Big Book: Really Plain Language Version

AA has recently published a plain language version of the Big Book. To be frank, I do not think much of it, for lots of reason I won’t go into.

I thought: Why not have a go, myself?

Here are some of the principles I have followed:

• Short sentences
• Avoid coordinated and subordinated clauses where possible
• Simple words
• Keep the major ideas only
• Cut out minor detail
• Where the reader is expected to ‘read between the lines’, make things clear

Of course, it reads a bit like a children’s book. That’s the whole point. It’s simple on purpose.

Here are the results for The Doctor’s Opinion:

We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the reader will be interested in the medical estimate of the plan of recovery described in this book. Convincing testimony must surely come from medical men who have had experience with the sufferings of our members and have witnessed our return to health. A well-known doctor, chief physician at a nationally prominent hospital specializing in alcoholic and drug addiction, gave Alcoholics Anonymous this letter:	We are members of AA. We have written this book, which says how to recover from alcoholism. We think you will want to know what doctors think of this book. Doctors have seen us sick with alcoholism. They have also seen us recover. This means their view is based on experience. They know what they are talking about. One doctor runs a big hospital that treats alcoholics. He gave us this letter:
To Whom It May Concern:	Dear Reader,
I have specialized in the treatment of alcoholism for many years.	I have treated alcoholics for years.
In late 1934 I attended a patient who, though he had been a competent businessman of good earning capacity, was an alcoholic of a type I had come to regard as hopeless.	In 1934, I treated an alcoholic. He was a good businessman and earned a lot of money. I thought my treatment would work. But it failed.
In the course of his third treatment he acquired certain ideas concerning a possible means of recovery. As part of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his conceptions to other alcoholics, impressing upon them that they must do likewise with still others. This has become the basis of a rapidly growing fellowship of these men and their families. This man and over one hundred others appear to have recovered.	He came back for treatment three times. The third time, a friend told him of a method to recover. The method included telling others how to recover. As each person recovers, they tell others how to, and they recover as well. So far, one hundred people have recovered this way.
I personally know scores of cases who were of the type with whom other methods had failed completely.	This method works in alcoholics where other methods fail.
These facts appear to be of extreme medical importance; because of the extraordinary possibilities of rapid growth inherent in this group they may mark a new epoch in the annals of alcoholism. These men may well have a remedy for thousands of such situations.	This is big news, as it could help a lot of people.
You may rely absolutely on anything they say about themselves.	I think you can trust what they say.
Very truly yours,	Best regards,
William D. Silkworth, M.D.	Dr Silkworth
The physician who, at our request, gave us this letter, has been kind enough to enlarge upon his views in another statement which follows. In this statement he confirms what we who have suffered alcoholic torture must believe—that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his mind. It did not satisfy us to be told that we could not control our drinking just because we were maladjusted to life, that we were in full flight from reality, or were outright mental defectives. These things were true to some extent, in fact, to a considerable extent with some of us. But we are sure that our bodies were sickened as well. In our belief, any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete.	The doctor who wrote this letter wrote some more on alcoholism. Here is our summary of what he said:   Some people say that alcoholics drink too much because they are unhappy, mad, or stupid. They might be unhappy, mad, or stupid some of the time. But this does not explain why they drink too much the whole time. I think the reason they drink too much is because something physical happens when they drink, which means they cannot stop once they start. Sure, alcoholics have mental problems. But they also have this physical problem.
The doctor’s theory that we have an allergy to alcohol interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its soundness may, of course, mean little. But as ex-problem drinkers, we can say that his explanation makes good sense. It explains many things for which we cannot otherwise account.	The doctor says that normal people respond one way to alcohol, and alcoholics respond a different way. This is a bit like when some people have allergies to things. Normal people can control the amount they drink. Alcoholics cannot. We like this theory, because it explains our drinking well.
Though we work out our solution on the spiritual as well as an altruistic plane, we favor hospitalization for the alcoholic who is very jittery or befogged. More often than not, it is imperative that a man’s brain be cleared before he is approached, as he has then a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer.	The recovery method involves trusting God and helping others. Alcoholics need to be detoxed to get the alcohol out of their bodies. This helps them think clearly. When they can think clearly, they can understand what we say. Then they can follow our method.
The doctor writes:	This is what the doctor added:
The subject presented in this book seems to me to be of paramount importance to those afflicted with alcoholic addiction.	This book has really important information for alcoholics.
I say this after many years’ experience as Medical Director of one of the oldest hospitals in the country treating alcoholic and drug addiction.	I run a big hospital for alcoholics, so I know what I am talking about.
