By Colin McGregor
Alcoholics Anonymous has existed since 1935, when two Vermont-born men, Bill W. a stockbroker and Dr. Bob, a surgeon, met. They were both heavy drinkers at the time when they crossed paths in Akron, Ohio. They are the founders of the AA movement.
Both men had strong links with Quebec: Dr. Bob sold hardware in Montreal after he graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and before his medical studies. And in 1930, Bill W. worked for Montreal’s prestigious Greenshields brokerage firm, and lived in the swanky Gleneagles Apartments on Côte-des-Neiges. Sadly, Bill W. was fired from his job less than a year after joining the firm and fell into poverty during the Great Depression.
The Big Book, the bible of the AA movement, is available in more than 70 languages – in French since the 1950s. The first translation of the Big Book into French was done in Quebecois French.
AA’S program to escape alcoholism is composed of 12 steps. Basically, after having admitted that life has become unmanageable due to alcohol, members have to: 1) Do a personal inventory; 2) Admit their faults; 3) Make reparations whenever possible; 4) Pray and meditate; and 5) Transmit the message to others. For further information, including times and places of meetings, including those on Zoom, go to aa-quebec.org.
Al-Anon and Alateen
Al-Anon is a fellowship for everyone who has been affected by someone close’s drinking. They offer assistance through meetings in rooms, by phone or on the web. Al-Anon is linked with Alateen, which is for teenagers who are affected by another’s alcoholism. For more information: alanonalateenqcouest.org.
The idea of a twelve-step program is used by many other groups, like Cocaine Anonymous (CA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). There are several such programs to help those suffering from a variety of conditions, or who have a person close to them who is suffering. They include:
Cocaine Anonymous (CA): caquebec.org
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA): codacanada.ca
Emotions Anonymous (EA): emotionsanonymous.org
Gamblers Anonymous (GA): gamontreal.ca
Narcotics Anonymous (NA): naquebec.org
Overeaters Anonymous (OA): oamontrealenglish.org
Sexaholics Anonymous (SA): sa.org
Leave a Reply