In an AA meeting in Ohio you will hear members speaking about their withdrawal symptoms and how they managed their temptations.
The purpose of AA or Alcoholics Anonymous is to help its members to attain freedom from alcoholism and lead sober lives.
Understanding withdrawal symptoms
Alcoholism can have long-lasting effects on the user’s body. When they try to reduce their drinking, they can experience the following:
- Tremors
- Sweating
- Irritability
- Insomnia
- Nausea
- Hallucinations
As anyone in your local AA meetings will tell you, these generally start within a couple of hours of your last drink, and last anywhere between 2 and 8 days, depending on the severity of your addiction.
Would you believe that alcohol is so addictive that your addiction can start from the very first drink? It is so indeed!
Diagnosing abuse
If you feel that you or a loved one might be exhibiting dependence on drink, look out for these signs:
- Is there neglect of normal duties, household or otherwise?
- Is there a strong craving to drink?
- Are there increased family conflicts?
- Do you find yourself unable to stay away from drinking?
- Are there financial problems due to expenditure on buying alcohol?
During AA meetings in Ohio, you will understand that just one or two of these are enough to diagnose an alcohol disorder.
Now that the dependence has been diagnosed, the next step in line is medical detox.
The Detoxification Process
This is a period of slowly riding the patient’s body of the poisons of alcohol using medication, observation, and counselling.
Done under medical supervision of a doctor and associated staff, this process should ideally be done before a person starts going to AA meetings in Ohio.
Keeping tabs
AA Members strongly recommend the use of a Sobriety Calculator to newcomers. This is because it helps them to keep a tab on the amount of time passed since their last drink. Gaining sobriety is not an easy task, and each milestone – day, month or year – is special for the recovering addict. Most members celebrate these milestones with a lot of joy and cheer as they see these as victories against weakness and self-abuse.
Becoming stronger with each passing day
Breaking the shackles of alcoholism is no mean feat. It takes a lot of courage and determination, more so since temptations abound everywhere.
An African proverb goes ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. Similarly, it takes the support and help of a lot of people for an alcoholic to gain sobriety and avoid relapse.
There is also help in the form of the 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous which are a recovery method created by Alcoholics Anonymous. Comprising aspects like prayer, personal inventory, and comprehensive support, these guiding principles form the foundation that recovering users utilize to create a sober lifestyle and live fruitful and successful lives.
