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A
L C O H O L I C S
A N O N Y M O U S
Original Manuscript
of the Big Big Book as First Written.
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FOREWORD
We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred
men and women who have recovered from a seemingly
hopeless state of mind and body. To show other
alcoholics PRECISELY HOW THEY CAN RECOVER is the main
purpose of this book. For them, we think these pages
will prove so convincing that no further authentication
will be necessary. We hope this account of our
experiences will help everyone to better understand the
alcoholic. Many do not yet comprehend that he is a very
sick person. And besides, we are sure that our new way
of living has its advantages for all.
It is important that we remain anonymous because we are
too few, at present, to handle the overwhelming number
of personal appeals which will result from this
publication. Being mostly business or professional folk
we could not well carry on our occupations in such an
event. We would like it clearly understood that our
alcoholic work is an avocation only, so that when
writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism, we urge
each of our Fellowship to omit his personal name,
designating himself instead as "A Member of Alcoholics
Anonymous. "
Very earnestly we ask the press also, to observe this
request, for otherwise we shall be greatly handicapped.
We are not an organization in the conventional sense of
the word. There are no fees nor dues whatsoever. The
only requirement for membership is an honest desire to
stop drinking. We are not allied with any particular
faith, sect or denomination, nor do we oppose anyone. We
simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted.
We shall be interested to hear from those who are
getting results from this book, particularly from those
who have commenced work with other alcoholics. We shall
try to contact such cases.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
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Page 1.
THE
DOCTOR'S OPINION
We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the reader will
be interested in the medical estimate of the plan of
recovery described in this book. Convincing testimony
must surely come from medical men who have had
experience with the sufferings of our members and have
witnessed our return to health. A well known doctor,
chief physician at a nationally prominent hospital
specializing in alcoholic and drug addiction, gave
Alcoholics Anonymous this letter:
To Whom It May Concern:
I have specialized in the treatment of alcoholism for
many years.
About four years ago I attended a patient who, though he
had been a competent business man of good earning
capacity, was an alcoholic of a type I had come to
regard as hopeless.
In the course of his third treatment he acquired certain
ideas concerning a possible means of recovery. As part
of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his
conceptions to other alcoholics, impressing upon them
that they must do likewise with still others. This has
become the basis of a rapidly growing fellowship of
these men and their families. This man and over one
hundred others appear to have recovered.
I personally know thirty of these cases who were of the
type with whom other methods had failed completely.
These facts appear to be of extreme medical importance;
because of the extraordinary possibilities of rapid
growth inherent in this group they mark a new epoch in
the annals of alcoholism. These men may well have a
remedy for thousands of such situations.
You may rely absolutely on anything they say about
themselves.
Very truly yours,
(Signed)- - - - - M. D.
The physician who, at our request, gave us this letter,
has been kind enough to enlarge upon his views in
another statement which follows. In this statement he
confirms what anyone who has suffered alcoholic torture
must believe — that the body of the alcoholic is quite
as abnormal as his mind. It does not satisfy us to be
told that we cannot control our drinking just because we
were maladjusted to life, that we were in full flight
from reality, or were outright mental defectives. These
things were true to some extent, in fact, to a
considerable extent with some of us. But we are sure
that our bodies were sickened as well. In our belief,
any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this
physical factor is incomplete.
The doctor's theory that we have a kind of allergy to
alcohol interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its
soundness may, of course, mean little. But as
ex-alcoholics, we can say that his explanation makes
good sense. It explains many
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Page 2.
things for which we cannot otherwise account.
Though we work out our solution on the spiritual plane,
we favor hospitalization for the alcoholic who is very
jittery or befogged. More often than not, it is
imperative that a man's brain be cleared before he is
approached, as he has then a better chance of
understanding and accepting what we have to offer.
The doctor writes:
The subject presented in this book seems to me to be of
paramount importance to those afflicted with alcoholic
addiction.
I say this after many years' experience as Medical
Director of one of the oldest hospitals in the country
treating alcoholic and drug addiction.
There was, therefore, a sense of real satisfaction when
I was asked to contribute a few words on a subject which
is covered in such masterly detail in these pages.
We doctors have realized for a long time that some form
of moral psychology was of urgent importance to
alcoholics, but its application presented difficulties
beyond our conception. What with our ultra-modern
standards, our scientific approach to everything, we are
perhaps not well equipped to apply the powers of good
that lie outside our synthetic knowledge.
About four years ago one of the leading contributors to
this book came under our care in this hospital and while
here he acquired some ideas which he put into practical
application at once.
Later, he requested the privilege of being allowed to
tell his story to other patients here and perhaps with
some misgiving, we consented. The cases we have followed
through have been most interesting; in fact, many of
them are amazing. The unselfishness of these men as we
have come to know them, the entire absence of profit
motive, and their community spirit, is indeed inspiring
to one who has labored long and wearily in this
alcoholic field. They believe in themselves, and still
more in the Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back
from the gates of death.
Of course an alcoholic ought to be freed from his
physical craving for liquor, and this often requires a
definite hospital procedure, before psychological
measures can be of maximum benefit.
We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the
action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a
manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of
craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the
average temperate drinker. These allergic types can
never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once
having formed the habit and found they cannot break it,
once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance
upon things human, their problems pile up on them and
become astonishingly difficult to solve.
Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices. The message
which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must
have depth and weight. In nearly all cases, their ideals
must be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if
they are to re-create their lives.
If any feel that as psychiatrists directing a hospital
for alcoholics we appear somewhat sentimental, let them
stand with us a while on the firing line, see
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the tragedies, the despairing wives, the little
children; let the solving of these problems become a
part of their daily work, and even of their sleeping
moments, and the most cynical will not wonder that we
have accepted and encouraged this movement. We feel,
after many years of experience, that we have found
nothing which has contributed more to the rehabilitation
of these men than the community movement now growing up
among them.
Men and women drink essentially because they like the
effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive
that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot
after a time differentiate the true from the false. To
them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one.
They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless
they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort
which comes at once by taking a few drinks — drinks
which they see others taking with impunity. After they
have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and
the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through
the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful,
with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is
repeated over and over, and unless this person can
experience an entire psychic change there is very little
hope of his recovery.
On the other hand — and strange as this may seem to
those who do not understand — once a psychic change has
occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who
had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them,
suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire
for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that
required to follow a few simple rules.
Men have cried out to me in sincere and despairing
appeal: "Doctor, I cannot go on like this! I have
everything to live for! I must stop, but I cannot! You
must help me!"
Faced with this problem, if a doctor is honest with
himself, he must sometimes feel his own inadequacy.
Although he gives all that is in him, it often is not
enough. One feels that something more than human power
is needed to produce the essential psychic change.
Though the aggregate of recoveries resulting from
psychiatric effort is perhaps considerable, we
physicians must admit we have made little impression
upon the problem as a whole. Many types do not respond
to the ordinary psychological approach.
I do not hold with those who believe that alcoholism is
entirely a mental condition. I have had many men who
had, for example, worked a period of months on some
problem or business deal which was to be settled on a
certain date, favorably to them. They took a drink a day
or so prior to the date, and then the phenomenon of
craving at once became paramount to all other interests
so that the important appointment was not met. These men
were not drinking to escape; they were drinking to
overcome a craving beyond their mental control.
There are many situations which arise out of the
phenomenon of craving which cause men to make the
supreme sacrifice rather than continue to fight.
The classification of alcoholics seems most difficult,
and in much detail is outside the scope of this book.
There are, of course, the constitutional psychopaths who
are emotionally unstable. We are all familiar with this
type. They are always "going on the wagon for keeps. "
They are over-remorseful and make many resolutions, but
never a decision.
Then there are those who are never properly adjusted to
life, who are the so-called neurotics. The prognosis of
this type is unfavorable.
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There is the type of man who is unwilling to admit that
he cannot take a drink. He plans various ways of
drinking. He changes his brand or his environment.
There is the type who always believes that after being
entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can
take a drink without danger. There is the
manic-depressive type, who is, perhaps, the least
understood by his friends, and about whom a whole
chapter could be written.
Then there are types entirely normal in every respect
except in the effect alcohol has upon them. They are
often able, intelligent, friendly people.
All these, and many others, have one symptom in common:
they cannot start drinking without developing the
phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon, as we have
suggested, may be the manifestation of an allergy which
differentiates these people, sets them apart as a
distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment
with which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The
only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence.
This immediately precipitates us into a seething caldron
of debate. Much has been written pro and con, but among
physicians, the general opinion seems to be that most
chronic alcoholics are doomed.
What is the solution? Perhaps I can best answer this by
relating an experience of two years ago.
About one year prior to this experience a man was
brought in to be treated for chronic alcoholism. He had
but partially recovered from a gastric hemorrage and
seemed to be a case of pathological mental
deterioration. He had lost everything worth while in
life and was only living, one might say, to drink. He
frankly admitted and believed that for him there was no
hope. Following the elimination of alcohol, there was
found to be no permanent brain injury. He accepted the
plan outlined in this book. One year later he called to
see me, and I experienced a very strange sensation. I
knew the man by name, and partly recognized his
features, but there all resemblance ended. From a
trembling, despairing, nervous wreck, had emerged a man
brimming over with self-reliance and contentment. I
talked with him for some time, but was not able to bring
myself to feel that I had known him before. To me he was
a stranger, and so he left me. More than three years
have now passed with no return to alcohol.
When I need a mental uplift, I often think of another
case brought in by a physician prominent in New York
City. The patient had made his own diagnosis, and
deciding his situation hopeless, had hidden in a
deserted barn determined to die. He was rescued by a
searching party, and, in desperate condition, brought to
me. Following his physical rehabilitation, he had a talk
with me in which he frankly stated he thought the
treatment a waste of effort, unless I could assure him,
which no one ever had, that in the future he would have
the "will power" to resist the impulse to drink.
His alcoholic problem was so complex, and his depression
so great, that we felt his only hope would be through
what we then called "moral psychology", and we doubted
if even that would have any effect.
However, he did become "sold" on the ideas contained in
this book. He has not had a drink for more than three
years. I see him now and then and he is as fine a
specimen of manhood as one could wish to meet.
I earnestly advise every alcoholic to read this book
through, and though perhaps he came to scoff, he may
remain to pray.
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Page 1.
Chapter One
BILL'S STORY
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