the confused
member on medication. They came up to me after the meeting and thanked me. I
have sponsored a few of them.
I have been sober for
over 24 years and have been on medication for 22 of those years. I know that
without my medication, my sobriety would be nonexistent today. And, staying
sober allows me to manage my mental illness.
I am so grateful for
the tools of the program, especially the Grapevine. Several years ago there was
in issue called The Forgotten Chapter with stories about members with mental
illness. I still have that issue and read it when I need to be reminded that I
am not unique in AA.
Keep up the good
work”
Above is an extract from the AA Grapevine site (the US based magazine) – the I-Say forum. This production is generally much punchier than Share (GB) with some really lively discussion both in the articles and in the forum.
Check out these links:
http://www.aagrapevine.org/forums/i-say-forum and this link
for editorial policy: http://www.aagrapevine.org/index.php?q=forum-policy
Comment: A shrewd
member indeed, 'launching' their sponsor at the first sign of authoritarianism!
Are you having problems with your sponsor? Are they getting a bit pushy? Have
they become increasingly childish and grandiose? Are they becoming interfering
and intrusive? Solution – show them the DOOR!
Cheerio
The Fellas (Friends
of Alcoholics Anonymous)
