NA Basic Text 6th edition, Study notes of Psychology

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NARCOTICS

ANONYMOUS

NARCOTICS

ANONYMOUS

Sixth Edition

Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Chatsworth, California

FELL

OWSHIP

APPROVED

FELLOWSHIP AP PROVED

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions reprinted for adaptation by permission of AA World Services, Inc.

Copyright © 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2008 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

World Service Office PO Box 9999 Van Nuys, CA 91409, USA Tel 818.773.9999 Fax 818.700. Website: www.na.org

World Service Office–EUROPE 48 Rue de l’ Été B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel +32/2/646 6012 Fax +32/2/649 9239

World Service Office–CANADA 150 Britannia Rd. E. Unit 21 Mississauga, Ontario, L4Z 2A4, Canada Tel 905.507.0100 Fax 905.507.

Published 1983. Second Edition 1983. Third Edition 1984. Third Edition (Revised) 1986. Fourth Edition 1987. Fifth Edition 1988. Sixth Edition 2008.

Printed in China.

ISBN 9781557767349 (Hardcover) WSO Catalog Item No. EN- ISBN 9781557767356 (Softcover) WSO Catalog Item No. EN- ISBN 9781557767868 (Pocket-sized Softcover) WSO Catalog Item No. EN- ISBN 9781557767851 (Gift Edition) WSO Catalog Item No. EN-

This is NA Fellowship-approved literature.

Narcotics Anonymous, and The NA Way are registered trademarks of Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Incorporated.

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vi

Our Members Share

Introduction to Our Members Share ..........................................

Beginnings

Reflections ...................................................................................... The short passages that begin this section are excerpted from sto- ries in previous editions of the Basic Text.

I Found the Only NA Meeting in the World ............................. When he was using he went from one “mother” to another—from his mother’s house to the military to marriage—until his wife tired of the insanity and found the only NA meeting in the world. In his story from our First Edition, this addict admits that it took him time but finally he learned to take action and be responsible for himself.

Mid-Pacific Serenity ...................................................................... He lived in a place that many call paradise, but in his story from our First Edition, this beachcomber shares that for an addict, “skid row is in the mind.” Through NA, he has found a sense of peace and a new way of life.

If You Want What We Have ......................................................... After a lifetime of using, this “southern gentleman” learned that the most gracious thing he could do was open the doors to an NA meeting. In this story from our First Edition, he recalls that the first time a man told him he loved him was in Narcotics Anony- mous.

Fearful Mother ............................................................................... In this story originally published in our Little White Book and added to the Basic Text at the Second Edition, a mother learns that she can come out of the paralyzing fear of addiction and turn her whole life around. She claims her seat as a woman in NA and hopes that one day more women will find recovery.

Jails, Institutions, and Recovery ................................................. This addict found freedom behind bars through the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous. This is a story from our First Edition.

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I Was Different .............................................................................. Not all addicts reach jails or institutions in order to hit their bot- tom. In his story, originally published in the Little White Book and later included in our Second Edition, this “different” addict ex- plains that his disease kept him confined to a life of fear and loneli- ness. He found serenity in a simple life in Narcotics Anonymous.

Coming Home

Reflections ...................................................................................... These snapshots of our members’ experiences finding NA are meant to be similar to the sharing at a topic meeting.

Start a Meeting, They Will Come ............................................... He checked himself into treatment to avoid prison, but while he was there he found hope in the pages of a Basic Text. There was no NA in his part of rural Illinois, so he started a meeting and he’s stayed clean through his own growing pains and those of the fellowship.

The Point......................................................................................... This addict from the “wrong side” of Chicago’s south side lost his best friend and his marriage to the disease of addiction. Recovery hasn’t restored the things he’s lost, but it has helped him make amends.

Carrying the Message .................................................................. They used together and got clean together, but this addict got ac- tive in the program and his brother did not. This Saudi Arabian member found in the loss of his brother a powerful drive to carry the message.

Young Addict, Young NA Fellowship Grow Up Together ....................................................................... She found NA when she was only fifteen. From her very first meet- ing, she knew NA was where she needed to be. Now, more than twenty years later, she’s gone from a hostile, wasted teenager to a grateful member of the program.

A Brazilian Full of It! .................................................................... As an entertainer she traveled the world, but found herself in the isolation of addiction wherever she went. This dancer found grace out of the spotlight, in the rooms of NA.

