NA
member
An addict who walks into an NA meeting. We sign no registers and
do not keep track of who our members are. An addict that is in an
isolated area where he/she has no access to an NA meeting, but works
the NA programme is also an NA member.
12
Steps
The spiritual principles
that our programme consists of – the core of the NA
programme. Most NA members who stay clean and have manageable lives follow these
principles with the help of a sponsor. The
12 steps were adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous, originally written
in late 1930's.
12th
Step Call
When an NA member with experience wishes to do the 12th step, he/she may volunteer to visit an addict in active addiction after a phone call to the NA help-line, among other forms of service. Such visits are always done in pairs or more, to protect the visiting NA members themselves from possibly using again. Typically, they may offer to take the addict to an NA meeting.
Higher
Power/God
A term from our 12 steps that
describes anything more powerful than the need to use drugs,
or anything that keeps us clean and in recovery.
For some it is an NA meeting, for
others it is an abstract term describing an entity such as God.
God can be seen in the same way. NA does not prescribe a particular
definition of these terms, except that it should be loving instead
of harmful. Some of our members are religious, others are anti-religious.
Sponsor
Many NA members ask an experienced NA
member of the same gender* to guide them through the NA
programme, as doing it alone usually doesn't work. This does
not usually involve money – "spiritual sponsor" is probably a good description. We have no professionals
or counsellors either.
Sponsee
A person sponsored by a sponsor.
Relapse
When an addict in recovery regresses to a point where he/she uses drugs again, we call it a relapse. The opposite of recovery.
Active
addiction
Addiction is seen by us as an incurable disease. Thus,
being clean and in recovery is no guarantee of a lifetime of freedom from addiction. We still
regard ourselves as addicts, albeit in recovery.
Therefore, using drugs is simply an active
from of addiction.
Service
Many NA members with some
experience and clean-time get involved in doing
service in NA either within their home
group, as a chairperson, secretary, treasurer, group representative
(GSR), literature person or teas/coffee person. On another level,
members may serve NA or their community as a whole by getting involved
in PI, H&I, ASC, Phone-line or Literature (see Abbreviations to the right). All service positions are voluntary and temporary,
to avoid domination of personalities. |
NA
programme
The NA programme consists of the 12
steps. Most members practise these
steps with a sponsor and go to group
meetings regularly. The NA programme is a summary of NA members'
experiences in staying clean and in recovery.
Spiritual/Spirituality
Not a reference to religion, although religion can
be spiritual. Spiritual means "in a way that benefits me and/or
others". Our spiritual principles can be found in the 12
Steps.
Group
meeting/Group/Home group
An NA group is a group of NA members who have one or more regular group meetings (or simply "NA meetings").
Each group is autonomous.
There is another type of meeting – a service meeting, which is for clean NA members with experience in recovery who want to serve NA or their community.
Clean/Clean-time
Being clean means not using drugs.
Clean-time describes the length of time someone has been clean for. To us, being clean does not necessarily mean being in recovery. Clean-time is not always a good measure of a person's recovery either.
Recovery/Recovering
addict
Recovery means being in a state of personal growth, in our case meaning working the NA
programme. Because we believe that using any drugs will lead us straight back to a life of unmanageability, being in recovery includes being clean. Many addicts succeed in staying
clean but are not recovering from addiction, thereby increasing
their chances of an unmanageable life and using drugs again .
Addict/Addiction
Anyone who believes he/she may have a drug problem are welcome to NA. At meetings we introduce ourselves simply
as addicts. We don't differentiate between abuse, dependency and addiction.
Definition
of drugs
We consider any substance that can be abused as drugs,
whether legal or illegal, or medicine prescribed or used unethically.
This includes alcohol, a drug many addicts relapse on. NA has no opinion on tobacco
and caffeine though. It is suggested members consult the experience of other members or health practitioners.
Old-timer/Newcomer
An old-timer is someone with many years of experience
in recovery. A newcomer is someone relatively
new to the NA programme.
Abbreviations
used:
ASC: Area Service – many groups send representatives
(GSR's) to an ASC meeting, where efforts such as literature distribution,
informing the public (PI) and addiction recovery patients (H&I)
of our existence, manning the help-line etc. are co-ordinated. An
ASC cannot dictate to groups – it merely serves groups and
the community at large.
PI: Public Information – a substructure of ASC responsible
for informing the public of our existence.
H&I: Hospitals & Institutions – a substructure of
ASC responsible for informing addiction recovery patients of our
existence.
HP: An abbreviation for Higher Power. |