YOUR FIRST MEETING

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who have come together to solve their drinking problem. It doesn’t cost anything to attend A.A. meetings. There are no age or education requirements to participate. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem. A.A.’s primary purpose is to help alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

Welcome to the AA Mississauga homepage. If you are anything like us, you are struggling with alcohol. You are not alone, as we also could not find a way to manage life with or without alcohol. Please, do not feel worried or ashamed to have found yourself at this place in life, as we have all done and felt almost the exact same throughout our own stories.

If you are questioning whether or not you are an alcoholic, consider filling out this 20-question questionnaire:

• Do you lose time from work due to drinking?
• Is drinking making your home life unhappy?
• Do you drink because you are shy with other people?
• Is your drinking affecting your reputation?
• Have you ever felt guilt or remorse after drinking?
• Have you ever got into financial difficulties as a result of drinking?
• Do you turn to lower companions and an inferior environment when drinking?
• Does your drinking make you careless of your family’s welfare?
• Has your ambition decreased since drinking?
• Do you crave a drink at a definite time?
• Do you want a drink the next morning?
• Does drinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
• Has your efficiency decreased since drinking?
• Is drinking jeopardizing your job or business?
• Do you drink to escape from worries or trouble?
• Do you drink alone?
• Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking?
• Has your physician ever treated you for drinking?
• Do you drink to build up your self-confidence?
• Have you ever been to a hospital or institution because of drinking?

If you answered YES to any 1 question, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic. If you answered YES to any 2 questions, the chances are that you are an alcoholic. If you answered YES to 3 or more questions, you are definitely an alcoholic. These questions are used by Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, Md., in working to determine whether a patient is potentially an alcoholic.

If you have found yourself ready to attend a meeting, please locate our Meeting Guide here. This catalogues all registered AA meetings worldwide, including those online, ensuring any AA can find a meeting that can suit their needs wherever and whenever they may need.

There may be some unknown terminology flying your way. We’ll go over some of the more common ones now:

• Open meeting: A meeting available to anyone, alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike.
• Closed-meeting: Attendance is allowed only to those who identify as alcoholics.
• Sponsor: An individual who will help guide you through the Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and help carry the message of AA to you.
• Desire Chip: A chip, typically given at one’s first meeting, symbolizing the individual’s desire to get and stay sober.
• The Steps: The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Whatever has brought you to this point in your life, we hope you leave here knowing you are not alone. AA is a fellowship of likeminded people that came together to solve our common problem with alcohol, one that none of us could tackle alone. We hope to see you at a meeting.