Let's chat!

Ok, that was a bust. In an hour only 3 people got to share because typing takes some people a long time (resentment!). They didn't really have a topic, per se. I mean, they said it was First Things First, but no one really talked about that. But, it's interesting to try something out for the first time. If I had a broken leg and couldn't get to meetings any other way, then I would definitely use it again. You still get to hear How It Works, and there's always some sort of AA-ness about it, even online.

One thing they did discuss is someone's friend was sponsoring a guy who then killed himself. Said sponsor is now back to drinking, blaming himself for the suicide. Her point was we are just alcoholics helping others, not trained professionals, and people need to get help where they need it, not just from AA. Good point, but I wonder the correlation between alcoholics and suicide. Is an alcoholic more likely to commit suicide (because of the damage done to their brain by drinking, perhaps?), or is a depressed person more likely to take up alcohol?

Apparently, "Alcoholics who live alone, and those who have personality disorders, are up to ten times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population." We may never know if alcohol or depression came first, but the suicide rates are both high (though in mental illness the rate is more like 20x the general population).