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The book contends that it is impossible for an alcoholic to quit drinking by oneself. A new attitude or set of values also would not help. Whosoever is an alcoholic must admit that they cannot help themselves alone. Only a "higher power" and the community can help. An example of a man named Fred is given, who had no control over his drinking, but finally leads an "infinitely more satisfying life" than before thanks to the previously unexplained principles of AA. In the introduction to the Big Book, William Duncan Silkworth, M.D., a specialist in the treatment of alcoholism, endorses the AA program after treating Bill W., the founder of AA, and other apparently hopeless alcoholics who then regained their health by joining the AA fellowship. "For most cases," Silkworth claimed, "there is no other solution" than a spiritual solution. Today "many doctors and psychiatrists" confirm the effects of AA. [15] Reception [ edit ] First edition [ edit ]
Anonymous (1976). Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism, 3rd ed. A.A. World Services. ISBN 9780916856182. OCLC 221382036.However, not all reviewers, especially those in the medical field, found merit in the book. The review that appeared in the October 1939 volume of the Journal of the American Medical Association called the book "a curious combination of organizing propaganda and religious exhortation…in no sense a scientific book." [20] Similarly, the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease said The Big Book was "big in words…a rambling sort of camp meeting…Of the inner meaning of alcoholism there is hardly a word. It is all on the surface material." [21] This review went on to "degrade" the alcoholic: "Inasmuch as the alcoholic, speaking generally, lives a wish-fulfilling infantile regression to the omnipotent delusional state, perhaps he is best handled for the time being at least by regressive mass psychological methods, in which, as is realized, religious fervors belong, hence the religious trend of the book." The views about the book and about alcoholism espoused in these two journals was typical of how alcoholics and other addicts were viewed by many in the psychiatric field during the middle of the 20th century. [22] Later editions [ edit ] Anonymous (2001). Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism, 4th ed. A.A. World Services. OCLC 49743393. Alcoholics Anonymous. Pass it On The Story of Bill Wilson and How The A.A. Message Reached the World, New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1984.
Foderaro, Lisa W. (2007-07-06). "Alcoholics Anonymous Founder's House Is a Self-Help Landmark". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-11-01. The main goal of the book is to make it possible for the reader to find a power greater than himself to solve his problem. The writers indicate that an alcoholic "of our type" can under no circumstances become a moderate drinker: only abstinence and the understanding of the community of alcoholics can lead to recovery. By way of anecdotal evidence, the example is provided of a man who, after 25 years sobriety, began to drink moderately and within two months landed in hospital. The reasoning is that once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Unrivalled Expertise Only one UK manufacturer has the extensive product range and sector expertise necessary to offer a solution for every bathroom and washroom. From the refurbishment of a single domestic bathroom, large scale housing developments to major commercial construction projects, Ideal Standard and Armitage Shanks are unrivalled. Does this text adequately reflect how Alcoholics Anonymous and other self-help groups currently practice?Before the publication of The Big Book, alcoholism in America was viewed largely as it had been in the 19th century. [22] The temperance movements of the 19th century and the recent experiment with Prohibition focused on the individual, promoted by "degenerationism, the theory that biological factors, toxic environmental influences or moral vices may trigger a cascade of social, moral and medical problems". This theory was a holdover from the pre-Darwinian belief that offspring inherited acquired character traits from their parents, although this is now well evidenced in the scientific literature. The increase in scientific knowledge in the early 20th century led to questions about this view of alcoholics, but the view still dominated for the first 30 years of the century. A decisive turn toward seeing alcoholism as a disease was the publication of The Big Book and the founding of A.A. [22] See also [ edit ] Big Book Online" (4thed.). AA.org. Archived from the original on 2006-03-30 . Retrieved 2013-03-14.
Abraham Twerski was the most positive of the three experts, claiming that "the continuing relevance of the Big Book to today's alcoholic is precisely due to the fact that it does not seek to treat nor teach by its contents. Rather, it is a description of a program that is effective, and provides testimonials of people whom the program has helped." Twerski also praised the ability of the 12-step program to treat other addictions as well "because the 12-steps are a protocol for personality, for growth, and for self-realization, a process of value to even the non-alcoholic or non-addicted individual." Twerski's praise is most easily summed up with his conclusion that "the Big Book and A.A. remain as effective today as the day they came into being, and are likely to remain unfettered by the continuing passage of time." [24] Legacy [ edit ] Self-Help/ Instructional: The Big Book by Alcoholics Anonymous". TIME. August 30, 2011. Archived from the original on August 31, 2011. In your opinion, does the Big Book represent an effective therapeutic model for alcoholism and/or other addictive behaviours? G. Alan Marlatt also questioned the necessity of a need for a Higher Power but concluded that he was "impressed with the amazing success of A.A. over the past 50 years of its existence. If alcoholism is really a disease of the spirit (for which alcohol is no real solution), then it makes sense that the religious fellowship of A.A. provides fulfillment of the alcoholic's underlying craving for union with a Higher Power. Especially if it keeps its members sober, which A.A. often does." [24]a b c Mann, Karl; Hermann, Derik; Heinz, Andreas (January 2000). "Karl Mann, Derik Hermann, and Andreas Heinz, "One Hundred Years of Alcoholism: The Twentieth Century," Alcohol and Alcoholism, (2000) 35 (1):10-15". Alcohol and Alcoholism. 35 (1): 10–15. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/35.1.10. PMID 10684770. Marc Galanter; Herbert Kleber (2008). "The History of AA". The American Psychiatric Publishing textbook of substance abuse treatment. American Psychiatric Pub. p.503. ISBN 978-1-58562-276-4. Is the therapeutic approach to alcoholism as depicted in this text consistent with contemporary efforts to treating addictive behaviours like alcoholism?
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