Alcoholics Annonymous

[damo666]

My flatmate has had a very serious alcohol adiction and has finally got hiself off to the aa. Initially, I thought that this was a good thing but after 3 weeks of meeting and mixing with people with similar problems, he's now started to take canabis and is spending alot of time on internet gambling sites. I thought that the aa suppose to be a good step forward but although he's not drinking at the minute, he seems to be coming away with other peoples' addictions. Also, I cant understand the concept of talking, endlessly about alcohol. I'd have thought that the best thing to do would be to avoid thinking about it, keep busy and try to lead a normal life. Just wondering if anyone has has similar experiences or can enlighten me at all so that I can understand this. From what I've seen so far, I don't like the idea of aa but maybe I'm wrong.

Thanks for reading

[coco pops]

i think your flatmate has a just exchanged one addiction for another because maybe there are issues in his/her life they can't deal with. They need professional help like a referal to a trained therapist from his doc. Could you go with him to the AA meetings as his friend?

[Belle Fast]

It may be that the addiction to cannabis and gambling are not just as immediately damaging as the alcohol problem. With any addiction the person themselves has to be ready to face it and if others show concern it may make them less likely to admit their own concerns. Paradoxically the best thing to do often is to say 'Oh yes, you're doing so well now' which can cause them to think 'wait a minute, no I'm not' and ask for help.