From Methadone Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Have you ever attended a 12-step meeting and were not allowed to “share” because you are a methadone patient? Have you ever gone to one of these meetings and felt like you could not be honest about being a methadone patient because there were things you needed to talk about? If so, Methadone Anonymous may be for you.

Preamble

We, of Methadone Anonymous, believe that methadone is a therapeutic tool of recovery that may or may not be discontinued in time, dependent upon the needs of the individual.

We believe that continued abstinence from opiates and other chemicals, including alcohol, is the foremost goal of recovery. It is the purpose of this fellowship to learn to develop a positive lifestyle, live in harmony with ourselves and the rest of the world, and to help those of us who still suffer from chemical dependency of any kind to achieve and maintain sobriety

We are a fellowship of men and women who are current and former methadone patients. Together we have formed a 12-step recovery organization to help each other recover from addiction. Welcome to our community!

1. Methadone Anonymous
2. Methadone Anonymous

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 Alcoholics Anonymous Guidelines Relationship Between AA and Al-Anon (from AA GSO New York)

The Fellowships of Alcoholic Anonymous and the Al-Anon Family Groups have a unique relationship. They are naturally drawn together by their close family ties, and yet the Twelve Traditions, the General Service Boards, and the General Service

Conferences of both Fellowships suggest that each functions more effectively if it remains “separate” co-operating but not affiliating with the other.

Each Fellowship has always had its own General Service Board, General Service Office, Conference, Publishing Company and World Directory. Each has established its own policies and maintained its own services. This separate functioning has served both AA and Al-Anon Family Groups well is a matter of fact AA’s policy of cooperation but not affiliation was established as long ago as the early I950’s and both Al-Anon and AA recognized at that time the importance of maintaining separate Fellowships.

However, from time to time, questions come to both AA and Al-Anon General Service Offices indicating confusion as to how AA and Al-Anon may best cooperate in the area of groups, inter groups or central services and area and regional conventions and get-togethers.

The staff members of the General Service Offices of A.A and Al-Anon met and discussed these questions and AA’s General Service Conference approved the following suggested Guidelines

Question: Should a group be affiliated with both AA and Al-Anon?

Answer: As the primary purpose of the AA Group is to help the sick alcoholic to recover and the primary purpose of the Al-Anon Family Group is to help the Al-Anon to live with herself or himself as well as with the alcoholic, it was suggested they not be combined but remain separate groups. This will enable both Fellowships to function within their Twelve Traditions and to carry their message more effectively. Thus the group name, the officers and the meeting should be either AA or AI-Anon but not both. Naturally, all are welcome to open meetings of both AA and Al-Anon groups.

Question: Should the word family be used in the name of an AA group?

Answer: AA group policy was reaffirmed that “only those with a desire to stop drinking may be members of AA groups and only AA members are eligible to be officers of AA groups. Therefore, it was suggested that the word family (long identified with AI-Anon) should not be used in the name of an AA group and family groups should not be listed under the Family group name in the AA World Directory.

Question: Should AA and Al-Anon have combined Central (or Intergroup) Services and Offices?

Answer: Both experience and the Twelve Traditions of AA and Al-Anon suggest that each Fellowship will function more effectively if each retains separate committees, separate staff and facilities for handling telephone and personal calls, as well as separate telephone answering services, intergroup activities, bulletins, meeting lists and all types of Twelfth Step services. Also that the members involved in each service committee or office be AA members, if an AA facility and Al-Anon if an AI-Anon facility.

Question: How may AA and Al-Anon cooperate in Area and Regional Conventions and get-togethers?

Answer: This answer depends on whether it is an AA convention or an Al-Anon convention The former are growing in number.

In accordance with the Twelve Traditions a convention would be either AA or Al-Anon not both. However, most AA convention committees invite Al-Anon to participate by planning their own programme, and the committee arranges for facilities for the Al-Anon meetings. If AA invites Al-Anon to anticipate in this matter, all expenses involved in the Al-Anon meetings are paid the funds of the AA convention committee.

