Bring Your Doctor to a Meeting

WHEN I FIRST visited Dr. Johnson (not his real name), I had been drinking heavily for twenty years and alcoholically for at least five. As people in AA know, alcoholism is a progressive disease, and I was in terrible shape. The usual symptoms were present. I felt constantly depressed. While I didn't actually plan suicide, I hoped each night that I would die in my sleep. Life had become something to be endured, and I had a feeling of impending doom--with no relief in sight.