Roland Hazard RIP – and "Thank You, buddy"

Peace in Peacedale, RI

Much appreciation and thanks to the “The Steps We Took” Group of Narragansett, RI for having me in to speak last night. Some good laughs and good tears! I thought it was great.

Thanks too for getting me to Roland Hazard’s Grave this morning — not to mention getting me all jacked up on the Starbucks Venti Latte. (My favorite. Vestiges of being an ex-speedfreak?)

As I told the group, I never know what kind of reception I will get – not every group really WANTS to hear how an alcoholic has recovered through the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is one thing to do Twelve Step Workshops or talks at a conference — it can be a whole ‘nother thing walking into a group that is far and strange to me.

You know that stuff about “feeling at home” at ANY meeting – anywhere? It’s bullshit. It can happen – but by and large it’s a load of melarchy .

Many of us who talk out of the Big Book because that is the experience we share as recovered alcoholics, have been heckled in front of groups or received the cold shoulder after a talk – and we get used to it “to the best of our abilities”.

Hell, I’ve been heckled before by my own Home Group members for my experience. I kid you not! It is funny now but it was a little distracting at the time – I can assure you. This is one of the reasons I refer to Cape Cod as The Peninsula of Doom. (It isn’t the beautiful sand dunes, light houses and laid back lifestyle – it’s the deportment of the AA groups.)

Many people come to meetings to hear and talk crap – crap they’ve heard while they were in rehab that might be totally appropriate for a treatment facility but pure CRAP in a AA meeting – crap they have heard in other meetings – crap they’ve been told by a “still recovering” (un-recovered) sponsor who also loves crap – whatever crap they can think of that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the AA Program of recovery — and I don’t talk crap when asked to give a talk.

I have NEVER seen ANYONE fail to recover from alcoholism who did exactly as I have done to recover. NEVER! NOT ONE!

This sure wasn’t one of those groups – and rightly so considering the AA heritage that can be found in this area.

I sometimes like to compare Roland’s plight and efforts to get well – to what we see today.

Rowland’s story reminds of the recalcitrant denizens of our own rehabs and treatment facilities – not the heavy drinkers or problem drinkers that these facilities DO ACTUALLY help — but the real alcoholics who come out convinced that relapse is unthinkable based upon their new found knowledge, resolve and the “professional” care received – yet get drunk within days or months. (Like Roland)

No matter how strong the resolve – how long or complete the treatment – or how “sensitive” the counselor – there is a small percentage of problem drinkers that are of a class for whom there is no efficacy in this human aid.

Even the cream of the crop of modern day psychiatry practitioners – who also happened to specialize in alkies, like Carl Jung – had absolutely no tricks to effect poor Roland’s alcoholism positively.

Not even a full year of hands-on treatment could keep young Hazard dry for a more than a few days – not once he hit the cold hard reality of “life on life’s terms.”

He had yet to adopt a method of living “life on God’s terms.”

There is a moral to Roland’s story.

Treatment Centers have NEVER worked – not if run by one of the pre-eminent psychiatrists of the world – not if run by State approved “Addictions” counselors – not if run by ANY human being – not for the real alcoholic.

If Roland’s story were a fluke there would be no point to telling it.

But his story is being repeated day in — day out — all across the country in treatment centers in every State and in every country on earth – and trust me — we are NOT talking about centers run by world renowned students of Sigmund Freud as was Carl Jung either.

Today’s alcohol and drug counselor is more apt to be a former heavy drinker themselves – maybe even real alcoholics – who have received ridiculously easy to obtain State licenses in a post drinking career change. I have heard estimates that the relapse rate for these types of individuals is higher than in any other profession.

These estimates are as high as eighty percent!

If true (And this seems extraordinarily high. I hope it is wrong, but I got it from an experienced counselor in the field) then this means that eight out of ten drug and alcoholism counselors cannot stay sober or clean themselves!

Yet, in desperation we place our loved ones into their hands.

At least Jung knew he was licked. He told Roland there was nothing that human aid could do for him. Today’s “Addictions” counselor will tell the relapser it was HIS FAULT! – that he must not have WANTED IT enough – didn’t “Do the right thing” – failed to stay away from “slippery places” – didn’t go to “enough” meetings, didn’t “follow a plan” – didn’t stay structured – WHATEVER, except for the real reason.

WHAT GALL!

The real reason is that treatment centers and the folks in charge of them don’t know shit about alcoholism. Maybe they know about alcohol abuse. Maybe they know about drug addiction – I don’t know – but they take in an awful lot of money for treating alcoholism and take advantage allot of very desperate, suffering, real alcoholics in their pursuit of whatever it is they purport to accomplish – which for the real alcoholic is NOTHING!

I don’t think a folder full of self-scribed recovery oriented Xeroxed “handouts” – “a plan” – and a dependence upon a host of prescription drugs like Seroquil, Depakote, Thorazine – and other major major anit-psychotic medications that all that go well beyond the needs of detoxification for real alcoholics whose problem is alcoholism – is worth twenty or forty grand – do you?

As far as I have witnessed, first hand, these faculties do not do much more for the real alcoholic than charge tens of thousands of dollars for a solution to alcoholism that they do not possess. A major lesson learned seventy years ago – that alcohol does NOT cause alcoholISM - that it is a malady which ONLY a spiritual experience can conquor – is flatly ignored in favor of filling a vacant bed.

This is the state of professionalism in the treatment industry – and is one of the biggest scams ever run in this country.

I’ve said it before – I’ll say it again now. I have NEVER seen ANYONE fail to recover from alcoholism – who did exactly as I have done to recover – what the first one hundredalcoholics did to recover – and what SOME men whom I spoonsor do to recover. NEVER! NOT ONE!

They ALL RECOVER from alcoholism.

Conversely, I have NEVER seen ANYONE come out of a treatment facility – rehab center – recovered from alcoholism. NEVER!

And I have seen many of both. It is no wonder they’ve had to drill into their clients until it has come into common usage, that they will “Never recover” - they NEVER WILL! At least THAT is no lie. But to tell them that no one CAN recover is pure a financially motivated – hot steaming pile of bull-crap. Forgive me.

Recovery – real recovery takes place, one alcoholic talking to another alcoholic – one drunk at a time – eyeball to eyeball – when one of those drunks has been given the power to help the other because he himself has been awakened spiritually, turned his life and will over to God and the drink problem has been removed – he can pass that on.

It’s not any more complicated than that.

How do you like me now?

Peace,

Danny S