selfjojon.docx
Self-Help Group Reflection
The meeting held by our team was dedicated to the issue of alcoholism and its place in the modern society. Thus, we have met with the alcoholics and their families. The meeting lasted for one hour. At the beginning of the gathering, Meeting Manager welcomed the audience in the friendly and warm way and put the emphasis on the importance of this meeting. In addition to this, he reminded the main principals of our teamwork that made the essence of our current meeting. These were such principles as strong sponsorship, group unity and, last, but not least, family recovery. Each of them made its contribution to the success of the team. The discussion began when everyone started mentioning his or her name and the reason why this person has given up consuming alcohol beverages for good. Then the minute silence took place. It was crucial for maintaining the team spirit and establishing the positive, friendly atmosphere in the room. Moreover, the minute silence helped us feel that all of us were spiritually united. I should claim that the meeting appeared successful indeed, as we managed to speak with everyone who was present there. It was extremely hard and tremendous for us to see all the despair and sufferings in the eyes of those people addicted to alcoholism. The impact done by alcoholism to the families of those people cannot be underestimated as well. I asked one participant about the relationship between the religion and alcohol addiction, and this person answered that the power of almighty Lord made him strong enough to face this problem bravely. Even though he used to run away from the problems of everyday life instead of searching for help in God’s bless and the support of the family and friends, he understood that the only path is the one that leads to God.
The author of the book addresses to those wives whose husbands experience strong alcohol addiction that does great harm to the couple’s family life. One may come across the piece of information about the four types of alcohol addicted husbands. The first type is presented as the one that concerns those heavy drinkers that can be the source of embarrassment for their relatives and family. This is perhaps the least dangerous type of drunkards because there is always a choice for them to stop this addiction and to take control over the case. The representatives of the second type are that alcohol addicted men that may be described as generally ill-mannered and bad-intentioned. However, they cannot be called the lost ones because there is still something to make them get rid of their strong addiction. For instance, in such cases when husbands show a considerable lack of control and get absolutely out of hand when drinking, wives are supposed to understand that men can experience a deep psychological crisis. Hence, as a matter of fact, alcohol addicted men can lose their friends and experiences the bursts of depression. These men need strong support from their wives because they still can get the control over the hard situation and give up drinking. The third type is represented by the men those level of addiction is deeper that with those two mentioned above. Sometimes, such men may feel a strong will to stop drinking but have no power and self-control to make this intention come true. Such situation is more or less hopeful, even though it requires more serious treatment of the problem. The fourth type of alcohol addicted men includes those who seem completely helpless and whose wives feel absolutely in despair about them. For example, such men may drink just on their way home from the hospital. Still, the picture may not be as gloomy as it seems at first sight