Am I an alcoholic?
If you repeatedly drink more than you intended or wanted, if you get into trouble or if you lose your memory, you may be an alcoholic. Only you yourself can decide that. In AA, no one wants to say. are you an alcoholic or not.

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What can I do if I'm worried about my drinking?
Seek help. AA can help

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What is AA?
* We form a fellowship of men and women who have lost the ability to regulate their drinking and have gotten into many kinds of difficulties as a result of drinking.
* Now most of us have successfully developed a lifestyle without alcohol.
* In order to succeed in this, we have found it necessary to get help and support from other alcoholics in AA.

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If I join an AA group, does that oblige me to do anything?
No. AA does not maintain membership cards or lists of participants. You don't have to tell anything about yourself. No one will mind if you don't want to come again.

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What happens if I meet people I know in AA?
* They are there for the same reason as you.
* They don't tell outsiders about you.
* In AA you can remain as anonymous as you want.
* This is one of the reasons why we call ourselves Alcoholics Anonymous.

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What happens at an AA group meeting?
The meetings of the AA group can be different, but in each of them you meet alcoholics who tell you what drinking did to their lives and their personalities, what measures they needed to help and how they live now.

How can this help me with my drinking problem?

As alcoholics, we know what it's like to be a slave to alcohol and unable to keep promises to stop drinking. We are not professionals. The only requirement for us to help others recover from alcoholism is that we ourselves have stopped drinking. When a problem drinker comes to AA, they know recovery is possible when they see people who have found a solution in AA.

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Why do AA members still go to groups after recovery?
In AA, we believe that alcoholism cannot be cured by any set of fixed-term treatments. We can never go back to normal drinking and our ability to stay away from alcohol depends on continued physical, mental and spiritual health. We can achieve this by attending meetings and putting into practice what we have learned in them. We also note that it makes it easier for us to stay sober if we help other alcoholics.

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How can I join AA?
You are a member of AA if you say so yourself. The only requirement for membership in AA is a desire to stop drinking, and not many of us were wholeheartedly willing to do that when we first joined AA.

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What does AA membership cost?
There are no obligations or membership fees for AA membership. In the AA group, collection is done during the meeting. Its income pays for the group's expenses, such as rent, coffee and so on. Each member has the freedom to participate in them with the amount he determines or not to participate.

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Is AA a religious movement?
No. It is not affiliated with any religious community.

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There's a lot of talk about God though, isn't there?
The majority of AA members believe they have found a solution to their drinking problem, not by using willpower, but by a force greater than ourselves. However, everyone defines this power in the way they want. Many call it god, others think it's an AA group. There are also those who refuse to believe in anything. All views have a place in AA. There is more information about this concept of God in the attached appendix.

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Can I bring my family to an AA meeting?
Family members or close friends are welcome to open meetings. Only alcoholics are welcome to closed meetings. AA's open meetings and information sessions are meetings that anyone can participate in, alcoholic or not. The only thing he is required to do is not to reveal the names of AA members outside of the meeting.
At the same time, the aim is to get speakers who represent alcoholic beverages that have developed in different circumstances and manifested in different ways. At the end of the meeting, there is usually free gathering and discussion.

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Only alcoholics are allowed to participate in a closed meeting, an AA meeting. The purpose of the closed meeting is to provide AA members with an opportunity to discuss certain stages of their alcoholism that can only be understood by other alcoholics. These meetings are usually as informal as possible and every member is expected to contribute to the discussion.

Closed meetings are very important for a new member because they have the opportunity to ask questions about things that are pressing on them and learn from the experiences of members who have been sober for longer.

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Can I bring relatives and acquaintances to an AA meeting?
Anyone interested in the AA community is welcome to attend open meetings and information sessions organized by AA groups. In particular, new members are encouraged to bring their wives, husbands or friends, because it can be of great help to an alcoholic's recovery if their loved ones are familiar with the AA program. Many alcoholic wives and husbands attend these meetings as often as opportunities arise. It should be reiterated that, in accordance with AA traditions, no one but alcoholics can participate in closed meetings.

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What advice do you give to new AA members?
In our experience, people who recover in AA are those who a) abstain from the first drink, b) attend meetings regularly, c) find a support person in AA who has continued sobriety for several years, and d) try to put the AA recovery program into practice.

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Alcoholism is a constantly worsening disease. Take it seriously, even if you feel that you are only in the early stages of the disease. Alcoholism kills people. If you are an alcoholic and continue to drink, your physical and mental health will continue to deteriorate.