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Addiction is completely democratic. It does not discriminate by age group, sexual identity, race, creed, culture or economic status. An addict can be the teenager doing bongs in the backyard, the wino sleeping under the railroad tracks, or the nice little old lady scamming doctors for pills. It can be a lawyer, a mom or a professional athlete. Addiction effects every area of our society.
The good news is, recovery is also democratic. It is available for the teenager, the wino, the little old lady and the rest. Today there are highly successful Twelve Step recovery programs for alcoholics, drug addicts, and all sorts of other addictions–sex, gambling, shopping, you name it.
The first of these programs was Alcoholics Anonymous, and it was founded in 1935 by two drunks–a doctor and a businessman– who discovered that they could stay sober if they shared honestly about their problems, called on a Power greater than themselves to help them, and reached out to other suffering alcoholics.
Through trial and error, they set down guidelines for recovery which seemed to work for everyone who sincerely applied them. These became the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and versions of the same are used in many Anonymous programs. The steps involve much more than abstinence from drinking. They are a method of character development which involves making peace with one’s past, and living for a cause greater than yourself, one day at a time.
After decades of failure by science and medicine to find a cure for alcoholism, it turned out that one drunk talking to another drunk was ultimately the most effective key to changing problem behavior. From these humble beginnings, there are now millions of members of Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in over 60 countries worldwide. The sister programs, Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, etc., are also growing rapidly and bringing hope to people everywhere, because they no longer have to face their problems alone.
