People are drinking alcohol-based mouthwash because it’s now cheaper than regular alcoholic drinks in some parts of Australia.
Health workers have warned that they risk serious consequences, even death
Street cleaners lately have been stumbling on scores of empty bottles of a popular mouthwash, which is nearly 30 per cent pure alcohol.
And in the space of a [...]

Recovery through the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
Sgt. Bill S., used a one word summary to describe the basic principle (as he saw it) behind each of the 12 Steps, when he was giving talks to military personnel about alcoholism at Lackland in San Antonio, Texas, during the 1950’s and later on in California.
In the [...]

Mental obsession Bill W. a
co-founder of Alcoholics
Anonymous answers
questions about alcoholism
in a discussion in 1960.
Question; Bill, could you
explain what you mean by
“mental obsession”? What
is this? Bill W.: Well, as I
understand it, we are all
born with a certain amount
of freedom of choice. The
degree of this varies from
person to person, and from
area to area in our lives. In
the case of neurotic
people, our instincts take
on certain patterns and
directions, sometimes so
compulsive they cannot be
broken by any ordinary
effort of the will. The
alcoholic’;s compulsion to
drink is like that.

Alcoholism - Disease,
Illness or Malady Bill W. a
co-founder of Alcoholics
Anonymous answers
questions about alcoholism
in a discussion in 1960.
Question; Bill, I noticed
that in your talk you did
not use the word
‘disease.’; Did you intend
to make any kind of
distinction between disease
and sickness? Bill W: We
Aas have never called
alcoholism a disease
because, technically
speaking, it is not a disease
entity. For example, there
is no such thing as heart
disease. Instead there are
many separate heart
ailments or combinations of
them. It is something like
that with alcoholism.
Therefore, we did not wish
to get in

Relapse, Slips and Busts Bill
W. a co-founder of
Alcoholics Anonymous
answers questions about
alcoholism in a discussion in
1960. Question; What
about slips in general? You
must have witnessed a lot
of them. Bill W.: The
subject of slips is a very
large one. It takes in a lot
of territory. Slips can often
be charged to rebellion and
some of us surely are more
rebellious than others. Slips
can be charged to
carelessness, to
complacency. Many of us
fail to ride out such periods
sober. Slips are due to the
illusion that one can be
“cured” of alcoholism.
Things go fine for two or
three

Alcohol and Seniors People
are living longer and are
generally healthier. This
means that seniors are
making up a larger portion
of our population. Although
alcohol use typically
declines with age, some
seniors may be at risk for
alcohol-related problems.
What Makes Alcohol an
Issue for Seniors? Alcohol
has a greater effect on
seniors because
metabolism changes as we
age. Older people are more
sensitive to the effects of
alcohol, and a little will go a
long way. Seniors generally
take more medications than
other adults. Mixing alcohol
with either prescription or
over-the-counter drugs is
unwise and can be
dangerous. The
development of age-
related health problems
can cause anxiety and
drinking

Know when it’;s time to fire
your doctor CNN reports
on what to do when your
doctor is not paying
attention. Dr. Jerome
Groopman knew he needed
to break up with his doctor.
Groopman is not alone. “I
really think it’;s a fear of
the unknown,” says Robin
DiMatteo, a researcher at
the University of California
at Riverside who’;s studied
doctor-patient
communication. “But if the
doctor isn’;t supporting
your healing or health, you
should go.” 1. When your
doctor doesn’;t like it when
you ask questions 2. When
your doctor doesn’;t listen
to you 3. If your doctor
can’;t explain your illness

Alcoholic defined “If, when
you honestly want to, you
find you cannot quit
entirely, or if when
drinking, you have little
control over the amount
you take, you are probably
alcoholic. If that be the
case, you may be suffering
from an illness which only a
spiritual experience will
conquer.” ~Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition,
We Agnostics, pg. 44~

A Prayer for All Seasons
“The power of [The
Serenity Prayer] is
overwhelming in that its
simple beauty parallels the
A.A. Fellowship. There are
times when I get stuck
while reciting it, but if I
examine the section which
is troubling me, I find the
answer to my problem….
By accepting life as it is, I
gain serenity. By taking
action, I gain courage and
I thank my Higher Power
for the ability to distinguish
between those situations I
can work on, and those I
must turn over. All that I
have now is a gift from my
Higher Power: my life, my
usefulness, my

Jill C’;s Recovery Story I
Found My True Self I grew
up in a middle-class family
in Australia. We had a
three-story home with an
indoor swimming pool and I
had a pony. But home was
not as it looked from the
outside. Not How It Looked
My family looked very
successful, but my mother
drank alcohol daily and my
dad drank beer and got
drunk. Mum and Dad had
weekly arguments. My
brother was a qualified
Chemist at 21. He
committed suicide one
night- the disease got him.
It took me years to seek
my own recovery after two
marriage break-ups, loss of
homes and a life of
unmanageability that