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Workplace Transference by ACOA’s

  Adult Children of Alcoholism / Addiction in the Workplace

ACOA's often transfer behaviour learned in childhood into other adult spheres of life. In true co-dependency style these often confuse and confound us.

Some of these are;

• We confuse our boss or supervisor with our alcoholic parents and have similar relationship patterns, behaviors, and reactions that are carryovers from childhood.
• We confuse our co-workers with our siblings or our alcoholic parents and repeat childhood reactions in those working relationships.
• We expect lavish praise and acknowledgment from our boss for our efforts on the job.
• Authority figures scare us and we feel afraid when we need to talk to them.
• We get a negative gut reaction when dealing with someone who has the physical characteristics or mannerisms of our alcoholic parent.
• We have felt isolated and different from everyone around us, but we don't really know why.
• We lose our temper when things upset us rather than dealing with problems productively.
• We busy ourselves with our co-workers' jobs, often telling them how to do their work.
• We can get hurt feelings when co-workers do things socially together without asking us, even though we have not made an effort to get to know them and join in the social life.
• We are afraid to make the first move to get to know a co-worker better, thinking they will not like us or approve of us.
• We usually do not know how to ask for what we want or need on the job, even for little things.
• We do not know how to speak up for ourselves when someone has said or done something inappropriate. We try desperately to avoid face-to-face confrontations.
• We are sensitive and can get extremely upset with any form of criticism of our work.
• We want to be in charge of every project or activity, feeling more comfortable when we are in control of every detail, rather than letting others be responsible.
• We may be the workplace "clown" to cover up our insecurities or to get attention from others.
• We are people-pleasers and may take on extra work, or our co-worker's tasks, in order to be liked and receive approval from others.
• We do not know how to be assertive in getting our needs met or expressing a concern. We may have to repeatedly rehearse our comments before delivering them.
• We have felt that we do not deserve a raise, promotion, better workspace, or a better job.
• We do not know how to set boundaries, and we let others interrupt us. We can accept more work without knowing how to say ‘no’ appropriately.
• We are perfectionists about our own work and expect others to be the same and have the same work ethics and values.
• We become workaholics because it gives us a feeling of self-worth we did not get as a child.
• We may jump from job to job, looking for the perfect position as the substitute for the secure and nurturing home environment we did not have.
• We get upset when people do things that affect us or our work without asking us first.
• We have a high tolerance for workplace dysfunction and tend to stick it out in an unhappy job because we lack the self-esteem to leave.

After the ACOA laundry list of characterisation.

See also;

• Adult Children of Alcoholics
• Al-Anon May be able to help
• Alcoholic Family Roles
• Workaholism

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6 Views of Sexuality

Book Describes Six Views on Human Sexuality

This article is a bit theoretical but I think one can get the gist of the six views.

It also illustrates the potential conflicts that can occur if two people in a relationship have differing views. This is important for recovering alcoholics, addicts and co-dependents who often have difficulty recognising other peoples motives and emotions.

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Human sexuality can be viewed from six perspectives or “lenses,” says Dr. Caroline J. Simon. In more than 20 years of teaching classes in sexuality, however, she noticed that most books described only two of them.

So Dr. Simon wrote Bringing Sex into Focus: the Quest for Sexual Integrity.

Six ways that people tend to understand sexuality today include:

• The Covenantal (or Pledge) View. Sex forges a permanent bond between two people. It is a life-uniting act that should occur only within marriage.
• The Procreative View. The purpose of sex is to produce offspring. Thus sex must be heterosexual, genital, and “embrace the hope of fruitfulness.”
• The Romantic View. Sex should be reserved for those who are deeply in love. Loveless sex is not appropriate. People should be sexually faithful as long as love lasts.
• The Plain Sex View. Cultural constructs linking love and sex are outmoded. Sexuality is best seen as a desire for intensely pleasurable physical activity. It should be based on mutual consent so “no one gets hurt.”
• The Power View. The desire is to possess another while avoiding being objectified by another. Power dynamics are at the root of the link between sex and violence.
• The Expressive View. Sexuality is central to human flourishing. Sexual restraint is unnatural but sexuality should be used without hampering the empowerment of others.

Most discussion of sexuality, Dr. Simon found, present only the procreative point of view, which is the official position of the Church, and the secular plain sexality view. But all six views are present in society. Two of them, the covenantal and procreative, are lenses with recognizably Christian influences. The other four have no religious ties.

