The AA Member – Medications and Other Drugs (contd)

The AA (General Service conference approved) booklet: The AA Member – Medications and Other Drugs

Extract: (our observations in red print)

“Some alcoholics require medication.

We recognize that alcoholics are not immune to other diseases. Some of us have had to cope with depressions that can be suicidal; schizophrenia that sometimes requires hospitalization; bipolar disorder, and other mental and biological illnesses. Also among us are diabetics, epileptics, members with heart trouble, cancer, allergies, hypertension, and many other serious physical conditions.

Because of the difficulties that many alcoholics have with drugs, some [unqualified] members have taken the position that no one in A.A. should take any medication. While this position has undoubtedly prevented relapses for some, it has meant disaster for others [including death].

A.A. members and many of their physicians have described situations in which depressed patients have been told by A.A.s to throw away the pills, only to have depression return with all its difficulties, sometimes resulting in suicide. [see Dual Recovery Anonymous – Medication and Recovery]. We have heard, too, from members with other conditions, including schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, epilepsy and others requiring medication, that well-meaning [we would say stupid or dogma driven viz. cult members] A.A. friends [?] discourage them from taking any prescribed medication. Unfortunately, by following a layperson’s advice, the sufferers find that their conditions can return with all their previous intensity. On top of that, they feel guilty because they are convinced that “A.A. is against pills.”

It becomes clear that just as it is wrong to enable or support any alcoholic to become readdicted to any drug, it’s equally wrong to deprive any alcoholic of medication, which can alleviate or control other disabling physical and/or emotional problems.

Some A.A. members who have required medication share their experience:”

See above pamphlet for individual histories.

(our emphases)

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

To be continued

Suicide …... the medication issue..... yet again!

From Ealing:

“There have been 2 suicides in the fellowship recently, both of whom I knew personally. One being a friend of 15 years standing. Difficult stuff to come to terms with. Both had serious mental issues other than alcohol.”

…......

“Regarding the 2 suicides. The first was a guy called ......., who was 28 years old and 3 1/2 years sober. He was a paranoid schizophrenic and needed medication. I was told by a few who knew him well that Happy Dennis sent this chap a text when he was a newcomer and told him to come off his medication. ......... had to spend some time in hospital because of this. He was very anti Cult and anti Dennis after that. He used to read the cultwatch website, and often talked about it in the coffee bar after the meeting. ….... I don't think his suicide was the direct result of the cult, although the cult did him no favours initially. He left a note saying he was just sick of his life, he couldn't silence the" voices" and took an overdose. His funeral was very well attended and his family were grateful that AA had helped him stay sober for the last 3 years of his life.

The other suicide was someone I have known for 15 years. He suffered from severe depression and needed anti-depressants. Unfortunately he felt that he was not "practising the program" by taking this medication in spite of the fact that many, including myself, told him that he must do as the doctors have told him, and that taking prescribed medication was not "a slip". However, the anti-medication culture in some meetings affected him. I know that he had stopped taking his medication prior to his suicide. He hung himself and leaves a wife and 2 children. I have no doubt that although this chap didn’t have a sponsor telling to come off medication, he was adversely affected by the guilt that some people try to induce around medication issues. His first meetings were Vision For You circa 1997, then he followed the Happy Destiny breakaway for a while until around 1999. He left them both a long time ago, but I think they left their ugly mark on him psychologically. His family did not want any AAs at his funeral. Very sad.”

And on a relatively – but only relatively – lighter note:

“I thought you would like to hear Happy Dennis' latest words of wisdom. According to several sources ….... he says that.....

"given a choice between a relationship with a woman, and jumping into a pit of snakes, he would jump into a pit of snakes".

So, jumping for joy one minute - jumping into a pit of snakes the next....

Believe me …... if you had ever met this dangerous nutter, you would soon realize that no one in their right mind would ever want a relationship with this arrogant, goon-like over-elated, narcissistic control freak. Any self-respecting woman would keep him at arms length.”

Comment: The above clearly illustrates the importance of 'minding our own business' when it comes to medication issues. AA members are NOT qualified to issue advice on such matters and should leave these (diagnosis and treatment) in the hands of the professionals. The consequences otherwise are evident from the foregoing......

