Posted on 12/01/2006 5:06:05 PM PST by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK - Lindsay Lohan has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, her publicist said Friday. "She started attending some, and I think it's a positive thing," Leslie Sloane told The Associated Press. "My biggest fear is who's the big idiot to out which (chapter) she goes to."
She said Lohan, 20, made the decision on her own to attend meetings, although Sloane added: "And, by the way, she's not saying ... she'll stop drinking tomorrow."
"It's a place to go and feel safe," she said. "No one judges her, and it's going to be a slow process. But, to me, the fact that she's seeing that there's something not right makes her smarter than the next person."
In an interview Friday with E! Entertainment Television's Ryan Seacrest, Lohan's mother, Dina, echoed Sloane's comments. "That is true ... It's a positive thing," she said.
The New York Post first reported sightings of Lohan at an AA meeting earlier this week. The actress, who's currently filming "The Best Time of Our Lives," recurringly makes that paper's gossipy Page Six and other celebrity columns for her hard-partying ways.
Sloane said she thinks the press was unfair to Lohan by ridiculing a statement the actress wrote following last week's death of Robert Altman, who directed her in "A Prairie Home Companion."
A sad Lohan wrote the rambling letter "on the fly" on her Blackberry, Sloane said.
The letter, in which Lohan signs off with "BE ADEQUITE," has been criticized by a number of media observers for its grammatical errors and misspellings, among other things — including exploiting Altman's death for her own publicity purposes.
Patt Morrison, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, derided it on The Huffington Post Web site as "alarmingly incoherent" and said Altman might find it "comedic."
"I want everyone to leave her the hell alone," Sloane said. "I'm so bored of this with her. No matter what she does, it's never good enough for everybody."
___
On the Net:
http://www.lindsay-lohan.org/
I would be more than happy to tutor her in an attempt to brush up her spelling skills as well.
The nightclubs that are letting her in should be punished. She's not even 21 and she's out there getting wasted.
I don't think there's a rule in AA that a member can't disclose HIS or HER participation, just can't reveal identify of others in the group.
I agree on both your points. The thing that I take out of this anonymous or otherwise is that she is thinking about drinking and what it is doing to her and how it affects her and those around her.
"I don't think there's a rule in AA that a member can't disclose HIS or HER participation, just can't reveal identify of others in the group."
You are wrong. But not everyone follows AA's Traditions.
One of the lines in her statement was step 4 of the 12 steps.
Also, we speculated before that her note read like it was typed in on a blackberry.
I think the idea here is to steal the thunder of the NY Post.
For the love of God, she's trying to get help!
Leave her the hell alone.
It looks to me that the article states she was 'outed' by the New York Post.
Good Luck with that! I'll bet some sleazy reporters are going to meetings as I type hoping to sneak a pic or some film in case she shows up and to hell with the other people's privacy, anonymity and health.
Well...Yes and No
My reading of the 11th and 12th traditions and the commentary provide in "Twelve Steps And Twelve Traditions",
shows agreeded upon acceptance of the breaking of anonymity to a close friend, family member, minister or doctor.
A problem occurs when an individual discloses their participation in AA for public self-promotion.
Of great danger also are ambitious individuals who present themselves as speaking for or representing the group.
Interesting quote that illustrates the difference between the press of today and that of the pre-1950s
The Foundation wrote letters to practically every news outlet in North America, setting forth our public relations policy of attraction rather than promotion, and emphasized the personal anonymity of AA's greatest protection.Since that time, editors and rewrite men have repeatedly deleted names and pictures of members from AA copy; frequently they have reminded ambitious individuals of AA's anonumity policy. They have even sacrificed good stories to this end.
The force of their cooperation has certainly helped. Only a few AA members are left who deliberately break anonymity at the public level.
Yeah, tough for a celebrity to attend meetings - there are definitley down-sides to being rich and famous.
I thank the Lord every day for my obscurity and poverty. ; )
She always seemed like a nice girl. It is a shame that she got mixed up in drugs and alcohol, but she is only 20. Most people are not pillars of responsibility at that age, and the fact that she has so much money and fame can't help.
Well, she makes a lot of money, and part of that is because people want to see her. I think that her career is largely over, though. I hope she saved some money, has a good business manager, and that she gets sober.