In practice, people may not view sexuality from a single lens, Dr. Simon notes. Or they may not know when people are using a lens different than their own.

“Rival views of how sex matters in our pluralistic society often mean that there are few shared understandings, conventions or rules of engagement,” she says. “It is little wonder that there is so much pain arising from misunderstanding and so many disappointed expectations in the sexual realm.”

“Yet the six sexual lenses can be more than mutually exclusive rivals. The perspectives converge when the pledge lens is taken as the central organizing lens. This brings sexuality into focus, allowing the covenantal view to be enriched by what these other lenses reveal.”

“Many times people’s sexual behavior causes problems for them and pain for others. Much of this damage is neither malicious nor intentional. People often simply don’t foresee consequences or understand the effect they are having on others. Lack of sexual integrity will fog our moral vision about sex.”

Bringing Sex into Focus features chapters on marital sexuality, virginity and chastity, flirtation and seduction, homosexuality, casual sex and sex as a commodity.

Adapted from a press release; Book Describes Six Views on Human Sexuality

Bringing Sex into Focus: The Quest for Sexual Integrity

13th Steppers Exposed

 

She’s not a saint by any means but she has some words of wisdom for the new members of Alcoholics Anonymous, including “Most of all, I have regained my self-respect.”

From an AA Grapevine article at; Give The Girl [or Guy] A Chance

“Today, I can say to the new gals [or guys] : If you put sobriety first, you can make it. In the Thirteenth Step area, here are a few of the lines I look for.

I run, don’t walk, away from the glib orator who presents a beautiful program of solid sobriety at an AA meeting, but confides to me at the first opportunity, when we are having a cup of coffee, that I’m so understanding and if he[or she] had someone around like me, his [or her] life would be different (he’s [or she’s] being understood far more than he [or she] realizes), or “You’re a beautiful person. I’d like to get to know you better.”

I’m leery of a guy [or gal] who puts too much emphasis on our wonderful Slogan Live and Let Live. The Slogans have been a lifeline to me, and I respect and use them (or try to) in the right context. But when I hear a member say over and over, “Where I go, what I do, when I do it, and who I do it with is my business — I say, Live and Let Live,” I know this dude’s feeling guilty. He’s [or she’s] doing something he [or she] shouldn’t be doing, or he [or she] wouldn’t be trying so hard to tell us to mind our own business. He’s [or she’s] paranoid.

Full story at; A Dozen Steps

Sexual Wellbeing survey

When it Comes to Risky Sexual Behavior, Americans Top the List

Durex Global Survey Data Released for World AIDS Day

Today, Durex announced the findings of its 2011 Durex Sexual Wellbeing global survey -- and many of the implications are shocking.

Among the more eye-opening observations is the fact that overall, U.S. men and women are practicing the riskiest sexual behavior in many measures.  In fact, six out of 10 U.S. men and women (60 percent) didn't use any form of protection against HIV/AIDS or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when they lost their virginity.

The Durex Sexual Wellbeing global survey, conducted annually since 2006, has examined the sexual attitudes and behaviors of more than 29,000 people across 36 different countries with a goal of identifying areas where safety and protection can be improved.

Durex, a global expert in sex and sexuality, released the survey data to support the 23rd annual World AIDS Day (www.avert.org) taking place on Thursday, December 1, 2011.

The theme of World AIDS Day 2011 is "Getting to Zero," and the global community has committed to zeroing in on three targets:

• zero new HIV infections,
• zero discrimination and
• zero AIDS-related deaths.

The survey finds that people around the world are not being as smart as they could -- and should -- be in taking steps to be safer when having sex. And Americans are the biggest risk takers of all, according to the poll results.

So what did the Durex Sexual Wellbeing global survey find?

Six out of 10 U.S. men and women (60 percent) didn't use any form of protection against HIV/AIDS or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when they lost their virginity. This number is startlingly high when compared to the lower rates in other countries such as Mexico (49 percent) and Colombia (47 percent).

Among those who risked not practicing safer sex, the largest proportion of U.S. men and women (49 percent) say they were confident their sexual partner was free of STIs, although one in five (20 percent) of all those in a relationship admit they are unsure of their partner's experience.

And close to a quarter of all U.S. women (24 percent) who have taken a risk say it was a mistake they regretted.

