500 words on Alcoholics Anonymous

“Hello, my name is Brian…”

In our zeitgeist, you might just instinctively follow this with 4 more words: “and I’m an alcoholic”. It’s ironic that an organization founded on anonymity could have such familiarity within our culture, but the existence of Alcoholics Anonymous is as powerful and influential as the disease the program confronts.

In the 1980s, AA came out of the closet with an ad campaign that permanently took possession of Canon in D for me. A diverse collection of men and women, holding a single candle in front of them, passing the flame and introducing themselves as alcoholics. About fifty years after founder Dr. Bob Smith’s last drink on June 10, 1935 – the “birthday” of AA – a giant step was made to erase the stigma of alcoholism. While all AA meetings have maintained the promise of anonymity, the campaign to humanize the disease and reach out to those who need help can be profound. The stigma of alcoholism is probably the most dangerous part of the disease.

If I have cancer, I seek out the finest oncologists in the country and embark on an aggressive course of treatment rallying my friends and family to my side. If I have HIV, depression, psoriasis, or shingles, I’ll walk into my local pharmacy and trust that the professionals behind the counter will give the medicine I need and save me the dirty looks or judgment. Before Alcoholics Anonymous and in many communities still today, alcoholics live in shame fearful of losing their jobs, their families, and the very little stability they are clinging to.

In the early years, the men who started AA were among the few who recognized it as a disease, but the philosophy that started with just 40 people in the first 2 years transcending medicine and mixed spirituality, emotions, and science. Within a couple of years, Bill Wilson wrote his first book, a roadmap for alcoholics wanting to stop drinking and change their behavior, and he called it Alcoholics Anonymous. The name, the program, the twelve steps, and the lives forever altered lives around the world.

Confronting alcoholism head-on is bold. Confronting any problem head-on is rarely a popular choice. Since 1935 millions of people have turned to AA and for many of them they found a new opportunity. Bill Willson and Dr. Bob Smith found the fountain of youth, giving people a chance for re-birth. It’s appropriate that many people in recovery consider the day of their last drink as their birthday. Life begins when you aren’t being held captive.

AA created the framework of the twelve-step system which is used to help conquer almost any addiction and has been adapted by other successful programs. While AA might have critics it also has fans; fans in the form of the families that got their fathers and mothers, or children back. Even for those of us not saddled with addiction, AA demonstrates that we really can control our own lives and that is a gift.