Good luck and God bless you Lindsay.
I think her publicicst was responding to reports. If a famous actress shows up at AA people will recognize her.
Yep, a poor and obscure man has treasures that a rich man can't buy.
Hells bells, she might even look attractive to me if I had about 15 pints of IPA.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
-Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Sorry, but I don't see any "yes and no."
"...personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films."
That states it clearly enough for me. And living in SoCal where so many actors live, I KNOW many of them follow this tradition. (I didn't say I know them; I know who several of them are from word of mouth).
In days of old, the press cooperated with AA in this regard. I happen to feel it still should, even if some naive newcomer isn't yet aware of the benefits of personal anonymity.
There isn't much value to public fame, for AA attendance or membership.
There is great value to the benefits of working the entire AA program, including following all traditions.
I guess the NYP hasn't hit bottom yet.
yitbos
The comment that you referred to as wrong was...
"I don't think there's a rule in AA that a member can't disclose HIS or HER participation, just can't reveal identify of others in the group."
Yes, It has been agreed that one can reveal one's participation to a close friend, family member, doctor or clergy.
No, it has been agreed that one should not break anonymity in a "public" manner (ie. don't broadcast it) for self-aggrandizement or to present oneself as "leader" of AA
I'm paraphrasing from the AA book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" (1953),
where there is a commentary on how the concept of anonymity came about and developed.
As well the original post is correct in that it has been ageed one should never reveal the identity of other members of the group.
"I hope she saved some money, has a good business manager, and that she gets sober"
and not necessarily in that order!
I wouldn't know the girl if she knocked at my front door ... don't know if she's a singer or actress ... it's just a celeb name. But from the posts on this thread, I assume she has some talent and at age 20 can rebuild a career after she cleans up her act. I really wish her and all others seeking help with addiction well.
I would be amazed if she was a Diane Keaton type who continues to act into her fifties. She's popular because she's pretty, and that teenage youthful beauty doesn't last but a few years, even if you take care of yourself. I think she'll be more like Ally Sheedy or Molly Ringwald, who disappeared from the scene shortly after they left their teenage years.
"...press, radio and films. press, radio and films. press, radio and films."
Don't add words, or try to read between lines.
Lohan's publicist broke AA's tradition. Plain and simple.
That associates Lohan by name with AA, and that is what "anonymity" seeks to avoid.
Mistakes like this are taken in stride by AA, by not responding with yet more publicity and controversy.
You claimed a poster's statement was categorically wrong.
All I did was point out, in what I hope was a polite and informative manner,
the distinction between public and private disclosure of anonymity.
I did it by condensing the chapters on the 11th and 12th traditions using AA's own book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions".
I certainly did not add words or try to read between the lines. I would not do that.
Do I have to type out the complete chapters for you to be satisfied?
As far as Lohan herself, her anonymity was broken by the New York Post.
Lohan's publicist was faced with queries about it.
We can argue if a "no comment", a false denial,
or a 'yes',and "I want everyone to leave her the hell alone" was the correct response
but that is a different question and one my response did not seek to address.
From what the publicist said, Lohan is going to AA meetings because "It's a place to go and feel safe," and not to stop drinking: "And, by the way, she's not saying ... she'll stop drinking tomorrow."
Apparently she doesn't want to stop drinking and, from recent news accounts, hasn't. The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to STOP drinking.
She hasn't quite hit bottom yet, some take a long time to do so.
At least she knows where to go when and if she finally does.
That's how it worked for me. First I was sentenced by my employer to a year in AA and I didn't follow any of the suggestions. Over the next three years it got a lot worse until I went back for my self and worked the program with a sponsor. That was five years ago. The best decision I ever made.
It doesn't matter what you think, it's what you do that makes a difference.
It was 20 years between my first meeting and my second.
Twenty years of trying it "my way".
It's tempting to view them as wasted years
but I reckon I needed to go through the suffering
so that I could finally begin to realize my true position in the world.
Subordinating myself and letting my higher power guide me initiated a process
that each year sees new wonders appear in my life.
I never would have dreamed of the peace and happiness that awaited.
There is still much of "me", of self-seeking, to let go of
but at least now there is a sense of being on the right path.
Sobriety helps me to not only see the right direction to take
but is also crucial in enabling me to do the necessary work to get there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.