Narcotics Anonymous 1

Daniel Scruggs
Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing
Narcotics Anonymous 2

The Narcotics Anonymous meeting I attended was held in the evening hours in a

basement of a local church. I walked into the room, there were at least 100 to 150 people. The

ages of the congregation ranged from15 to about 65, with the majority being from 20s to 40s.

There was an even mix of Causation and those of African descent. I did not notice any people of

Asian heritage, there were only a few people of Latino origin. The room was packed. People

were sitting in chairs in the center of the room, people were lined up along the walls, and even

people standing outside the doorway. There was not enough space in the room, we were packed

in tight. It was an open meeting. Many people seemed to know each other. They were all

talking and laughing with each other. They knew everyone by name, they seemed to all be

friends and share stories from times when they have spend time in the past together.

The leader of the group stood at the front on the room behind a wooden podium. The

group leader was a peer to the members in the group. The group leader was also an addict. The

group leader gave a quick run down of the agenda for the meeting, and then asked for anybody

who wished to share of comment on the previous weeks meeting to please come forward. Then

the meeting started with the Serenity Prayer, all members recited it in unison and the meeting

was called to order.

During this time I did feel like an outsider, however that it the case anytime I am in a

place where I do not know anybody. It can happen during times of starting a new school

program, where I am in a room with others that may know each other, however I do not

recognize a single face. I have learned to adapt to those times throughout the years. The fact

that they were all drug addicts did not bother me, I know we have a very large narcotic problem

in this country, which is not a surprise to me. What did surprise me was to see that many people
Narcotics Anonymous 3

in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, because by coming to the meetings, you are showing that

you have admitted that you have a problem and are trying to get help.

During the meeting the group leader introduced the speaker to the group. This individual

was also a member of Narcotics Anonymous and a recovering drug user. The speaker spoke to

one of the first principles of Yalom, “The Instillation of Hope”. This is the driving force that can

make a person want to live a drug free life. This feeling of hope can lead to things such as being

able to maintain a steady job, getting a steady financial foundation and being able to live a

healthy and comfortable life. The guest speaker tried to light this fire of hope in each and every

one of the members at the meeting, and trying to persuade them to get away from their old habits

and break into something new and to avoid drug use at all cost. By admitting you have a

problem and wanted to rectify such a problem is an instillation of hope. Coming to the Narcotics

Anonymous meeting is the first step towards that dream of getting clean from dependent drug

use.

One of the major foundational principles behind Narcotics Anonymous is the idea of

universality, that all members are fighting the same struggles and facing the same fears and

setbacks. Everybody in that room was a drug user. Some have been clean for a long time, others

just a very short period of time, but they all depend on each other to get through their times of

hardship. They are all fighting the same battle against addiction. Each member has the same

problems and each member also has unique problems. The idea behind these meetings is for

these people to come together and learn from each other. They share how they cope with their

problems and learn to be better members of our society.

Step one in Narcotics Anonymous is, “We admitted that we are powerless over our

addiction; that our lives have become unmanageable”. These people’s lives have been taken
Narcotics Anonymous 4

over by drug addiction. They no longer have control over their minds or bodies. They can lose

control and have to give into the cravings of their addiction. These people are truly powerless.

Thus the nursing diagnosis I have chosen is, “Powerlessness related drug addiction as evidence

by individuals losing their autonomy to addiction.” We can often help them regain control over

their lives, and regain control over their addiction. The first intervention is to identify strengths

that the person has. All people have strengths, and when someone talks about our strengths we

feel good about ourselves. Secondly we can assess and encourage good decision making. We all

have to make tough decisions, they can be for a multitude of reasons, but we must always look at

our given scenarios and make the best decision to improve our lives or our society. Lastly we can

slowly allow them to regain their autonomy. People who have no power or control over their

lives should be reintroduced to that feeling of control slowly. People who have lost that control,

should be given control over time, slowly they can regain a sense of independence and will soon

be able to conduct their lives in a respected manner.

Narcotics Anonymous twelve step programs are proven to work far better than the usual

methadone treatment centers. With Narcotics Anonymous, you are engulfed around people

facing similar problems, you can depend on those for support. Methadone clinics, pass out

medication to assist getting off of the drugs and the new medication can be addictive itself. By

being emotionally involved in anti-addiction treatment rather than pharmacological treatment,

the results show and reduction in continued drug addiction.

The entire basis of Narcotics Anonymous is the principle of support and emotional

connections with other members to fight the addiction. The twelve steps through the

organization are a sure way to beat addiction and even gain a few friendships along the way.

These steps are proven and can be viewed online and are made available to all. Narcotics
Narcotics Anonymous 5

Anonymous is a program with a very good reputation by helping those who want to get clean

and a new chance at life.

I would say I did enjoy the experience. It was an opportunity to see what kinds of other

programs are available to people who have addiction problems. The members seemed to be very

much like a family. They rejoice together to celebrate milestones of sobriety. I would like to

attend other meetings to see if there are different formats. It was my understanding that the

meetings would be much smaller, mine was huge in comparison. I would be interested how a

much smaller group would operate. I am glad that these programs do exist, where addicts can

come without having to disclose their full identities, and where there is no legal penalty. They

know they have a problem and they are doing something about it to try and fix their condition in

order to retake their life back.

Narcotics Anonymous 6

References

Azkhosh, M., Farhoudianm, A., Saadati, H., Shoaee, F., & Lashani, L. (2016). Comparing

acceptance and commitment group therapy and 12-steps narcotics anonymous in addict’s

rehabilitation process: a randomized control trial. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 11(4):

249-249.

Gulanick, M. & Myers, J. (2014) Nursing Care Plans: Diagnoses, Interventions, and Outcomes

edition 8.0. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier