I have been an AA cult member for 12 years. Yesterday, I drank a bottle of apple cider that I thought was alcohol free----it was Not, and I did not feel the alcohol effect until later. Now that I am aware that the bottle cantained alcohol, I am extremely depressed and even suicidal. What will my fellow AAers say about this "slip"? I am dreadfully afraid that I will lose my "clean time".
I am truly "powerless" over alcohol!
Can I salvage my "clean time", or condemned to another 15 years in the AA cult? (Life sentence?)
2006-12-12 01:59:39 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
Jim, Jim, Jim, as strong and as free thinking a guy as you, you should have no problem owning and retaining your "clean time" status and i'm not going to beleive that you have fallen into a deep depression, or that the AA cultists can control or condemn you at any time. Quit blowin smoke and give us something to sink our teeth into!
2006-12-12 02:19:45 · answer #1 · answered by twostories 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm taking your comments at straight face value, and assuming you've got some real ambivalence about the "one way"ism that some AA groups tend to lock into, while still feeling glad you had so much clean time and feeling really, really $#$#&$ about slipping. Common mixed feelings.
If you're an alcoholic---and you're the only one who can say yes or no to that---you've got a DISEASE, remember? You had a RELAPSE. These **happen** sometimes!
You didn't _intend_ to get yourself into a slip, I presume....but the situation would be roughly comparable to accidentally getting a "mickied" drink.
Been There, Done That, Gotten The T-Shirt. Now, you can either sit down and say "it's messed up, I might as well really do the job RIGHT" and get drunk on your bottom all over again, and go back into the hell of active alcoholism.
Or you can just say "OK, I'm not going to drink _today_," and go from there. AA is not the ONLY way to get sober; it's just one of the best known....
And if you've got a sponsor, or an AA group that's really judgmental on slips, try some other meetings---the attitudes vary all over the place. Or check out LifeRing Recovery, which is a secular recovery group (unhooked.com)---but the challenge there is you can't find nearly so many meetings. Or consider Antabuse (if your doctor approves), if you're concerned about "impulse" drinking during this transition time.
Good luck, and hope you DO come back on board.
2006-12-12 02:56:27 · answer #2 · answered by samiracat 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Only your fellow "AAers" could answer that. Good thing it wasn't poison you drank, in the future I would be more careful about the fluids that you put into your body. If you are truly depressed and suicidal over this, and it truly was a "slip"(accident) then you need professional psychiatric help immediately.
2006-12-12 02:15:59 · answer #3 · answered by John H 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Lighten up!!!! You didn't drink on purpose, it was an accident. You didn't let your mind lie to you and say I can handle drinking just a little, remember your disease is in your mind not your body, be proud that the next thing you didn't do was to bgo out and buy a bottle..!!!!
I think congatulations are in order....just be sure yo don't end up thinking hey that wasn't so bad maybe I can drink just a little...you can't or you wouldn't have worked so hard for sobriety for 12 years...
I can't eat shellfish, I have acccidently eaten it before, unknowingly at a party or somthing...I certainly don' t think I was trying to kill myself...
You didn't know, plain and simple...I hope that someone who knows you didn't give it to you for the heck of it...if they did stay away from that one for ever...good luck...lose the guilt you did nothing wrong.....
2006-12-12 02:07:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I am not an AA-er, but if you drank something that you thought was alcohol-free, are you responsible for that "slip?" Only you can know if you did or didn't know, but if that was your only occasion, I think you deserve a pass.
2006-12-12 02:03:28 · answer #5 · answered by kingstubborn 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The cult is going to offer you up as a sacrifice to their Higher power. I suppose to you think that being a drunken loser is worse life than working with other alcoholics and attending a few meetings?
2006-12-12 02:09:52 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
i think you can. 15 yrs that great. If you honestly didn't know that alcohol was in there, don't stress over it. your fellow AAers should not look down on you if they are your friends and support then they should help you in this time of need.
I hope everything works out for you and happy holidays
2006-12-12 02:10:54 · answer #7 · answered by bridget c 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Don't give up..try with yourself to be strong from your inside..you have to do your best ..the life is too beautiful without this poison(alcohol)..and i think that you like deep in your heart to live a clean life..thats why you share us with you.. you have to start at first with yourself ..to deside that you want to be strong and not to return to that way..after that you will find all the people a round you would like from their heart to help you..be happy now ..all of us pray for you.. so,go ahead :)
2006-12-12 02:22:14 · answer #8 · answered by believer 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The fact that you call AA a cult is all that I need to know about you.
2006-12-12 02:01:14 · answer #9 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
please don't give up - if it was an accidental slip then the group should forgive you.....However - More important is that you forgive yourself - you are the one that counts the most. Congrats on your Sobriety - keep up the good work!!
Remember you are staying sober first and foremost for you!!
2006-12-12 02:02:44 · answer #10 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