Stigma unwittingly perpetuated by Fellowships

Fellowships such as AA, CA, NA, GA are undoubtedly built on sound principles and help a lot of people. They address the self-imposed self-isolation of sufferers by offering the support of and connection with a community or group of fellow sufferers, bound together by a shared experience. This network of support and accountability is a lifebelt for a lot of individuals and is to be respected.

Fellowships are not however for everyone. My uneasiness with Fellowship lies in what I regard as the unnecessary stigmatisation of the individual attending the meetings. My concern arises around the expectation a person wishing to share at a meeting has to introduce themselves as “I’m X and I’m an alcoholic or an addict.” This instantly ‘labels’ that person with a phrase loaded with negative connotations and, perhaps more pertinently, it reduces the individual to that label. Acceptance of a condition is needed at first, but repeated labelling I believe to be counterproductive.

From experience and observation in this area, I believe every individual is more than a label - labels are a lazy way of describing something or someone and reducing or diminishing them to an object we feel we can control and need have neither respect for nor fear of. In so doing, we close our eyes to the mystery and majesty each of us inherently contains and which just needs the right environment, support network and belief in to develop, blossom and flourish. I am David, the whole person that I am, who might happen to have a dependency and who is in recovery. I cannot afford to become complacent, but I am not labelled or ‘defined’ by my dependency. I am more than a label – and that is my right to say so.