Are you alcoholic? How to diagnose yourself!

[Dallas]

Are you alcoholic? How to diagnose yourself!

When I first came to A.A., I had difficulty identifying as an alcoholic.

One of the areas where I had the most difficulty would come up when I would be sitting in an A.A. discussion meeting, and listening to the sharing of other alcoholics.

I had heard that I should attempt to relate and identify to the things that were similar for me and not to compare the things that were different from me. That seemed like an odd-ball concept. Why was I supposed to disregard some of the information and highly regard the other information?

I heard that I should attend many meetings – and attempt to identify with the similarities rather than compare the differences. I tried that, too. I became more confused.

I already had a pre-concieved idea of what an alcoholic was. For me, my idea was “an alcoholic is like those winos that I’ve seen sitting in the park, all dirty, wearing many layers of clothing, smelly, hadn’t bathed in a long time, long straggly hair, unshaven faces, and most often drinking wine from bottles that were covered with a brown paper bag.â€

[Danni]

This is very informative and could help many alcoholics of my type. It was difficult for me to discover that I was alcoholic because I was comparing my drinking and behavior with the drinking and behavior of people that I heard sharing in A.A. meetings. May I re-print this to offer to others who have not yet reached the bottoms that so many alcoholics reach?

Love & service,

Danni

[Dallas]

Hello Danni!!!

Welcome to the site! I'm glad that you've found something useful here!

Of course, you can use anything that you find here -- to help someone. That's why it's here!

Dallas B.