What is the Support Group, Narcotics Anonymous?
Dear Dr. Steve:I’ve
been using heroin for about six years now. Although I never would admit it at the time, I
know I was hooked from the time I first shot up. Since that time my life has steadily
spiraled out of control. I’ve put our family into bankruptcy. I’ve maxed out
eleven credit cards. I’ve stolen things from my parents’ house and my
wife’s parent’s house. I’ve hocked family heirlooms. I put so much time and
effort into getting enough money to get more drugs that I haven’t held a job for
longer than eleven months in the last five years. I’m putting my wife and daughter
through hell. We recently had to sell our house to pay satisfy the judgments that are
against us from bankruptcy court. But I can’t stop. I keep going out there for more.
What can I do?
Admitting
that you have a problem and asking for help is the first step towards abstinence and
sanity for you. Although the path ahead of you is long and arduous, you don’t have to
travel this journey alone. There are self-help groups in your community that can provide
you with what you need most—support, love, wisdom, and the tools necessary for you to
achieve and maintain long-term abstinence from all drugs.
The name of these support groups is Narcotics Anonymous
(N.A.). N.A. is a support group made up of men and women for whom drugs had become a major
problem. Recovering addicts meet regularly to help each other maintain and sustain
abstinence from all mood-altering substances. Anybody, regardless of the particular drug
or combination of drugs they abuse or are dependent on may attend an N.A. meeting. N.A.
encourages its members to observe complete abstinence from all drugs, including alcohol,
even substances other than the individual's drug of choice.
N.A. was founded on the belief that there is therapeutic value
in addicts talking to other addicts about their struggles with drugs. In meetings, each
member shares with others their personal experiences with abusing and becoming dependent
on drugs as well as the path they have followed to remain abstinent.
The core
of the Narcotics Anonymous recovery program is a series of personal activities known as
the Twelve Steps, adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous.
1.) We
admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become
unmanageable.
2.) We
came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3.) We
made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood
Him.
4.) We
made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5.) We
admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
6.) We
were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7.) We
humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8.) We
made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9.) We
made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure
them or others.
10.) We
continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11.) We
sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we
understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry
that out.
12.)
Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this
message to addicts, and to practice these principles in our all affairs.
You can
contact Narcotics Anonymous at:
World Service Office in Los Angeles
PO Box 9999
Van Nuys, California 91409 USA
Telephone (818) 773-9999
Fax (818) 700-0700
www.na.org
Business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM local time
Learn
how to prevent and recover from chemical dependency as well as the aftereffects of
chemical dependency on you and your family. Read Dr. Frisch’s, Psy.D. series of
Recovery books—From
Insanity to Serenity.
Pathfinder’s Checklist
1.) Contact a qualified healthcare provider.
2.) Contact your local chapter of Narcotics Anonymous.
3.) Read as much as you can about the disease of Chemical Dependency.
4.) Read as much as you can about what Recovery is.
5.) Meet as many people as you can at Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
6.) Integrate the Twelve Steps of Narcotic Anonymous into your life.
G.B.U.
Steve
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