Traditions Dual Addictions Q. Can people who use drugs or alcohol participate in Overeaters Anonymous meetings and pursue food abstinence? Is there a ban on this? A. If you are asking if someone can have recovery from food addiction while they are acting out behaviors of other addictions, I believe that through working the Twelve Steps with a sponsor to stop eating compulsively, they … Read More
Meetings Tools & Concepts Scripting Strength About ten years ago, my home meeting was dealing with talkative, unruly, and sensitive newcomers. The meeting was beginning to feel unsafe. We regulars, being the people pleasers we are, considered just letting them talk without a time limit. Luckily, sanity ruled that out. We considered removing them from the meeting by having a special “newcomer time” in another space. … Read More
Literature Tools & Concepts Second Edition Experience My heart just dropped into my stomach—did yours? On page 168 of The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, it says we “accept responsibility for our actions, looking only at our own faults and taking no one’s inventory but our own.” A list of questions follows, under the heading “In what ways do we act ‘to … Read More
Steps Tools & Concepts Traditions Acceptance Without Issue During any political election, I am especially thankful for OA’s Tradition Ten: “Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues.” I know I can go to a meeting and no one will talk about the candidates or the issues. I am very aware that some members are strongly supporting a policy that is different than mine. At other occasions outside … Read More
Anorexia & Bulimia Diversity Available to Feel I am so grateful for OA. It’s September 12, 2017, and I have thirty-nine days of abstinence after being in program since January 21, 2017. I will never forget that date: it’s eight days after my mom passed away due to her disease of drug addiction. Her death marked a turning point in my compulsive overeating. What was once a … Read More