See also: Dual Recovery Anonymous: Medications and Recovery and here and The A.A. Member—Medications and Other Drugs

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our thanks to our Ealing correspondents

“A plea for non-interference” (prescribed medication issues)

[An article printed in AA Service News (Autumn 2011, No. 148)]

“In response to several queries recently from members regarding the issue of medication, this article has been re-printed from the Grapevine [AA Grapevine May 1990 vol.46 No.12]”

“I have a high regard and respect for AA's Twelve Step program and have witnessed countless success stories. AA has saved many alcoholics' lives through support and sharing. As a counselor who has worked in the front lines for ten years, with alcoholics and their families, I am also aware of unnecessary human pain and suffering among recovering members.

Often I have heard AA members who think they know best for all alcoholics and perceive that if you just "work the program" everything will be fine. That is not always the case. There are members in your program who have experienced traumatic, life-threatening events and who need professional help and, sometimes, medication.

On several occasions I have had clients who were extremely suicidal and had sought professional help. Recently, two clients threatened suicide, and because AA members thought they knew more than the medical and psychological professions, the individuals almost died. Antidepressants had been prescribed to help eliminate the suicidal ideations and acute depression, yet AA members stepped in and convinced my clients to discontinue use of the medication. Using the argument often heard at AA meetings, they said, "You are breaking your sobriety if you continue using the drugs."

The two suicidal individuals of whom I speak had been sexually abused as children by three or more members of their families and had experienced other abuses as well. Both were emotionally and psychologically fragile.

Those individuals chose to drink to cope with reality and life, and to numb the pain of their youth. Both realized that alcohol was a problem and joined AA to achieve sobriety. Unfortunately, they had not dealt with the ghosts of the past. Trying to cope with these feelings and to confront them is often terrifying. It requires all the resources a person can muster to resolve and come to terms with the ghosts. Incest survivors often become acutely depressed and suicidal.

Occasionally, because of this acute depression and the haunting thoughts of suicide, more supportive measures are required. In these cases, even therapy and AA is not enough; medication may also be required. The temporary use of medication, coupled with therapy and AA, is sometimes needed to help prevent suicide and to facilitate recovery.

As a counselor, I must admit that I feel anger toward AA members who practice medicine and psychotherapy without benefit of training and licensing. AA members may have good intentions but they can also cause more pain than they know. Members often advise vulnerable, emotionally confused people not to seek medical and mental health assistance, and to take no drugs. These advice givers often don't realize that removal of tightly monitored medication may be endangering a life.

As an experienced counselor, I know I have more background in treating emotional problems of this magnitude than do most AA members, and I resent interference in a recovery process members know nothing about. I have had many hundreds of hours of hard work sabotaged, due to an oversimplified attitude of "If you take pills, you're eating your booze."

It is time AA members realize that alcohol may be only one problem and once the alcoholic is in recovery, other life threatening issues may surface. I suggest that each AA member read in the Big Book where it addresses the issues of obtaining outside professional help when it is necessary.

I do not like to be placed in a position where people want to die and it's up to me to try and protect them from self-harm. I am the person in the trenches, passionately dedicated to saving lives and helping all people recover not only from alcoholism but other life threatening problems. Please stop telling other recovering AA members not to consult physicians and psychotherapists. Please stop telling members that they are "breaking sobriety" by taking needed medication. Please stop enabling members to attempt suicide.

Patricia B. Aurora Colarado”

Comment: Notice the date of the Grapevine article – May 1990 – and cult dogma is still taking lives! We refer you (again) to the Dual Recovery Anonymous section: Medications and Recovery

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

(thanks to our reporter for drawing our attention to this valuable article)

Medications and Recovery

(excerpt from the Dual Recovery Anonymous website)

“DRA members often go to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings for additional support and fellowship. Often men and women who have been diagnosed with a dual disorder say that they have received misguided advice about their diagnosis and the use of medication at other Twelve Step meetings. Some have been told that they do not have an emotional or psychiatric illness, and that they are experiencing merely self-pity or some other character defect "You don't need those pills. They'll cause you more problems" and "If you're taking pills, then you're in relapse and not really sober". Individuals who have followed such advice have experienced relapse: some have been hospitalized; some have returned to alcohol or drug use; some have attempted or even completed suicide. To say the least, it can be very confusing. Though we can not speak for other organizations, their literature makes clear that these types of statements are not the official position of A.A., N.A., or any other Twelve Step recovery groups that we are aware of.

