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Dr. William D. Silkworth's medical opinion concerning the alcoholic delemma, and the psychic change required in order to be restored.

Dr. Silkworth presents his medical opinion concerning the physical allergy of the body that triggers the phenomenon of craving in the alcoholic. He further talks about the psychic change he observed in those who successfully recovered from the disease of alcoholism.

• The Doctor identifies alcoholism as a disease.
• He identifies the "physical allergy to alcohol" concept.
• Dr. Silkworth details the phenomenon of craving, and the obsession of the mind to take the first drink.
• The Doctor gives his prognosis of a "psychic change" in order to live sober.

Our first real member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and our founder. His story is one of the "low bottom" varieties helped, and written about by Dr. Silkworth.

Bill Wilson's story discusses, in summary, his adult life, his plunge into alcoholic hell, the moment of his spiritual awakening, and his realization that helping another alcoholic could keep him from taking that first drink.

• Bill is brutally honest about his disease.
• He describes his fall into utter despair, the craving, and inability to stop drinking.
• Bill describes the idea of an individuals personal concept of God.
• He details the spiritual awakening he received, and the requirement to help others.

This chapter tells us more about the common solution to our alcoholism.

We are not like other people. We have a disease that has mental and physical symptoms. It also has a cure in the form of a daily reprieve.

• We discover that willpower has no power.
• We learn that our disease has a common solution.
• We learn about the principles that the founders of A.A. used that can save us if we practice them.
• We learn how our alcoholism affects our medical, psychiatric, social, and religious matters.

This chapter shares with the reader the details of alcoholism, and the insanity that evolves from it.

Inability to be able to choose between drinking alcohol or not. The self destructive behavior of our drinking. The failed attempts at abstinence. The medical maladies, wet-brain, blackouts, and depravity of our disease.

• We are told that we have to let go of the delusion of being like others.
• We discover the truth that we will always be alcoholic.
• We read about the mental states that preceed a relapse.
• We read about the insanity, and the lack of defense against the first drink.

Moral codes and phylosophies were not sufficient to keep us sober. The lack of power is our problem. We need a Power greater than ourselves.

It is wrong to think if I believe something I also believe it is true, and if I believe it is true, I also believe it cannot be changed. If something cannot be changed then others should agree. When others disagree with my truth, then they must be wrong. We need to break down the walls of our old belief systems and open our minds to the unknown.

• We truthfully examined our old ideas.
• We learn that a problem simplified can be broken down into smaller parts.
• We begin to see how our reality is flawed by our old belief system.
• We see how a belief in our own concept of a Supreme Being is our restoration to sanity.

This chapter discusses, in great detail, how the solution to our alcoholism works, and uses examples of our members that have recovered from alcoholism.

The first eight paragraphs of this chapter are the standard reading at most A.A. meetings. It lays out the steps, qualifies itself by examples, and discusses the requirements for the first two steps. Then the chapter goes on to discuss steps three and four in detail.

• We learn that honesty is the building block of recovery.
• We see how a God of our own understanding can restore us to sanity.
• We discover that letting our Higher Power control things, and following His will clears our thinking.
• We see how a thorough moral inventory is needed to clear our ledger, and move forward.

Honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness are the keys here. Action is the magic word!

We read about being rigorously honest with another person, surrender, humility, relationships, making amends and maintaining what we have gained through the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. All this requires action on our part. We are required to do the footwork to maintain our sobriety.

• We trust another human being with our private flaws of moral character.
• We discover how willingness is half the battle.
• We read how humility is not a weakness but a strength.
• We read about the "ninth step promises" and how to maintain them.
• We learn how prayer and meditation are keys to serenity in our new way of living.

This entire chapter is dedicated to step twelve and the importance of working with other alcoholics.

Carrying the message to other alcoholics is the nourishment in our fellowship. Without this nourishment we cannot stay sober. We have received a huge wealth and must gladly give it away to continue to receive it. We must give it back without reservation.

• We help when another alcoholic wants to stay sober and asks us for help.
• We visit prisons, hospitals and institutions to help those wanting our help.
• We run alcoholism hot-line call centers to help alcoholics.
• We conduct new-comer meetings to help those that are curious or new.
• We sponsor other alcoholics in the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
• We receive an emmense wealth of sobriety and serenity from helping others.

Alcoholism is extremely difficult for the spouse. It affects every aspect of the spousal relationship in some way or another. But it doesn't have to be that way.

From the wife or husband of an alcoholic, to the toddler barely big enough to witness the practicing alcoholic,... they do notice the disease. The alcoholic seems to endeavor to bring about chaos wherever he or she goes. From the relationships, the finances, and the distrust, the alcoholic has a real knack for fouling things up.

• We learn how the social stigma of living with an alcoholic impacts our social relationships.
• We see how caring after an alcoholic is like caring for a child.
• We read about enabling the alcoholic to continue drinking, and how to break the cycle of enabling.
• We learn how to move on and let the alcoholic reach his or her bottom in order to help them. Tough love.

Alcoholism is a family disease. It causes disfunction in the family group, and can lead to problems with the children in their lives. It may lead to serious phsychological issues for all those involved.

This step is the first of three maintenance steps to achieve positive progress in our new way of life.

• We learn about the recovering alcoholic, and some of the characteristics of the new way of life.
• We see how patience is the key to getting the recovering alcoholic back to the family.
• We read how our possessiveness toward our recovering family member may be a bit excessive.
• We see that progressing slowly in our relationship is a good thing for all involved.
• We see how not to be too demanding of the newly recovered alcoholic. Pick our battles.

Employers tend to see alcoholism as an issue concerning moral willpower. In reality this perspective is more damaging to the alcoholic than the disease perspective because it causes mutual suffering for all parties concerned.

This chapter discusses the employers perspective as it applies to the alcoholics behavior at the workplace. They tend to gloss over inadiquecies and poor character behaviors. They attribute them to bad homelife, dissatisfaction with the job, stress at work, and the list goes on. This is because they see the employees drinking behavior as a willpower issue instead of a bonafide disease. They probably wouldn't do this if the employee were diabetic, or had another disease.

• We learn how employers misunderstand the disease of alcoholism.
• We read how this misunderstanding causes prolonged suffering for all concerned.
• We see examples of this misunderstanding, and examples of right thinking.
• We learn how employers are becoming more aware of alcoholism as a disease.
• We learn how the new-found knowledge can shorten the alcoholics suffering and provide the help needed.

We have read how the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous works. We see the benefits of using these principles. Now we can continually improve our lives by using these principles in all of our affairs.

This chapter shows us the real benefits of being sober, serene and of maximum service to God, our fellows, and society. It promises that we will have a better life, and contribute more to others lives as well as to the world. We will have a spiritual awakening.

• We learn about the real benefits of Alcoholics Anonymous.
• We begin ascending the ladder of spiritual growth.
• We believe that we will be rocketed into the fourth dimension.
• We will progressively get better as our sobriety gets longer.