In Times of Illness - Narcotics Anonymous

knowledge of the disease of addiction can help us toavoid isolation and secrecy. Members facing illnessand injury may face intense feelings of loneliness,despair, and self-pity. We learn that pain shared ispain lessened in NA, and encourage others to reachout to us. By listening to the experience, strength,and hope in meetings we are able to experiencecollective empathy. We fulfill our primary purposeby offering our support to other addicts with anattitude of care, love, and concern.“Anyone who reaches out for help is entitled to ourcompassion, our attention, and our unconditional acceptance.Any addict, regardless of clean time, should be able to pourout his or her pain in an atmosphere free of judgment.”IT WORKS: HOW AND WHYRegardless of how vigilant we are with our mentaland spiritual program of recovery, we may reactto medication like we did when using drugs.The power of the disease of addiction cannot beunderestimated. The Basic Text warns us that ourdisease is cunning, and tells us that honesty isthe solution. When we are in pain, we are highlysusceptible to self-deception, fear, denial, andanger. It doesn’t matter what the medication is,or whether it was our drug of choice. Our thinkingand actions may be affected by any mind- andmood-altering medications. During these times, webenefit greatly from maintaining a support network.These NA friends will help us truthfully inventoryourselves and monitor our use of any medication.We need to remain open-minded when our sponsorIn Times of Illness13