Can anyone give their opinion on whether a person who has been alcohol free for 40 years can be free to celebrate those 40 years with his home group even though he had a nervous breakdown through some life situations and took prescription drugs 15 years ago.
it would mean so much to him because he hasn't touched alcohol nor had the desire to in all those years.
For me I learned that motivation had everything to do with my sobriety. I drank because I could and for no other reason for a long time and when I was done I was done. My neurosurgeon pulled me off of all my prescribed meds because I was way over the limit he thought for my body size and condition and I have rarely taken prescripts since then. I use to drink to alter my mind, body, spirit and emotions and took my drugs to alter my system off of pain and physical depression and then I stopped...there was no law that said I had to drink and so when I was done I was done. Until recently I still had the compulsion to drink and left it alone still. Drinking isn't a health practice for alcoholics and that is part of my motivation today. Inventory your justification for "breakdown" and then do the next right thing.
Taking doctor-prescribed drugs in a doctor-prescribed manner is not a matter that would affect sobriety length in AA. We are SUPPOSED to seek treatment for our health problems and should do so without hesitation. (see page 133 of Alcoholics Anonymous.)
However, taking unprescribed drugs or taking drugs in a non-prescribed manner is problematic. Some AA members convince themselves that they have a medical degree and start popping pills for all the wrong reasons. That's dangerous.
I briefly took prescribed anti-depressants early in sobriety. I have used them before sobriety when I was going through times where I wanted to end it all. Just took them long enough to get through a rough patch then went off of them because I never wanted to develop a dependency on them. Also after a while on them, the dosage lost its effectiveness and my doctor would give me a stronger amount--which left me feeling spacey sometimes. So after about 3 months sobriety I went off my anti-depressants. I would not hesitate to take them again if I needed them.
I firmly believe that "the only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking."
Thankyou all for your opinions I am tending towards hopefulone "the only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking"
Also at some meetings we read out "please let your shares to be related to alcohol only"
My friend will I think have a free conscience to celebrate his birthday 40 years is a long time to be sober and not celebrate it.
Plenty of us are on psych meds. It's not ideal but thank God for them when I needed them.
As we grow closer to God through the steps we can let go of them.
Also, in hindsight I didn't need and shouldn't have talked about my psych med use in meetings or to anyone actually.
There are plenty of medical procedures and conditions that simply cannot be addressed without taking mind-altering medications. And yes, taking any mind-altering medication can be potentially risky for people in recovery. But we are not expected to be martyrs and needlessly suffer from pain, and it is not correct to think that having to use a mind-altering substance automatically means we have had a relapse. We DO need to take steps to avoid the risk of relapse if we need to take mind-altering medications.
IF I were to ABUSE prescription meds in order to get high instead of for a legitimate purpose (lying to my doctor about pain that doesn't exist, doctor shopping to find one who will just give me what I want, hoarding pills and then taking a bunch all at once to get high, etc.) that would certainly be a relapse, no doubt about it. If I need to take medications for a legitimate reason and this is done as prescribed, that is not the same thing.
I agree totally with what Pickle (Tanin) had to say ... if your friend hasn't drank in all these years, then by all means, let him celebrate with his home group with a clear conscience ... And if a doctor should prescribe meds for our benefit (health) then we should follow his/her directions ... (also like Pickle said, as long as we don't abuse them) ...
Pappy
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
I agree with Pappy and Tanin. Mental illness, doctor, prescription, medical treatment are all outside the area of alcoholism with which AA is concerned. No alcohol and no non-prescribed medication would meet my personal view of continuos sobriety.
I don't think the third tradition is applicable as it is not his membership that is in question. He could have drunk yesterday and still been a member today, it wouldn't make any difference. As Bill said once, "sobriety, freedom from alcohol, through the teaching and practice of the twelve steps, is the sole purpose of any AA group." Your man has had forty years continuous freedom from alcohol. By all means CELEBRATE!!!
I agree with Pappy and Tanin. Mental illness, doctor, prescription, medical treatment are all outside the area of alcoholism with which AA is concerned. No alcohol and no non-prescribed medication would meet my personal view of continuos sobriety.
I don't think the third tradition is applicable as it is not his membership that is in question. He could have drunk yesterday and still been a member today, it wouldn't make any difference. As Bill said once, "sobriety, freedom from alcohol, through the teaching and practice of the twelve steps, is the sole purpose of any AA group." Your man has had forty years continuous freedom from alcohol. By all means CELEBRATE!!!
Thankyou for taking the trouble to say all this it really helps
