Re: Big help

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 98-06-18 16:03:50 EDT, Judie writes:

><< Since I made the decision to leave 12-step programs ( I had been

withdrawing

> slowly for about 5yrs) I have told know one except my husband, who still

goes

> to AA. He accepts my decision, however I do not for one second believe many

of

> my aquaintances in AA/NA would. Too much fear. " oh no your gonna drink and

use

> if you leave us " . I have always believed it was a decision to go out and

use,

> and if I needed an excuse, well I use any number of them. Anyway, it was

great

> when I found the ar12 ng, cuz I needed to know I was not crazy.

> I have been enrolled in college (returning after 20 yr). Human Services is

my

> major.

> I am currently working toward Alcohol/Drug Certificate, I have so far been

> fortunate in having a couple of instructors who do not by into the disease

> concept, and also disagrees with the diseasing of all the other human

> behavioral traits. However, one class " Codependency " out text books Melody

> Beattie's Codependent No More, yikes, so self serving and assuming I just

> about puked everytime I had to read that book. Another text had a test you

> could take to see if your codependent, and the instrutor pointed out that

> there was no way anyone could pass it, hence we are all codependent and we

> better get to a 12 step meeting.

Hi Judie,

I, too, am a returning student. There was 25 year hiatus between having gone

to high school and going to college. I thought I would feel terribly out of

place, but it has been great. One of the things that I have appreciated

greatly about being in school with so many young people is that I have learned

that not every young person is a preoccupied with using as I had been.

> I do not think I will work in the Drug/Alcohol field, however I will remain

> working in the field of Human Services, and I am glad to know of the

> alternatives to the 12 steps, and will most likely hestitate before

suggesting

> AA/NA.

I am a sociology major with an emphasis on social work. Next year I will have

my BA. After barely making it through high school as a teen, I feel good about

how I am doing in school these days. Up until this year, I shyed away from

doing anything at school(papers and such) that had anything to do with

alcoholism or addiction. I was still entrenched in a 12 step program at the

time. This year I did do research pertaining to this topic for the first time.

I doubt that I would have been receptive to what I have read thus far before.

I am really excited because next semester I am doing " independent study " for

one course. I am choosing my subject matter and drawing up a contract with a

professor advisor and the head of the department. My topic conerns addiction.

> I am currently working in a group home for teenage girls, and there is one

> 17yr old in the program. It saddens me that she has been labeled as having a

> life long disease, and will have to attend meetings for the rest of her

life,

> and if she does drink or use she will feel so much guilt and remorse, which

> might end up worse than if she was just allowed to be the normal teenager

that

> she is. I do not condone drinking and using, however I do believe as Stanton

> Peele, that most teens grow out of it. I see that even with my old high

school

> friends.

I am beginning to see a picture emerging where many teens experiment with

alcohol and drugs as a rite of passage type affair, moving on to more

responsible behavior on their own with no intervention. This has become more

and more obvious to me as I am surrounded by so many young adults at school.

Also this past semester in a 400 level social research methods course, the

professor had us all work on various types of research pertaining to a single

topic. Considering the controversy around drinking on campus, it is no

surprise that the students overwhelmingly chose alcohol use on campus as the

topic. It was a great class....exposing much information about drinking

patterns of youth in our area as well as foreign students and those who have

participated in student exchange overseas contributring information of alcohol

and college youth in other countries. One of the patterns that appeared

concerned freshman and sophmore students being more inclined to drink to

excess, while many students who had been heavy or binge drinkers earlier

moderated their drinking considerably throughout the junior and senior year of

college. Also, many students who exhibited excessive drinking throughout

highschool seemed to have passed this stage and were less involved in the

*party* community in the dorms. This research was incomplete and flawed at

best.....it does, however, show some trends that may be worth persuing.

When I, myself, was a teen hung with a lot of other youths that were doing the

same thing I was. We could all have easily been labeled as alcoholics or

addicts. Most of these teens grew up, and became responsible members of the

community--even some that had been in considerable trouble with the law. On

the other hand, I never got in trouble, but my using to excess persisted.

> Anyway, what I am trying to say is the ng has been a big help to me, and I

> hope we don't allow a few jerks to spoil it.

> Sincerely

> Judie

They can't *spoil* it unless we all cave to their imbecilic behavior.

Take care,

Bette

>>

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