Question: Should an AA Convention Committee make a contribution to Al-Anon from the financial profits of the Convention?

Answer: In accordance with the Self-Support Traditions of both Fellowships and to abide by the concept of co-operation but not affiliation,” it is suggested that AA should not make gifts or contributions to Al-Anon. By the same token, AA should not accept contributions from Al-Anon.

We think you will be interested in the resolution of gratitude to the Fellowship of the Al-Anon Family Groups which was unanimously approved by the 1969 General Service Conference of AA

The Delegates of this the 19th General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous, meeting in official session in New York City, this 25th day of April, 1969, do hereby declare;

WHEREAS it is the desire of this Conference to confirm the relationship between Alcoholics Anonymous and the Al-Anon Family Groups, and

WHEREAS. it is the further desire of this Conference to acknowledge AA’s debt of gratitude to the Al-Anon Family Groups therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, that Alcoholics Anonymous recognizes the special relationship which it enjoys with the Al-Anon Family Groups, a separate but similar Fellowship. And be it further resolved that Alcoholics Anonymous wishes to recognize, and hereby does recognize, the great contribution which the Al-Anon Family Groups have made and are making, in assisting the families of alcoholics everywhere.

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Help me grow!

This is one of my favourites!

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, worry, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

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The following website contains a collection of 319 Alcoholics Anonymous speaker tapes. I hope you will find them useful to your recovery. All 319 speaker tapes are free. You can listen to them online or download the mp3 speaker tapes to your computer.

The purpose of this website is to enhance one’s existing sobriety or program of recovery, not to replace it.

If you are looking for AA, visit the Official Alcoholics Anonymous website.

You can listen or download the MP3’s at;

1. AA Speaker Tapes as Podcasts from iTunes.
2. Alcoholics Anonymous : AA Speaker Tape

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These tips may help you meet your mate. A new Relationship through Love Online.

Improve your sexuality and you’re ready to meet someone new.  So what do you do? For many people in recovery from co-dependency, addiction, alcoholism and gambling online dating has become an acceptable and popular alternative.

One of the advantages of online dating is it offers access to a large pool of people you can meet while staying comfortable in your own home. “It’s really convenient, And it opens you up to a wide-open world of potential matches.”

The New Singles’ Bar

According to Online Dating Magazine, 20% of Americans have gone out on a date with someone they met on line. And every year, more than 280,000 marry someone they met that way.

Finally, it’s not just for the young and tech savvy. Research shows it may be just as popular with older adults.

What to Know First

Online dating requires some courage and thoughtful planning. Use these tips to help navigate the realm of online dating. The reward at the end could very well be meeting that someone special you’ve been looking for.

Here are eleven tips for success and safety;

1. Decide how much control you want.
2. Check the costs. Some sites, like http://www.okcupid.com/home and www.plentyoffish.com , are free. But others might cost as much as $60 a month.
3. Don’t ignore the smaller sites. Smaller niches with your interests are usually better because they don’t have quite as much of the ‘meat market’ feel. If you’re in a niche that focuses on common interests, you’re more likely to get people you can actually relate to.” http://www.12stepmatch.com/  and discussion at http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts13738179.aspx
4. Create a compelling but honest profile.
5. Avoid disclosing too much at once. Gradually reveal details as you get to know someone.
6. Guard your privacy. Never give out personal information or send money.
7. Expect some dishonesty. “Online dating is advertising, rather than making a connection. And advertising is full of falsehood and exaggeration.
8. Be prepared to reject and be rejected. Don’t take a ‘No’ response from others personally.
9. Narrow your focus.
10. Google your potential dates. Don’t hesitate to search someone’s name on Google or social media such as Facebook or Twitter.
11. Play it safe. Use your first name only and give personal details only after you’ve gotten to know each other well.

Did You Meet Someone Special?

If you find a keeper, you don’t have to hide how you met when you tell other people. As online dating has gotten more popular, it’s become more accepted.

There’s nothing wrong with online dating. It can make a cute story, when you’re finally in a great relationship.”

