9781422270585

THE FOUNDER OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS AND LSD Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is one of the best known self-help organizations in the world. One of its co-founders was a man known as “Bill W.,” William Griffith Wilson. Mr. Wilson co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1934 after he became sober from his alcohol addiction. Before becoming sober, physicians told Bill W. that he would either die from alcoholism or have “wet brain,” a severe medical condition formally called Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS) that is caused by years of extreme alcohol consumption and poor nutrition. WKS causes severe physical and mental disabilities, and it is ultimately fatal. Alcoholics Anonymous is a peer-support group that uses the 12 steps toward sobriety and recovery established by Bill W. and his cofounder, “Dr. Bob” Smith. The two established AA as an organization with the simple principle of acting as “a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.” AA’s principles and 12 steps now inform many other 12-step organizations, such as Narcotics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous. Although Bill W. became sober in 1934, throughout the 1930s and 1940s, he continued to

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The Young Adult Drug Library: Facts & Figures