The Promises

What a shame it was like that for you, Mass. How fortunate it isn't the same for everyone. I actually stopped feeling like crap and fear gave way to seeing another way to live. I am not afraid that I will die if I take a sip. I just think it is a place I am better off not to go. I loved our cheery and bright clubhouse, and I got lots of sunshine through doing a bunch of stuff with my sober peeps like boating, shelling, hitting the beach, hosting barbeque, moon drum sessions in the state park and other things... and I only now one person that drinks too many energy drinks. Maybe it is an east coast/west coast thing.

"Perhaps we could write a new form of Promises. Lets ask Gunthar to help with this one."

Instead of taking a caustic jab at AA's promises, why not write promises - or possibilities - for the way you do things? You know, more bees with honey and all that. Let's see how good your life is and how you got there. Can you do it without trying to destruct anyone or anything? Life's good, yeah?

Yes, that is why it is important to separate the program of AA from someone's personal experiences. AA has no position on medications other than recreational. That's true of most programs.

From: Anonymous
Date: Wed, 10 Sep XXXX

Hi Orange

Thank you for the most honest answers to all my questions I have had for a long time and no treatment centre was able to answer any of my questions but you have, and honestly too.

My best friend is addicted to heroin. The first rehab, we went to the first question, the therapist asks me, "What is your relationship with him", I tell them he is my best friend whom I love dearly and is in need of help, then I get interrogated for 3 hours as to whether I do drugs or not. Then it is time to pay, then I pay for the programme, pay up front is required or no admission allowed. I paid out of my own personal pocket as he had no medical insurance.

This is all done with friendliness and big smiles, "Let this be a new beginning."

Now the patient will be checked in. "Please say good bye, and no contact allowed for a period of 3 weeks. Please go to the family meetings provided by the clinic for family, friends, etc."

Wow!!!! I leave feeling very positive that this will work. By the way, the programme is based on the Betty Ford Clinic.

Now comes the fun and games. The friendliness disappears and any interference from me gets rebuked very rudely. "Please, you must stand back now and let us do our work."

In the car, when I left, the first thing that went through my mind was, "Hell, he is not a patient, but a client." That was my PHD in common sense speaking to me. My gut feeling says, "Something does not make sense here, but let's see what happens."

I go to the family meetings. I get handed a piece of paper and have to pay to enter the room. I pay. I read the paper. It says that I am powerless and unmanagable, and must surrender. Also I have a disease, addiction is a family disease, this disease I have is caring. This terrible incurable disease is called "codependency".

My friend also has a disease which is incurable, progressive, just like cancer etc.

Wow!!! This came as a shock — diseased. Is this contagious, this disease? They answer "Yes, if you do not follow the Steps."

At first, it made no sense, sick, a patient, I am sick. Sick from what? as I feel pretty healthy and am of sound mind and thinking...

Then, the more I listened, the picture became clearer, this is the sisterhood of the AA cult speaking. "Put them out in the street; Let go Let God; Your recovery comes first." Recovery from what sickness? I am not sick.

So my friend gets thrown out of the rehab No.1, before the programme treatment was finished, but they did not refund my money, because he was allowed to came back after 72 hours. Now I never brought him back after 72 hours, because these smucks knew he would relapse, and therefore their cash register gets full and their pay cheques are guaranteed at the end of the month. Now, the service I received after he was admitted was, this therapist tried to control me and tell me what to do. Take note: This happened after the receipt was written out, not before. Now my friend did relapse the minute he was thrown out.

Treatment No. 2, the same as above — pay up. Once paid, it's "Back off please, basically shut up and let us do our work. Go to the family meetings, you need to grow." Grow up from what? I am an adult, in fact a very mature adult.

So we continue and now we are at rehab No.7. Note: all 6 rehabs were 12 step based. The same psychobabble nonsense. I sit in the sister Naranon meetings thinking, "This is going to cure my friend?" How stupid when I think of it, now that I have a clearer picture. What an idiot I was.

