Addiction l Alcohol Drugs Food Addiction n So

Addiction l Alcohol…

Drugs

Food Addiction

n So many things in life are not what they seem to be on the surface. The same is true for alcohol, drugs and overeating.

The basic need for all of us, of course, is love.

The basic need is for us to be happy, to be ourselves, to have dignity, self-worth, to be secure and confident within ourselves.

As alcoholics, we are not free and we are incapacitated in this respect.

n It has been our experience at Brentwood, as far as we can make out, that the person with the alcoholic personality seems to be born this way

Some people are born with weakness in sight or hearing, some with a weak heart and others with weak kidneys.

n We say that these people are born with an inherent defect in their system.

o At a very early age, everything seems to register negatively within our personality structure.

We cannot appreciate that our parents really do love us

l The parents have an instinctive need to guide and channel us as children but we are blind to this nurturing process.

l We unjustly accuse them of not understanding us and we constantly put them down and reject them at will.

n When we are admonished or corrected by out parents, we misinterpret them as being angry at us and we suspect that they only want to hurt us or bring us harm.

l As alcoholics, we are incapable of believing or trusting love of our parents.

• In relation, we begin to hurt and offend them.

n Consequently, at a very early age, there is the negative reacting. This unceasing negativity is much more pronounced than the in the normal stage of adolescent rebellion.

n This is visibly displayed in our teenage years by our excessive opposition, constant disobedience, continual fighting and bickering endless lying, incessant stealing and physical violence with siblings.

l We falsely concluded that people did not understand us.

n We felt that if people left us alone that we would be able to function more effectively.

n As alcoholics, we are obsessed with the illusion that we can find love, peace of mind and success on our very own.

We alienate ourselves from them and live a guarded and secluded lifestyle.

o Life is the opposite of being smooth. It is rough, hard, frustrating and downright confusing.

All life experiences are a constant source of conflict, turmoil and confusion.

• We cannot be satisfied like ordinary people. We are always in search of some kind of elusive peace or happiness.

As alcoholics, we become convinced that if we had our way we could have all these things.

The fear becomes so strong and overpowering that even normal functions or responsibilities become unbearable.

We are unable to carry out normal every day functions such as meeting people, going shopping or we resist going to family reunions.

n Our fear eventually turns into self-hatred— hatred of others and a dread which leaves us immobilized.

l Our thinking is distorted and we no longer experience any sense of freedom or happiness. Faith, trust and obedience are no longer meaningful to us.

• Normal people can get a high from ordinary things in life. They can feel elated being with other people, seeing a good movie, going to a game or visiting a friend. This is not so with us as alcoholics.

Life for us as practicing alcoholics is anything but happy.

l For us there is nothing but confusion, frustration, emptiness and boredom with people.

l The fleeting pleasurable sensation of alcohol, drugs, gambling or overeating provides a high which we could never experience in ordinary life.

l Alcohol, drugs, gambling and overeating gives us this for a passing moment.

n It has been our experience at Brentwood that many do not understand the basic problem and its root cause.

l They do not see what is happening to the alcoholic and it is unlikely that they can get to first base in treating or helping the alcoholic because they invariably miss the etiology and spiritual component of the disease.

l We are not able to relate normally with others or be at ease with people.

n This is why it is essential to have a spiritual recovery program as opposed to a more or less narrow and restrictive alcohol, drug or food-control program.

n It has been proven overwhelmingly time and time again that when an individual comes to Brentwood recovery program, one moves from an initial state of excessive fear, apprehension, humiliation and embarrassment to an increasing state of security, peace and contentment.

Even within the period of a few hours, we can actually feel uplifted because some of the fear, anxiety and desperation has dissipated.

n For the very first time, we can sense love. We can feel the care and acceptance of others on program for us.

At Brentwood, those of us who have just newly arrived begin to feel we can trust those other people on program.

• For the first time, we feel more comfortable with people than we ever have been before in our lives.

The Brentwood philosophy advocates that if we want to fight our disease it is imperative that the group and the fellowship come first.

l This is quite a role reversal for us as selfwilling alcoholics. The essential ingredient here is co-operation as opposed to selfcentered individualism.

l Now we begin to start feeling good. We begin to feel “normal. ” We feel a reduction in stress and pressure.

n At Brentwood, we fit in without the overindulgence in alcohol, drugs or food.

l We feel more positive and more hopeful in and through the living experience of the other alcoholic on program.

In almost 90% of the cases, the compulsion for the alcohol, drugs or food is gone within a few days or even a few hours.

o “How can it be an addiction to alcohol, drugs and food? ”

l The defects and the void in our lives is what is dealt with directly at Brentwood.

n To fight our tendency to indifference and callousness.

n We learn love by experiencing love. We learn trust by experiencing trust. We learn caring by being cared for.

n A true characteristic of us as addicted individuals, which is seen time and again here at Brentwood, is that we have “no heart. ”

We are coldhearted, callous and harsh. We are unable to feel for or with people.

n Brentwood defines the alcoholic as a person who is incapable of giving or receiving respect.

l The Brentwood mission is to assist us in out long and strenuous journey towards developing our normal abilities to live effectively.

• We have to believe in ourselves and we have to trust other people.

n In short, the Brentwood process of recovery teaches us as recovering alcoholics to open up our hearts to other, a heart which has been closed for some ten, twenty or forty years.

§ It occurs much like a miracle. The recovery process occurs in and through the help of the other alcoholic.

n Society today is becoming increasingly aware that recovery is possible.

n The members of society can now understand support those who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, and food, whether it be their own parents, brothers or sisters, spouses, children or friends.

• As recovering alcoholics, we can achieve victory and accomplishment with life itself.