• U.S. men claim to have an average of 20 different sexual partners in total -- fewer than the men in Canada (27) or Australia (24) but more than in France (19), Britain (17) or Mexico (15).
• Meanwhile, U.S. women have had 10 partners on average, the same number as women in Britain and France but more than in Canada (9) and Italy (8).

"It is of great concern to discover how many sexually active American adults are putting their health, and that of their partners, at risk," commented Kevin Harshaw, Marketing Director, U.S. Personal Care, Reckitt Benckiser. "The findings highlight how important it is to continue the efforts to inform and educate sexually active Americans of all ages.

The survey was commissioned by Durex, the world's No. 1 condom brand, which carries out a range of health promotion initiatives to encourage better and safer sex. It was conducted online in 35 countries and face to face in Nigeria by Harris Interactive among a total of 29,003 adults (aged 18+) in 36 countries between Sept. 6 and Oct. 3, 2011. The U.S. results had a base of 1,019 respondents.   The complete survey findings will be released in March 2012.

For more information and statistics from the survey, please visit www.durex.com.

About World AIDS Day

The theme for World AIDS Day, Dec 1, 2011, is "Getting to Zero." After 30 years of the global fight against HIV and AIDS, this year the global community has committed to focusing on achieving 3 targets: "Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths." Progress towards meeting these targets has already started. Annual new HIV infections have dropped by 15 percent since 2001 and AIDS-related deaths have declined from 2.2 million in 2005 to 1.8 million in 2010. The achievements of individuals, communities and political leaders over the last 30 years are reflected in the impressive gains that can be seen today. However, getting to zero requires the global community to continue its commitment to universal access to antiretroviral treatment, to delivering HIV and AIDS education and to eliminating all forms of stigma and discrimination. Play your part in the global action against HIV and AIDS, take the AVERT AIDS Challenge and raise awareness by sharing it this World AIDS Day.

All things are Possible

This is one of my favorites! It illustrates the difference between active alcoholism, addiction and recovery.

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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Links to 12 Step Programs

Sexual Addiction
Sexaholics Anonymous (SA)
Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA)
Sexual Compulsives Anonymous (SCA)
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA)
Survivors of Incest Anonymous (SIA)

Substance Abuse
Alcoholic Anonymous (AA)
Cocaine Anonymous (CA)
Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA)
Marijuana Anonymous (MA)
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
Nicotine Anonymous (NicA)
Pills Anonymous (PA) recovery from prescription pill addiction.
Smokers Anonymous (SA)

Family and Friends of Addicts
Codependents of Sex Addicts (COSA)
CoSex and Love Addicts Anonymous (COSLAA)
Al-Anon/Alateen, for friends and family members of alcoholics
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) for people working to end patterns of dysfunctional relationships and develop functional and healthy relationships
Co-Anon, for friends and family of addicts
Families Anonymous (FA) for relatives and friends of addicts
Gam-Anon/Gam-A-Teen, for friends and family members of problem gamblers
Nar-Anon, for friends and family members of addicts
Recovering Couples Anoymous (RCA) Recovery for coupleships damaged by addictions .

Other Groups
Clutterers Anonymous (CLA)
Debtors Anonymous (DA)
Emotions Anonymous (EA) for recovery from mental and emotional illness
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA)
Food Addicts Anonymous (FAA)
Gamblers Anonymous (GA)
Neurotics Anonymous (NAIL) for recovery from mental and emotional illness
Overeaters Anonymous (OA)
Online Gamers Anonymous (OLGA)
Workaholics Anonymous (WA)

Survived Hubby's Sex Addiction!: WHO AM I???

Survived Hubby's Sex Addiction!: WHO AM I???: I am married to a SEX ADDICT.  There it is . . .  I said it and it feels great to finally say it OUT LOUD!!!  This is really not something t...

Alarm at growing addiction problems among professionals | Society | The Observer

Alarm at growing addiction problems among professionals | Society | The Observer

Alarm at growing addiction problems among professionals

Urgent action needed to tackle problems suffered by doctors, lawyers and people in other high-profile jobs, say healthcare experts

Doctors are three times more likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver than the general population. Photograph: joefoxphoto / Alamy/Alamy

Experts are calling for urgent action to tackle the "significant challenge" of rising levels of alcoholism and substance abuse among professionals including doctors, dentists and lawyers.

