NA

[aanjt]

Does anyone know about this? I would like to put my son in one, but I want to know more about it. What are the 12 steps? Right now, he is in a hospital, but as soon as the insurance will not pay any more, he will be released and he needs something else to go to. I tried looking it up on the internet, but I did not get any information by doing that. If someone has a link that is useful, please post it. I'm desperate.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

 

[Mulutka]

NA's home page is packed with literature http://www.na.org/ At the bottom of this page you'll see "NA Recovery Literate" or just click here http://www.na.org/ips/ This should answer any question you might have about who they are. This site will also help you find meetings in your home town.

A good friend of mine went to NA to clean herself up. It really helped her but she didn't only go to the meetings (she ended up hospitalized too). From what she told me about it, NA is a mirror of AA-- meaning that they hold the same 12 step traditions and the like. I'll paste them here for you,

1.We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3.We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5.We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7.We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9.We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11.We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.


Also, you may want to check out http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/home/ This is a Christian based support group-- check out their "New Wine" course http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/new_wine/

I'll be praying for you. and for your son too.

I can only imagine the heartach a mother has when she sees her beloved child so messed up.... are you going to support groups for yourself too? I went out with an alcoholic for over two years (I just recently broke up with him) and was told by everyone here (on this messageboard) to check out Al Anon... I'm really glad I did because I started to see how much responsiblity and guilt I was holding because of my boyfriend's alcoholim. I still need to go to these groups just so that I can heal too. I'm not sure if NA has such a support group but please still check it out.

This may seem kinda cheesy but I still tell myself the three "c"s of Al Anon...

I didn't cause it
I can't control it
I can't cure it

 

[O'Factry]

NA is just like AA except they are open to those who have addiction to substances other than, and including, alcohol. I've been to some AA meetings where they were hostile to anyone who talked about any kind of drugs other than alcohol. Some AA groups are more open. If you can't find an NA group, AA will do IF you check it out first and make sure they aren't going to be cruel to NA types.

 

[aanjt]

NA's home page is packed with literature http://www.na.org/ At the bottom of this page you'll see "NA Recovery Literate" or just click here http://www.na.org/ips/ This should answer any question you might have about who they are. This site will also help you find meetings in your home town.

A good friend of mine went to NA to clean herself up. It really helped her but she didn't only go to the meetings (she ended up hospitalized too). From what she told me about it, NA is a mirror of AA-- meaning that they hold the same 12 step traditions and the like. I'll paste them here for you,

1.We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3.We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5.We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7.We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9.We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11.We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.


Also, you may want to check out http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/home/ This is a Christian based support group-- check out their "New Wine" course http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/new_wine/

I'll be praying for you. and for your son too.

I can only imagine the heartach a mother has when she sees her beloved child so messed up.... are you going to support groups for yourself too? I went out with an alcoholic for over two years (I just recently broke up with him) and was told by everyone here (on this messageboard) to check out Al Anon... I'm really glad I did because I started to see how much responsiblity and guilt I was holding because of my boyfriend's alcoholim. I still need to go to these groups just so that I can heal too. I'm not sure if NA has such a support group but please still check it out.

This may seem kinda cheesy but I still tell myself the three "c"s of Al Anon...

I didn't cause it
I can't control it
I can't cure it

Thank you, I printed out all of the pamphlets that were on their website. That helps to know what to expect for my son. He is 13, and it says that there is not an age requirement. I also printed them out so my husband could go over them as well. Thanks for your prayers.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

 

[aanjt]

NA is just like AA except they are open to those who have addiction to substances other than, and including, alcohol. I've been to some AA meetings where they were hostile to anyone who talked about any kind of drugs other than alcohol. Some AA groups are more open. If you can't find an NA group, AA will do IF you check it out first and make sure they aren't going to be cruel to NA types.

I just don't know what AA is all about, except what it stands for and that they do have a 12-step program as well, just don't know what the 12 steps are. Thanks, though.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

 

[chilehed]

aanjt,

I've been a member of NA for nearly 17 years. It a fellowship of recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. There aren't any dues, a basket gets passed to pay for rent and coffee but if you're broke (not unusual for a struggling addict) it's no deal at all, just keep coming back.

There are various formats for meetings, but most of the time there are some readings done and then people take turns talking about what's on their minds in terms of their struggles with addiction. It gave me an opportunity to find out that I wasn't the only person who had all this weird stuff going on inside my head, and helped me start to put names to things I had never been able to describe. I learned that my drug use was the result of the twisted nature of my soul, and once I started to address that my need to use drugs disappeared. Somewhere in the NA Basic Text it says something about how addicts aren't bad people who need to get good, we're sick people who need to get well.

Finding a sponsor is very important. This is someone who has achieved some measure of recovery in NA and who can help you in your own.

The steps speak of finding a higher power, but each member is free to use whatever concept of God he's comfortable with. It’s not Christian, but nothing in it is anti-Christian either. I know Christians, Jews, Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists, all of whom are able to integrate the NA program into their lives and achieve lasting abstinence from drugs, as well as emotional and social recovery from the wreckage of their lives. As for me, NA was a very important part of my path back into the Church.

I second the suggestion that you find some Al-Anon or Nar-Anon (the NA equivalent) meetings to go to yourself. Addiction is a social disease, and it is very likely that it has twisted some of the family dynamics in your house without you being able to see it. At the very least, it will help you understand how to better help your son. It’s hard enough to guide any 13 year old without having him feel like you’re being overbearing, much less one with an addiction problem. You and his father will both find yourselves in need of guidance, and in the same way that your son can find what he needs in NA, you will be able to find it in Al-Anon or Nar-Anon.

You should be able to find out from the hospital where to find meetings in your area. Also, you may be able to find Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous in the phone books. Some meetings are closed (addicts only, please), others are open (friends and family welcome), so you should be able to check NA and AA out in advance for yourself.

Getting through this will not be easy; you may all learn some very tough lessons, but don’t lose hope. I started using drugs when I was about 13 and it got pretty ugly before I joined NA at 26, but now I’ve been clean for 6,160 days and it’s been so long since I ached to get high that I don’t remember when it was. I've NEVER seen anyone join NA and really get with the program, and then go back out. I have friends who bounced in and out, relapsing over and over, but who kept coming back and who finally had something click and then go on to achieve lasting recovery. NA and AA work.

Any addict can stop using, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live. Just keep coming back.

 

[DivineFiliation]

I feel compelled to respond to this thread. I am a grateful member of Al-anon, and have been for over a year. My husband is an active alcoholic. Before attending Al-anon meetings and getting support from others who have lived with alcoholics, I didn't believe it was possible to continue to live happily with my husband. Al-anon has brought me closer to God and for that I am grateful. I strongly recommend Al-anon for friends and family of addicts.

 

[aanjt]

There is an NA place near my home (about 2 miles). I told my son that when he gets out of the hospital (which it sounds like it will be awhile) that I will be taking him there. My husband asked me what if he doesn't want to go. I told my husband that it doesn't matter if he sits there and says nothing for a year, I will take him because he needs to find someone who he can talk to, relate to, a mentor, something. The only way he is going to find that is if he goes. I also suggested to my husband that what if he doesn't want to go because he doesn't know what to expect, it's new, etc. How will he get a support system outside of family if we do not take him to a place where he could get a support system. I'm not sure how this sounds to you here, but he is 13 and 13 year olds can be rebellious of what their parents want for them. I know he will have to do this on his own, but maybe after going to meetings for awhile, he will be able to open up and start to trust those there and find someone or several people he is able to talk to, someone he can call on.

Oh, to the poster that said you didn't join until you were 26, what do you think would have happened if your parents took you to the meetings when you were 13? Do you think that eventually you would have develop some kind of relationship (friendship, mentor, etc) before reaching adulthood? Besides maybe being resentful at first, do you think it would have eventually helped you sooner than 26? I know this is looking back and speculating and I know that is hard to do. Also, how bad is bad? How ugly is ugly? I really do not think I would be able to take another night like last Wednesday night. That was really too much for me and my other children (they were in tears because of the whole thing that happened).

Btw, I printed out those pamphlets on that NA site. Thank you very much! I'll check into the Nar-anon.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

 

[chilehed]

I'm sure it couldn't have hurt. You also need to go to AL-Anon or Nar-Anon and find a sponsor.

I need to be brief right now - it'll be a couple of days before I can log back on. I'll be back, God willing, and my prayers are with you.

 

[aanjt]

I'm sure it couldn't have hurt. You also need to go to AL-Anon or Nar-Anon and find a sponsor.

I need to be brief right now - it'll be a couple of days before I can log back on. I'll be back, God willing, and my prayers are with you.