Full story is at 11 Insider Tips to Finding Love Online

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My name is Joe and I am a big drunk, I am clean and sober by the grace of God and the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Gosh, I have been living with the Triple AAA, alcoholism and AIDS, and thank God for my medication, and for those of you who told me that I need to take my medication.

Thanks for my sponsor who has always been there for me, when I had all this terrible side effects. I am clean and sober, and trust me no one will abuse this medication because they are very toxic.

I am very glad that I met people in AA who support me when I need them the most, and no one told me that If I take my AIDS medication I was not clean and sober, I am glad also that some of you told me to work with my doctor.

We only give our experience, and hope to another drunk. Once, one drunk in AA in my early sobriety hinted that if I was on medication I was not clean. Of course I asked my sponsor and other old timers, and my grand-sponsor who is a nurse, and they told me not to listen to this person. I need to take my medication how it is prescribed and work and listen to my doctor. We are not doctors in the AA rooms.

I take my meds, and they are helping me to have a better sobriety, be alive, and help other drunks who come to the AA rooms and have also got AIDS. I had surgery and the doctor prescribed vicodin, and I took it how it was prescribed. I also check with others and record on a piece of paper – how many and when. Of course, some vicodin was left after the drama of the surgery and the contract that I made to you guys was that after the Dr discontinued the meds I will stop them and throw away the rest.

After the doctor discontinued the meds they start talking inside my head, big time…! For three days, they continue talking to me, (the vicodin). I went to a meeting and I share about the meds, and with the help of my Grand-sponsor we put them in the toilet. That was hard man! Now I know that if I hadn’t had AA and some of you, probably I will abuse them and I wouldn’t be writing this right now.

I am very careful about pain medication now and I am aware. I try not to have secrets today which for this drunk is hard. I’m still insane but I don’t want to die therefore I take my AIDS medication how it is prescribed….! and thank you for letting me share.

Joe

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Drug-abusers Have Difficulty in Recognizing Negative Emotions such as Wrath, Fear and Sadness

University of Granada scientists have been the first to analyze the relation between drug abuse and recognition of basic emotions (happiness, surprise, wrath, fear, sadness and disgust) by drug-abusers. Thus, the study revealed that drug-abusers have difficulty to identify negative emotions by their facial expression: wrath, disgust, fear and sadness.

Further, regular abuse of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine usually affects abusers’ fluency and decision-making. Consuming cannabis and cocaine negatively affects working memory and reasoning. Similarly, cocaine abuse is associated to alterations in inhibition.

For the purpose of this study, researchers carried out a psychological evaluation (with thinking evaluation and emotional processing tests) out of a total of 123 multiple-substance abusers and 67 no-drug users with similar social and demographical variables (age and schooling).

A Sample Including multiple-substance Abusers

The target population were individuals who consumed drugs as cocaine, cannabis, heroin, alcohol, MDMA and methamphetamine, and who were enrolled in two rehabilitation projects Proyecto Hombre and Cortijo Buenos Aires in the province of Granada.

The study revealed that 70% of drug abusers presented some type of brain deterioration, regardless the type of substance consumed. Deterioration was registered in major degree in the working memory, and in fluency, flexibility, planning, multitask ability and interference.

Fernández Serrano thinks that the results obtained “should be employed to develop political and social policies aimed at promoting adequate rehab programs adapted to the psychological profile of drug-abusers”.

Bloggers comment; Many people in recovery from addiction and alcoholism know this syndrome well.

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Because relapse is most common in the first years of recovery—leveling off at about five years—Faulkner cautions that those who are sober be cautious about dating people who imbibe. “If you’re talking about someone with good sobriety dating someone who is a casual or responsible drinker, there isn’t necessarily a problem,” she says. “If the sober person is in early recovery or if the drinker is a problem drinker, the chances for a good dating experience are dim. Though most people won’t wait two years into sobriety to start dating, keep in mind that the smell of alcohol, the taste of a kiss [with someone who’s been drinking], the clinking of ice in the glass, as well as the bar and the bar scene could be triggers.”