At the first international conference of its kind, in Ireland this weekend, there were calls for the UK government to help the silent mass of professionals who were "functioning alcoholics".

Full story @ Alarm at growing addiction problems among professionals | Society | The Observer

Binge drinking among women | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

Binge drinking among women

By EDUARDO GONZALES, MD

May 10, 2011, 12:46pm

MANILA, Philippines -- Q: I’m 20 years old and I have a problem regarding drinking alcohol (beer, gin, tequila, etc.). Since I’m a female college student with lots of friends, sometimes I get invited to parties and gatherings. One time I drank tequila (I drank a lot) and that night my whole body became itchy. The itchiness lasted for a week. A month ago I attended a party where fruit juice laced with gin was served. I developed itchiness again. Am I allergic to alcohol? Does this mean I cannot socialize anymore? What if I find a job and my boss requires us to drink in gatherings? What advise can you give me? My friends drink a lot and get drunk every Friday night. What are the health risks of this practice? --Twinkle, Pampanga

Binge drinking among women | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

No smoking policies may present challenges to treatment centers | Science Blog

Researchers found that the number of patients who completed a program at the women’s treatment center decreased 28 percentage points — from 70 to 42 percent — following the center’s implementation of a tobacco-free policy.

“Following the implementation of the new policy, clients were significantly less likely to complete treatment than they were prior to the adoption of tobacco-free policies,” said Thomas Gregoire, co-author of the study and associate professor of social work at Ohio State University.

No smoking policies may present challenges to treatment centers | Science Blog

Alcoholism is a family disease - Times-Standard Online

Alcoholism is a family disease - Times-Standard Online
Alcoholism can be a multi-generational disease, wherein family members from different generations develop and repeat dysfunctional family relationships over decades. The children of today's alcoholic parents may become the parents of tomorrow's alcoholic children. Breaking multi-generational patterns of co-dependency is difficult. This system is fiercely resistant to change. Family members seeking help may be exiled from the family. Or, their cry for help may be sabotaged by other family members seeking to maintain equilibrium in the family.

Nurses Often Silent About Physician Mistakes

Nurses Often Silent About Physician Mistakes

March 25, 2011 — Medical software can alert a nurse to a harmful drug interaction, but such a high-tech tool goes to waste if the nurse feels unsafe telling a physician or cannot make anyone listen.

Almost 60% of nurses report they have experienced this kind of scenario, and 17% say it happens several times a month, according to a new study by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACCN), the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), and a training company called VitalSmarts. The study, aptly titled "The Silent Treatment," describes a hospital universe where more than 80% of nurses observe physicians and other clinicians taking shortcuts, such as not washing their hands long enough, exhibiting incompetence, and demonstrating disrespect that shuts down lines of communication.

Points To Consider When You Are Planning Heroin Addiction Treatment

Points To Consider When You Are Planning Heroin Addiction Treatment
Planning a heroin addiction treatment is not at all easy. This is one of the most serious kinds of addictions known to humankind. Heroin is an opioid. As soon as it is consumed by the person, it attacks specific areas of the central nervous system of the person. This causes the brain to release a hormone known as dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for creating the rush of pleasure in the person. That is the reason the person develops a craving to consume more and more of the substance. The brain keeps asking for more of heroin so that it can feel the rush of pleasure that it creates.

The Biology of Booze

One of the few reliable signs of early alcohol trouble is the classic “hollow leg.” Young drinkers with alcoholic tendencies tend to be really good at holding their liquor. “Normal” people can not, generally, drink everybody under the table, or smoke 20 or 30 cigarettes in an evening.

Help An Alcoholic?

via twelvestepfacilitation.com

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Medical Marijuana

American Society of Addiction Medicine

Public Policy Statement on Medical Marijuana

Background

In the last twenty years, both the scientific community and the public have become interested in the therapeutic potential of cannabis and cannabinoids. Scientific interest has been based in large part on the discovery and elucidation of the endocannabinoid receptor system. Popular interest has focused on state initiatives and other legislation decriminalizing the use of smoked cannabis for personal medical use.  Because of this legislation, herbal cannabis in various forms is now being distributed by dispensaries to large numbers of individuals with a wide variety of medical conditions. This cannabis is not, in most cases, standardized or quality-controlled; the dosage forms (smoked, vaporized, baked goods, teas, elixirs, etc.) do not provide a known and reproducible dose; and data on efficacy and adverse events are not being collected in a reliable manner. 