Another Chance to Live ............................................................... When he reached the point where he couldn’t live with or with- out drugs, this Australian addict attempted suicide. He survived through grace, and now he’s been clean more than sixteen years.

At the End of the Road ................................................................ She thought she was a traveler, but it was really a need to escape herself. This addict from Norway found her way home on a Medi- terranean island.

Regardless of …

Reflections ...................................................................................... These members share briefly about finding recovery in NA “re- gardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion.”

Finally Connected ........................................................................ After a lifetime of feeling different, this lesbian addict found the key to connection in a common needs workshop.

One Third Step for Me, One Giant Leap for My Recovery .............................................. Addiction took him away from his Orthodox Jewish roots, but recovery helped him forge a new relationship with a God of his understanding.

Kia Ora Koutou ............................................................................ NA’s message got through to this Maori addict. She got clean out of spite, but she stayed clean because of hope.

Growing Up in NA ...................................................................... When she got clean at sixteen in Chicago, she had no way of know- ing that more than twenty years later she would wind up in Italy, feeling how service connects us all.

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A Serene Heart ............................................................................... At nine years clean, he was diagnosed with depression and schizo- phrenia, diseases he continues to treat with medication and thera- py. This addict learned that while mental illness is an outside issue in NA, dealing with it in his personal recovery is very much an inside issue for him.

From Gang Leader to Meeting Leader ...................................... As an African American gang member, he didn’t think he had a future. But NA kept its promise, and now he has eight years clean and the life he always wanted.

Terminally Unique ....................................................................... Because she is HIV-positive, this transsexual addict was nearly denied surgery. Waiting helped her build a stronger relationship with a Higher Power.

A Textbook Case ........................................................................... This Iroquois descendant ended up in an institution for “hard cases.” When NA members brought a meeting in and shared, it was like seeing himself in the mirror for the first time.

Atheists Recover Too ................................................................... The process of recovery and the spiritual principles of NA are a power greater than himself for this atheist addict.

Never Alone .................................................................................. She got clean with her husband of twenty years, and eight years later nursed him through terminal cancer while both of her parents were terminally ill. Now, at sixty-one, she shares that the program can help any of us, regardless of age or circumstance.

Regardless of Age.......................................................................... The youngest person in the room, this addict still felt a connection right away and over time came to realize that recovery from addic- tion is a bond that transcends age.

Academic Addict .......................................................................... As a PhD student in pharmacology, his knowledge of drugs almost killed him. Now he is a professor with more than twenty years clean and an understanding that recovery is not a science.

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God Walked In .............................................................................. Among the challenges this addict has faced in his thirty years clean are cancer and open-heart surgery. From it all, he has learned about surrender and love.

One Potato .................................................................................... Writing her story from a hospice, this HIV-positive lesbian tells how she survived great adversity to find grace in some unlikely places.

Mosaic ............................................................................................. Neither the military nor prison nor hospitalization helped this Russian addict clean up until some members brought a meeting—and a Basic Text—to the hospital. Reading the book gave him the willingness to try the NA way. Now he’s been clean and working the steps for five years.

Family Disease, Family Recovery .............................................. As a parent, sometimes recovery means accepting your children’s disease as well. This woman helped her sons find their way home.

Enough ........................................................................................... This Canadian addict had years clean before he was willing to face his addictive behavior in recovery. He now knows he doesn’t have to talk clean and live dirty anymore.

It Is Worth It ................................................................................... He enlisted in the navy to avoid a second jail term, but kept us- ing until he finally hit a bottom. He got clean when NA was new in Colombia, and twenty years later, he and the fellowship have grown up together.

Becoming Whole .......................................................................... Addiction is not the only disease this member has had to deal with. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, she has journeyed in recovery from suicidal patient to mental health counselor.

The Good We Do .......................................................................... A string of “coincidences” led this addict to find a sponsor and to see that our acts of service can have far-reaching effects.

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Sacred Places Inside ..................................................................... She was one of the first women in Iran NA when she got clean. Five years later, the fellowship had grown, but she had drifted away from the program. When her husband died, she relapsed. Now, clean again, she has true peace and self-respect.

I’m So Grateful that God Still Hears an Addict’s Prayer ........ Recovery has allowed this inner-city addict to get an education and a rewarding career. Through giving back, he found that his relationship with his community and his God are the keys to real success.