Thank you.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

 

[aanjt]

I wanted to give an update.

My son has asked me if I will take him to this 12-step program that is geared towards adolescents. He said he really wants to go. I'm so glad to hear that! Music to my ears! Also, my son has been diagnosed with bi-polar. Anyone here who has this? He is on depakote for this. Is there anything that I should know that would be useful? The only thing that I had is MDD. I don't know what it is like to be bi-polar since when I have my depression, it is a constant low. Any help is appreciated.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

 

[chilehed]

GREAT – I’m so glad to hear that he’s interested in going! I’m afraid I don’t know anything about bipolar, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it contributes to the addiction.

Would NA have helped me at the start? Yeah, I really think it would have. I know that I was emotionally pathologic before I ever started using drugs. In fact, when I first started using, a big reinforcement was that it helped me feel like I fit in, with ready-made conversation, well-defined rituals and a hazy sense of well-being. Drugs seemed to work, and it wasn’t until later that I found out what an insidious trap they are, but by that time I had lost the ability to recognize it, much less do anything about it. What they really did was to deepen and entrench my spiritual illnesses. If I had been able to get some help at the beginning with all of my internal confusion I might not have needed to turn to drugs, or at least my drug use may have ended sooner. Unfortunately my dad was an active alcoholic and I got lost.

So the most important thing you can do for your son is to get yourself to an Al-Anon meeting TODAY, ask for help, and keep going back on a regular basis (like every day). More than anything he needs his parents to have their heads screwed on straight and tight about how to deal with this when he gets out. I’m sure you are totally mystified by how all this happened – how are you supposed to understand and respond to insane behavior? Are you somehow contributing to it? You probably don’t think so but how do you know? You can’t possibly find good answers to these questions by yourself, so you need to have a support system of people who’ve been dealing with this and who can share their experience, strength and hope with you. As you said, ultimately he’ll answer to the Lord himself, but he doesn’t have to deal with this alone. He has you, and he needs you.



How bad and ugly did it get for me?

By the time I got out of high school I was smoking an ounce of pot a week, plus doing hash, speed, downers, Quaaludes, and acid on a fairly regular basis. I’d tried opium (which would have become regular thing if I’d been able to find any more), PCP, mushrooms, ether, chloroform, and butyl nitrate, and in college I added MDA and some early designer drugs. I tried inhalants like ether and chloroform, and stimulants like amyl and butyl nitrate. I was drinking every day; a weeks total would have been at least a case of beer and a bottle of hard liquor. I also had a short encounter with morphine, which thank God didn’t happen until the end when I was getting tired of it all and had enough sense to be scared to death of it after I found out how powerful the high was. And that's just what I can remember.

I should have flunked out of high school, but didn’t for some unexplainable reason. I dropped out of college. I bounced from one minimum-wage job to another. I slept on park benches a bit. I pulled a gun on someone over a 5-dollar bag of dope.

I alienated myself from every healthy person I’d ever known, and became the person my parents had warned me about when I was a kid. I stopped talking to my family. I took pleasure in inflicting emotional cruelty on others. My life was pretty much about getting high, getting laid (trying to, anyway) and driving too fast, and figuring out how to do it more. I literally came within inches and/or seconds of death more times than I can remember. Friends and acquaintances of mine died due to accidents, overdoses and bad drugs (some of which I was doing myself).

When the parties ended and I was alone with my thoughts at night, I knew that my life was as dry and empty as a tomb. I felt like garbage wrapped in skin, and yet didn’t know why because I was somehow able to tell myself that I was basically a good guy.

That’s plenty bad enough, even for a short and colorless summary, but I know people with stories that sound far worse than mine. My point isn’t about how bad it can get, but about how much hope there is that, no matter how bad it is, recovery is possible.

By the grace of God, in NA I stopped using and lost the desire to use. I went back to school and got a degree in engineering - graduated with honors, fifth in my class. I came back to Jesus, and am about to enter the Catholic Church. I have a beautiful family, life is good and I’m joyful. I speak to my parents and siblings, and they tell me how proud they are of me. People who meet me cannot picture me as a drug user. I’m a Cub Scout leader.

Don’t lose hope – turn to the Lord. One night I asked Him for help, and eventually I found myself in NA. I believe that it was no coincidence, and it’s really true that He can make everything work for the good of those who love Him, for the praise and glory of His name. Just keep coming back.