Cannabinoids are insoluble in water and subject to degradation by temperature and light; thus, optimal delivery systems or dosage forms are difficult to design. As a result, research into their medical applications is technologically challenging and has lagged behind that of the opioids and other modern medications. With improvements in technology and the development of research tools, such as high affinity agonists and antagonists, preclinical research has flourished.  At present, however, only a few properly controlled clinical studies, of adequate size and duration, have investigated the use of cannabis or cannabinoid products in specific therapeutic contexts.

The pace of such clinical research is increasing.  As corporate sponsors successfully resolve the regulatory and technological challenges, new products will enter the market. These products will be accompanied by extensive quality, pharmacological, toxicity, safety/tolerability, and efficacy data that will allow physicians knowledgeably to prescribe them, thereby making them available to appropriate patients. Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) will reduce the likelihood of abuse and diversion by both patients and non-patients, including adolescents.

The FDA approval process ensures that a robust body of data accompanies a product when it becomes available to patients. The FDA has invited industry to develop botanically based products and has set forth the regulatory path that must be followed to ensure that such products meet the standards of modern medicine.   It is feasible for cannabis-derived products to proceed down that path. Doing so will enable them to be recognized by the medical community as legitimate treatment options.

Under the current state distribution systems, physicians serve as the gatekeepers of patients’ access to cannabis, yet they lack both information on the quality/composition of the cannabis materials and data on their efficacy/safety. When specific cannabis-derived or cannabinoid medications have passed through conventional regulatory approval processes, and their risk/benefit profile in a particular medical condition is known, physicians can be confident that they are meeting the standard of care when advising patients about potential treatment choices.

“Cognitive dissonance” is a term that aptly describes the current approach to “medical marijuana.”  Scientists recognize the public health harms of tobacco smoking and urge our young people to refrain from the practice, yet most cannabis consumers use smoking as their preferred delivery mechanism. The practice of medicine is increasingly evidence-based, yet some physicians are willing to consider “recommending” cannabis to their patients, despite the fact that they lack even the most rudimentary information about the material (composition, quality, and dose, and no controlled studies provide information on its benefit and safety of its use in chronic medical conditions). Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for the harms caused by contaminated or otherwise dangerous products and tobacco companies can be held accountable for harms caused by cigarettes, yet, dispensaries distribute cannabis products about which very little are known, including their source. Efforts are being made to stem the epidemic of prescription drug abuse, including FDA-mandated risk management plans required for prescription medications, yet cannabis distribution sites proliferate in many states, virtually without regulation. 

In order to think clearly about “medical marijuana,” one must distinguish first between 1) the therapeutic potentials of specific chemicals found in marijuana that are delivered in controlled doses by nontoxic delivery systems, and 2) smoked marijuana.

Second, one must consider the drug approval process in the context of public health, not just for medical marijuana but also for all medicines and especially for controlled substances. Controlled substances are drugs that have recognized abuse potential.  Marijuana is high on that list because it is widely abused and a major cause of drug dependence in the United States and around the world.  When physicians recommend use of scheduled substances, they must exercise great care.  The current pattern of “medical marijuana” use in the United States is far from that standard. 

If any components of marijuana are ever shown to be beneficial to treat any illness then those components can and should be delivered by nontoxic routes of administration in controlled doses just all other medicines are in the U.S. 

In order for physicians to fulfill their professional obligations to patients, and in order for patients to be offered the high standard of medical care that we have come to expect in the United States, cannabis-based products must meet the same exacting standards that we apply to other prescription medicines.  Members of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) are physicians first and experts in addiction medicine with knowledge specific to the risks associated with the use of substances with high abuse potential.  ASAM must stand strongly behind the standard that any clinical use of a controlled substance must meet high standards to protect the patient and the public; the approval of “medical marijuana” does not meet this standard.

Recommendations

1. ASAM asserts that cannabis, cannabis-based products, and cannabis delivery devices should be subject to the same standards that are applicable to other prescription medications and medical devices and that these products should not be distributed or otherwise provided to patients unless and until such products or devices have received marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

2. ASAM rejects smoking as a means of drug delivery since it is not safe.

3. ASAM recognizes the supremacy of federal regulatory standards for drug approval and distribution.  ASAM recognizes that states can enact limitations that are more restrictive but rejects the concept that states could enact more permissive regulatory standards.  ASAM discourages state interference in the federal medication approval process. 

