Comments on: Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love

By: dsduke

dsduke — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:43:38 +0000

Mona Lisa. I agree about leaving out parts about the “real” Bill Wilson, but I need to add that The 12 Steps of AA were well ahead of their times. AA may need an update and the steps as well, but the combination helped put me on a path of growth in recovery. A path I remained on and continued to grow both spiritually and as a person outside the rooms of AA.

By: dsduke

dsduke — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:11:08 +0000

I love the Hallmark channel and the movies they show. We need more wholesomeness in the world and this channel helps with that. Although I enjoyed this move, I do wish there were more movies that show the functioning alcoholic or what I call the high bottom alcoholic. There are so many people today that function well, but abuse alcohol and don’t feel or like the idea they could be an alcoholic. There is still so much shame and stigma associated with alcoholism and addiction that it prevents people from seeking help, especially if they think they’re no where near as bad as Bill Wilson was. I am now sober over 14 years and was definitely a high bottom alcoholic who didn’t lose everything. I was just fortunate to not feel any shame in being an alcoholic.

By: ANONYME

ANONYME — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:31:22 +0000

Unofficial blog about AA – a lhttp://www.kreizker.net/ot of news & infos

By: Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:02:43 +0000

As a recovered alcoholic and student of AA history, I found myself shaking my head in some amusement as I watched this movie. In addition to the overly melodramatic tone, the story left out several critical facts, among them: (1) Bill W. was an absolutely notorious womanizer, not only while drinking but also after he got sober, even going so far as to leave 10% of his Big Book royalties to his favorite mistress, Helen W.; (2) the writing of the Big Book was a collaboration, and several chapters were not written by Bill W., although he alone got royalties; (3) the chapter in the BB entitled “To Wives”, which was presented as having been written by Lois, was actually written by Bill, who apparently did not believe that she could do it justice–this infuriated Lois (and one can only imagine her thoughts about Bill’s bequest to his mistress).

To my mind, leaving those things out turned this story into nothing more than Hallmark’s usual pabulum. I would vastly have preferred the truth, which is that Lois never stopped putting up with an incredible degree of selfishness and arrogance from Bill, because he cheated on her for their entire marriage.

The one thing I did like about the movie was that it presented Al-Anon for the most part as what Al-Anon actually is: a 12 step program where members work exactly the same steps as AA. Many people, including mental health professionals, mistakenly believe that Al-Anon exists to help family members understand what the alcoholic is going through, or to help him or her quit drinking, when nothing could be further from the truth.

By: Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love < Read what Young Americans Read

Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love < Read what Young Americans Read — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:27:50 +0000

[...] Original post: Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love [...]

By: David Stein

David Stein — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:00:11 +0000

I can relate to this all too well. Being a reformed alcoholic, the pain my family went when I was at the height of my addiction was amazing. As I further spiraled out of control, not only was I hurting myself but my attitude affected my sister and parents. The problem was, I did not see myself as a threat. This continued even after I quit drinking, because I became addicted to pain killers. It was not until I hit rock-bottom that I realized the error of my ways.Towards the end, I had stolen from my friends and family, psychologically tortured those close to me, wasted thousands of dollars and was going to be kicked out the house.

As you stated above, those around me could do nothing to change me, until I realized that I needed to quit. The process of becoming “clean” was just as “turbulent” but the connections that I forged with my parents and sister during this time was amazing. I found out later that there was a lot of alcoholism in my family, along with mental illness. And when I was finally diagnosed as having Bipolar Disorder, I came to realize that I had been trying to self medicate myself.

Although, I did not follow the 12-step program (for me the program did not work, but I am a proponent of it) it was through personal effort and a strong support team that I finally became clean and sober.

I will definitely have to check out “When Love is Not Enough” to see how this program was created. Thank you for posting this.

Dave.

By: JH

JH — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:39:03 +0000

Very excited about this movie. Need to learn more about this subject.

By: Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love | World of Psychology « Internet Cafe Solution

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:29:46 +0000

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By: Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love | World of Psychology | YuliaHY

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:30:27 +0000

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By: Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love | World of Psychology

Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love | World of Psychology — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:47:45 +0000

[...] original post here: Alcoholism, Family and the Limits of Love | World of Psychology Categories: Family Tags: ads-earlier, apple, broadcast-the-movie, details-how, Family, hallmark, [...]