On page 133 of the Big Book of A.A. it says in part:

Now about health: A body badly burned by alcohol does not often recover overnight nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling. We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative. We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health. But we have seen remarkable transformations in our bodies. Hardly one of our crowd now shows any dissipation.

But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitated to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward.

Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

There is also an important piece of A.A. conference approved literature called "The A.A. Member - Medications and Other Drugs" that addresses these issues specifically plus issues of cross addiction. Some D.R.A. members carry copies of this pamphlet with them to help educate others when this issue is brought up. Here are a few excerpts:

...A.A. members and many of their physicians have described situations in which depressed patients have been told by A.A.s to throw away the pills, only to have depression return with all its difficulties, sometimes resulting in suicide. We have heard, too, from schizophrenics, manic depressives, epileptics, and others requiring medication that well-meaning A.A. friends often discourage them from taking prescribed medication, Unfortunately, by following a layman's advice, the sufferers find that their conditions can return with all their previous intensity..."

"It becomes clear that just as it is wrong to enable or support any alcoholic to become readdicted to any drug, it's equally wrong to deprive any alcoholic of medication which can alleviate or control other disabling physical and/or emotional problems.

Reprinted from The A.A. Member - Medications & Other Drugs, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

We also must keep in mind that few recovering alcoholics and addicts in these groups are mental health and treatment professionals. Almost all are certainly well-meaning. Many don't fully understand the difference between the usual depressions and anxieties most recovering folks go through in early sobriety and our psychiatric illnesses--nor should they be expected to. Some people may falsely think that antidepressants are "mood elevators" much like the street drugs they may be familiar with. These are understandable misconceptions, but can lead to poor advice even from some of the "old-timers".

It is clear that no one should play the role of doctor but a licensed physician or psychiatrist. Sponsors and other well-meaning Twelfth Steppers should not give medical advice. DRA members who seek sponsors in other 12 Step groups must weigh carefully the potential sponsor's attitude and understanding concerning medications and psychiatric illnesses. We can not expect them to fully understand, but an attitude of acceptance toward the the nature of our dual disorder and the place properly prescribed medications play in our dual recovery is key. Experience has shown us that honesty is the basis for successful sponsorships.”

(our emphases)

Comment: It is interesting to note here that an outside organisation seems better acquainted with our basic text and guidelines than some of the so-called “AA” groups operating in our midst ie. those collectives whose sole aim and purpose is to transmit dogma rather than recovery, partiality instead of rationality, and seem entirely content to sacrifice whomsoever in pursuit of their particularly obtuse and perverse agenda, all claiming moreover to carry the 'One, True Message' albeit under different guises viz. Primary Purpose, Back to Basics, Visions etc. DRA generously describes this conduct as being essentially “well meaning” or deriving from good intentions. We, however, would ascribe to it rather those essential “cult” qualities of stupidity and prejudice. Here we recall to you the words of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: "L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés et désirs" (hell is full of good wishes and desires) or: “The road to hell is paved with good....”

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

The new Dual Recovery Anonymous (UK) website

http://www.dualrecoveryanonymous.org/

Please note moreover (quote taken from the DRA website - under the Medications and Recovery section):

"DRA members often go to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings for additional support and fellowship. Often men and women who have been diagnosed with a dual disorder say that they have received misguided advice about their diagnosis and the use of medication at other Twelve Step meetings. Some have been told that they do not have an emotional or psychiatric illness, and that they are experiencing merely self-pity or some other character defect "You don't need those pills; they'll cause you more problems" and "If you're taking pills, then you're in relapse and not really sober". Individuals who have followed such advice have experienced relapse: some have been hospitalized; some have returned to alcohol or drug use; some have attempted or even completed suicide. To say the least, it can be very confusing. Though we can not speak for other organizations, their literature makes clear that these types of statements are not the official position of A.A., N.A., or any other Twelve Step recovery groups that we are aware of."

Whilst DRA are generous enough to attribute such advice in the main to well-intentioned motives we know otherwise with regard to the cult groups,and for whom this anti medication stance is a central part of their dogma. For our part we wish DRA well with their efforts and trust that their members will continue to feel entirely at liberty to attend other Fellowships meetings - as they are of course fully entitled to do