4. ASAM rejects a process whereby State and local ballot initiatives approve medicines because these initiatives are being decided by individuals not qualified to make such decisions (based upon a careful science-based review of safety and efficacy, standardization and formulation for dosing, or provide a means for a regulated, closed system of distribution for marijuana which is a CNS drug with abuse potential). 

5. ASAM recommends its members and other physician organizations and their members reject responsibility for providing access to cannabis and cannabis-based products until such time that these materials receive marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

6. ASAM asserts that physician organizations operating in states where physicians are placed in the gate-keeping role have an obligation to help licensing authorities assure that physicians who choose to discuss the medical use of cannabis and cannabis-based products with patients:
• Adhere to the established professional tenets of proper patient care, including
o History and good faith examination of the patient;
o Development of a treatment plan with objectives;
o Provision of informed consent, including discussion of side effects;
o Periodic review of the treatment’s efficacy;
o Consultation, as necessary; and
o Proper record keeping that supports the decision to recommend the use of cannabis
• Have a bona fide physician-patient relationship with the patient, i.e., should have a pre-existing and ongoing relationship with the patient as a treating physician;

• Ensure that the issuance of “recommendations” is not a disproportionately large (or even exclusive) aspect of their practice;

• Not issue a recommendation unless the physician has adequate information regarding the composition and dose of the cannabis product;

• Have adequate training in identifying substance abuse and addiction .

 

 

via asam.org

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AA Online Chat Groups

Online AA Offers Digital Assistance for Recovery

Many things can prevent people in early recovery from attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings in person, from disability to lack of transportation to a sheer case of the nerves. Now, those unable to attend face-to-face AA meetings can do so virtually, thanks to computer technology and the Internet, the Canadian Press reported June 10.

Daily online chats and weekly discussion groups are part of the web of AA Internet services. "I can no longer cope with noise, people, pressure, stress, anxiety, fatigue, speaking to more than one person at a time," said Carol O., a 53-year-old Ottawa resident now in recovery from alcoholism. "I don’t know how I would be coping if I didn’t have AA available online."

AA organizer David T. said that many types of people are going online for support, including those who are housebound, bedridden, deaf, caregivers, shift-workers, rural residents, or have social anxieties. David himself recalled struggling to stay sober while overseas with the Canadian military. "I knew of other people over there who were on a vacation from AA, drinking while they were there, figuring they could stop when they went back home because no one would know," he said.

It’s not just AA online: Vancouver social worker Pat Roles charges $20 per e-mail to counsel people. "I’m finding your average person who wouldn’t normally go for counselling ... who is maybe a bit embarrassed, they’re a professional in a community," he said.

"It’s perhaps a little easier on the Internet because you’re anonymous -- totally anonymous -- you don’t see the other person’s face," said David, who added that while some people may contact AA online while still drinking, the extra layer of anonymity also may encourage people with addictions to seek help earlier than they might have otherwise.

Still, users like Carol say that the face-to-face meetings offer a warmth and human touch that virtual AA meetings can’t match. "Online people can just read a posting and not respond -- you can’t see them and see if they are troubled -- online you only know what people tell you in words. Some communicate better in writing than others," she said.

Related articles

• Should AA be open to other Maladies (recoveryissexy.com)
• AA is a Diverse Fellowship (recoveryissexy.com)
• Meetings + Spirituality = Recovery (recoveryissexy.com)
• AA For Youth (recoveryissexy.com)
• Research Confirms AA Effectiveness (twelvestepfacilitation.com)

Denial Makes the World Go Round :Recovery Is Sexy.com

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Portugal's drug policy pays off; US eyes lessons

via foxnews.com

LISBON, Portugal – These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community — mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street. Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a "drug supermarket" where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneak into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts — some with maggots squirming under track marks — staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles. At that time, Portugal, like the junkies of Casal Ventoso, had hit rock bottom: An estimated 100,000 people — an astonishing 1 percent of its population — were addicted to illegal drugs. So, like anyone with little to lose, the Portuguese took a risky leap: They decriminalized the use of all drugs in a groundbreaking law in 2000. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/26/portugals-drug-policy-pays-eyes-lesso...

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