Speaking Up .................................................................................. This member from Ireland grew up quiet and withdrawn, but re- covery helped him overcome his fear of speaking in public to find his voice and himself.

NA Is a Road Map ......................................................................... This Portuguese addict was planning to abandon his young daughter and go buy drugs when a group of NA members invited him to a meeting. Now his daughter is grown and sees what NA has taught him about intimacy, respect, and love.

The Gratitude Side of Circumstance ......................................... His recovery journey brought him from a job as a pharmacist to one working alongside recovering addicts and has given him the tools to deal with life’s challenges—illness, grief, and intimacy.

Index ...............................................................................................

xiii

Our Symbol

Simplicity is the key to our symbol; it imitates the simplicity of

our Fellowship. All sorts of occult and esoteric connotations can be found in its simple outlines, but foremost in the minds of the Fellowship are easily understood meanings and relationships. The outer circle denotes a universal and total program that has room within it for all manifestations of the recovering person. The square, whose lines are defined, is easily seen and un- derstood, but there are other unseen parts of the symbol. The square base denotes Good will, the ground of both the Fellow- ship and the members of our society. Good will is best exempli- fied in service; proper service is “Doing the right thing for the right reason.” When Good will supports and motivates both the individual and the Fellowship, we are fully whole and wholly free. Probably the last to be lost to freedom will be the stigma of being an addict. It is the four pyramid sides that rise from the base in a three- dimensional figure that represent Self, Society, Service, and God. All rise to the point of Freedom. All parts are closely related to the needs and aims of the addict who is seeking recovery, and to the purpose of the Fellowship which is to make recovery avail- able to all. The greater the base, (as we grow in unity in numbers and in fellowship) the broader the sides of the pyramid, and the higher the point of freedom.

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NA program regardless of how long we have been clean or what life situation we are facing. Over the decades our members have lived a lot of life on life’s terms and have learned a lot about what it means to recover from addiction in that context. Now, with the publication of our Sixth Edition Basic Text, we can say NA has, in many respects, come of age. That process has not been without growing pains, however. From 1983 to 1988, we published five editions and a revision of the Basic Text. For years afterward, the fellowship as a whole was unwilling to under- take another revision. Many of us thought we would never see the day that a new edition of the Basic Text could be welcomed by the fellowship. And so, the publication of a Sixth Edition is something to celebrate and a real marker of our ability, as a fel- lowship, to grow and change. Chapters One through Ten remain as they were in the Fifth Edition. These ten chapters speak to many of us in a way that no other literature does, in a voice that is difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate. What is significantly different in the Sixth Edition text, however, in addition to this new preface, is the personal ex- perience that follows Chapters One through Ten. It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which the face of NA has changed over the years, and this new edition doesn’t pretend to be a mirror, reflecting back a perfect image of our membership. But it does aim to represent the richness of our dif- ferences as well as it can. The Basic Text already tells us that any addict is welcome in NA regardless of what we look like, how old we are, and what kind of spiritual beliefs we hold. Addic- tion is a disease that does not discriminate, and neither does the program of NA. Admittedly there is a stereotype of the “typi- cal” candidate for NA—urban, criminal, a needle-user—and that narrow vision does describe some of us, but we are also professionals, and parents, and students, and so on, living in cit- ies, small towns, and rural communities in countries all over the world. We can only hope to gesture at our diversity in the space

xviii Narcotics Anonymous

of one book. Even our name itself, Narcotics Anonymous, may not fully describe our membership. Addiction has nothing to do with where we come from or the specific substances we used. Our members come from every walk of life. We are not con- tained within political or geographic boundaries, nor are we limited by any individual differences in faith or philosophy. No matter what conflicts are unfolding in the world at large, we as- pire to an ideal of unity: Our common welfare should come first. Our text explains that this unity of purpose helps us “to achieve the true spirit of anonymity” where all of us are equal as mem- bers of the group. With that as our foundation, we as individual recovering addicts are each able to find our own distinct voice and to sing a song that is uniquely ours. This new edition pre- sents some of those voices. We hope the Sixth Edition Basic Text will offer a vision of re- covery for addicts around the world—those who have already found the rooms of NA and those who will walk through our doors tomorrow. Over the years our fellowship has changed and our literature has expanded and been revised, but the message remains the same: An addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live. You are wel- come here. Please stay and be part of our growth, change, and recovery.

Preface to the Sixth Edition xix