They did brainwash me — I was going to give up on my friend, and I would have gone against everything I stand for, my values. It would have made me the most unhappy person to go against what I stand for, my principles, my values etc.

The cruelest trick of all is: "BREAK UP, PUT UP, SHUT UP, MAKE UP."
That is their motto. Despicable, absolutely despicable.

People are dying out there but the merry-go-round continues. Relapse, rehab, relapse, rehab, etc.

Rehab No 7. I ask, "Are they 12 step based?" "No, we work on the behaviour."

Okay, they say they will send an escort to fetch him. Wow!!! An escort, never heard off something like that before. They arrive all smiles, friendly. Please sign this acknowledgement of debt, and do not worry, we will obtain a court order for 2 years so he can't run away. I say goodbye to him.

I go visit after 4 weeks, but prior to visiting I speak to him on the phone and he says, "This is hell, please get me out of here." "All calls get monitered, by the way," he says. "Now I will get hell because I said these things about them." I drive 500km to visit him. I arrive and see his hair is all shaved off like some kind of animal. I inquire, and they answer that all is okay, he is doing fine, the counselors are very friendly. It gets explained to me, that I am dysfunctional because how can someone like me be attracted to someone like him. I explained that he is my best friend and I know him very well and he is my friend. They tell me no, he is self centered. I must practice tough love.

Okay, My next meeting I get told I enable, so I am just as sick as him, and in need of treatment. That was when I totally lost patience and said, "Listen, Mr. Therapist, if you for one minute think I am going to take your bait then you are so wrong."
Therapist says to me, "I have you just where I want you and it is uncomfortable hey."
I nearly smacked him and I should have. I said, "Wait a minute, nobody has ever got me where they want me."
He says that it is the truth, and my behaviour proves it, because why else would I react this way then? "Let go, let God, for Your will be alone, let him go. He is a child, and needs to grow."

Take note, the AA cult was speaking here.

Now comes a catch 22. That acknowledgement of debt I signed while I was so distraught about my friend when they came to fetch him actually guarantees them a payment of 1,000.00 $ per month for 2 years. What they are doing is making sure that all their so-called patients, TC, stay for 2 years and they will continously say they are not ready to go. Now that justifies their tactic. They have a social worker on their staff and she obtains the court order which gives them 2 years of payment. The court orders run for 2 years.

Also, they have group confessions, the groupie sessions. The one other person whom I know there is a patient's fiance. She and I are best friends. Her fiance will not be released because he supposedly needs to confront his father, and he now needs to tell this old man that it is all his fault that he is an addict, as it's in the genes. My heart out goes out to both of them, as he does not want to confront his dad, and now they are preventing his fiance from visiting due to the fact that he has not confronted his dad. Despicable, unethical.

This therapist is a clinical psychologist by the way. Now, I started to question them, this must have made them nervous as now all of a sudden, my friend wants no contact with me, as apparently he has grown now. The therapist says, "You see, he has grown and has left you behind." I asked the therapist in which has he grown, has he taken responsibility for his actions and standing on his own two feet? The answer was he has grown because he does not want to see you. Now all of a sudden my friend is hiding away from me in the boot camp because I am so persistent and do not give up. Now, is this brain washing or not?

If it were not for your web site I would have never known about all their games they play. The treatment is based on Synanon, so he is brainwashed but they get their 1,000.00 $ a month. After reading your site, I could not care jack shit about them. I am going to fetch him before I end up going to his funeral. Let this be an eye opener to all. They will sell you the same psychobabble nonsense over and over again. Never will they say, "Look, the treatment is not working, he is not responding, so let's try another option." No, protocol says, this is what works. That is what they answer.

I hope this story helps others out there. Remember, they will turn your children against you by telling them that it is your fault that they did drugs. So be careful. The cult is active. People are dying out there.

Holy Orange! A Sunshine Explosion.
And maybe a site implosion. LOL!

Is this the extent of your hell-raising, yuppie? Pfft.

For someone who is supposed to be an architect and own his own business. You act very childish.

In your picture, you look like you had a really painful and disastrous chemical peel. What happened?