A topic we often don’t discuss is the importance of how we deal with frustration and the relationship between our response to frustration to our growth and maturity in accepting life as it is. I found this short extract from a much larger Grapevine Article entitled ‘Alcoholism and Alcoholic Anonymous’ written in February 1974 quite helpful in reframing our response to frustration as this important opportunity for new growth and increasing maturity.
A medical doctor and friend of A.A. tells us what we do well and what we could do better
FOR MANY years, individual physicians have considered alcoholism a disease and tried to convince their colleagues and the public that alcoholics require treatment rather than punishment. It was AA that proved alcoholics could recover. And when the success of AA had been demonstrated, a great deal more interest was generated on the part of the medical profession. A great step was taken toward a possible breakthrough when, in 1956, the American Medical Association officially recognized alcoholism as an illness.
AA’s approach to the illness is spiritual, and I know from experience that the spiritual attitude of a patient is of extreme importance in any illness. When I have a patient without faith, I know his chances for recovery are diminished. Faith can and does modify the actual physiology of the body.
But what about those without faith? Does this mean that AA has no place in their lives? Not at all. It does mean that AA alone may not be enough. Cooperation among all agencies interested in treating alcoholism is important. Each has its place, but each must recognize that it may not have all the answers. A combination of all facilities available offers the best approach. And with this, most AAs agree.
There is, however, a vocal minority in AA that claims AA alone can help the alcoholic. To the physician who has spent years studying and treating successfully illnesses from which he has not suffered, this cliche seems preposterous.
Some physicians refuse to treat alcoholics, and some have no understanding of the illness. We may not judge all by the few. Just as we are trying to teach all physicians that alcoholics are sick people, there should be an attempt made to teach all AA members that medicine and psychiatry also can help people suffering from the illness.
…For the alcohol-dependent, escape into unreality is what be seeks. This is the so-called comfort one gets from alcohol–make-believe, unreality. Once the alcoholic understands the desirability of accepting reality, to the best of his ability and within the limits which we all have, he has taken a step toward maturity.
The difference between the mentally healthy person and the unhealthy one is the ability to face the realities of life. Some can take more than others. To aspire to heights of accomplishment greater than one has a capacity for achieving means continual frustration. And when the individual cannot take these frustrations and will not accept the fact that he has limitations, he is prone to blame others and to avoid self-honesty by escape through alcohol addiction.