Full story via Dating People Who Drink | The Fix.

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Expressions commonly heard in A.A. are “If you don’t take that first drink, you can’t get drunk” and “One drink is too many, but twenty are not enough.”

Many of us, when we first began to drink, never wanted or took more than one or two drinks. But as time went on, we increased the number. Then, in later years, we found ourselves drinking more and more, some of us getting and staying very drunk. Maybe our condition didn’t always show in our speech or our gait, but by this time we were never actually sober.

If that bothered us too much, we would cut down, or try to limit ourselves to just one or two, or switch from hard liquor to beer or wine. At least, we tried to limit the amount, so we would not get too disastrously tight. Or we tried to hide how much we drank.

But all these measures got more and more difficult. Occasionally, we even went on the wagon, and did not drink at all for a while.

Eventually, we would go back to drinking-just one drink. And since that apparently did no serious damage, we felt it was safe to have another. Maybe that was all we took on that occasion, and it was a great relief to find we could take just one or two, then stop. Some of us did that many times.

But the experience proved to be a snare. It persuaded us that we could drink safely. And then there would come the occasion (some special celebration, a personal loss, or no particular event at all) when two or three made us feel fine, so we thought one or two more could not hurt. And with absolutely no intention of doing so, we found ourselves again drinking too much. We were right back where we had been-over drinking without really wanting to.

Such repeated experiences have forced us to this logically inescapable conclusion: If we do not take the first drink, we never get drunk. Therefore, instead of planning never to get drunk, or trying to limit the number of drinks or the amount of alcohol, we have learned to concentrate on avoiding only one drink: the first one.

In effect, instead of worrying about limiting the number of drinks at the end of a drinking episode, we avoid the one drink that starts it.

Sounds almost foolishly simplistic, doesn’t it? It’s hard for many of us now to believe that we never really figured this out for ourselves be-fore we came to A.A. (Of course, to tell the truth, we never really wanted to give up drinking altogether, either, until we learned about alcoholism.) But the main point is: We know now that this is what works.

Instead of trying to figure out how many we could handle-four?-six?-a dozen?-we remember, “Just don’t pick up that first drink.” It is so much simpler. The habit of thinking this way has helped hundreds of thousands of us stay sober for years.

Doctors who are experts on alcoholism tell us that there is a sound medical foundation for avoiding the first drink. It is the first drink which triggers, immediately or some time later, the compulsion to drink more and more until we are in drinking trouble again. Many of us have come to believe that our alcoholism is an addiction to the drug alcohol; like addicts of any sort who want to maintain recovery, we have to keep away from the first dose of the drug we have become addicted to. Our experience seems to prove this, as you can read in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” and in our Grapevine magazine, and as you can hear wherever A.A. members get together and share their experiences.

Living Sober, 1975, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc

• See also
• 15 Points for an Alcoholic to Consider
• How does AA work? – Meetings, Meetings, Meetings
• The Habit of Procrastination

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This series of questions may help you determine if you are a compulsive overeater.

Many members of Overeaters Anonymous have found that they have answered yes to many of these questions.

• Do you eat when you’re not hungry?
• Do you go on eating binges for no apparent reason?
• Do you have feelings of guilt and remorse after overeating?
• Do you give too much time and thought to food?
• Do you look forward with pleasure and anticipation to the time when you can eat alone?
• Do you plan these secret binges ahead of time?
• Do you eat sensibly before others and make up for it alone?
• Is your weight affecting the way you live your life?
• Have you tried to diet for a week (or longer), only to fall short of your goal?
• Do you resent others telling you to “use a little willpower” to stop overeating?
• Despite evidence to the contrary, have you continued to assert that you can diet “on your own” whenever you wish?
• Do you crave to eat at a definite time, day or night, other than mealtime?
• Do you eat to escape from worries or trouble?
• Have you ever been treated for obesity or a food-related condition?
• Does your eating behavior make you or others unhappy?

If you answered yes to some or all of these questions then there may be an eating problem.

See; Overeaters Anonymous

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