There was, therefore, a sense of real satisfaction when I was asked to contribute a few words on a subject which is covered in such masterly detail in these pages.	When AA members asked me to write something about alcoholism, I was happy to help.
We doctors have realized for a long time that some form of moral psychology was of urgent importance to alcoholics, but its application presented difficulties beyond our conception. What with our ultra-modern standards, our scientific approach to everything, we are perhaps not well equipped to apply the powers of good that lie outside our synthetic knowledge.	We doctors know that alcoholics need to change how they think to get well. We can do a lot, but we cannot change how people think. We do not have the power.
Many years ago one of the leading contributors to this book came under our care in this hospital and while here he acquired some ideas which he put into practical application at once.	At my hospital, I treated one of the people who later started AA. When he was here, his friend gave him a method for how to recover. He followed the method, and it worked.
Later, he requested the privilege of being allowed to tell his story to other patients here and with some misgiving, we consented. The cases we have followed through have been most interesting; in fact, many of them are amazing. The unselfishness of these men as we have come to know them, the entire absence of profit motive, and their community spirit, is indeed inspiring to one who has labored long and wearily in this alcoholic field. They believe in themselves, and still more in the Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back from the gates of death.	He then asked if he could tell other patients how to recover. We said yes, and he did just that. It worked, and they got well, too. We were amazed. These sober alcoholics are not selfish. They care for others. They help others. They do not ask for anything in return. They have formed a community. I find them inspiring. They have self-confidence. They trust God. God has kept them sober. They have been saved from dying of alcoholism.
Of course an alcoholic ought to be freed from his physical craving for liquor, and this often requires a definite hospital procedure, before psychological measures can be of maximum benefit.	The first stage in recovery for alcoholics is detox. This gets the alcohol out of the  body. Then they can recover by dealing with their mental problem.
We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker. These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance upon things human, their problems pile up on them and become astonishingly difficult to solve.	We think alcoholics respond differently to alcohol than normal people. Normal people have a few drinks then stop. Alcoholics have a drink, then want another one, and another one, and another one, even when it does them no good. Alcoholics cannot have even one drink safely. This means they have to stop altogether. Alcoholics have trouble stopping altogether. Once this problem with alcohol develops, they develop a lot of other big problems, too.
Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices. The message which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must have depth and weight. In nearly all cases, their ideals must be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if they are to re-create their lives.	You cannot talk people into staying sober. Shouting at them does not work. Begging them does not work. They need a real solution to their problems. They have to rely on God to recover. God solves their problems.
If any feel that as psychiatrists directing a hospital for alcoholics we appear somewhat sentimental, let them stand with us a while on the firing line, see the tragedies, the despairing wives, the little children; let the solving of these problems become a part of their daily work, and even of their sleeping moments, and the most cynical will not wonder that we have accepted and encouraged this movement. We feel, after many years of experience, that we have found nothing which has contributed more to the rehabilitation of these men than the altruistic movement now growing up among them.	Doctors have seen the terrible things that happen when alcoholics continue to drink. Their drinking affects people around them badly. We find it really hard to solve these problems. We often cannot do it. When we saw AA members solve problems we could not solve, we thought this was great. This is the best solution to alcoholism we have seen.
Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks—drinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery.	Normal people drink because they like it. Alcoholics might start out that way, but they really drink because they have to. They drink too much because they have to. They cannot see this, though. A strong impulse to drink makes them drink. But they think they are doing it because they want to. They are wrong. They think they are normal. But they are not. When they feel the impulse to drink, if they do not drink, they get cranky and depressed. This crankiness and this depression go away only when they have a drink. They see other people drinking safely. They think they can drink safely, too. Once they start, they cannot stop. Then bad things happen, and they think, ‘I have to stop!’ They stop for a bit, then start again. This happens again and again. Unless they have a big change of mind, they will die of this.
On the other hand—and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand—once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules.	When they have a big change of mind, they find it easy to stay sober. They just need to do a few things every day to keep their new way of thinking.
Men have cried out to me in sincere and despairing appeal: “Doctor, I cannot go on like this! I have everything to live for! I must stop, but I cannot! You must help me!”	Alcoholics come to doctors for help. They are sometimes desperate.
Faced with this problem, if a doctor is honest with himself, he must sometimes feel his own inadequacy. Although he gives all that is in him, it often is not enough. One feels that something more than human power is needed to produce the essential psychic change. Though the aggregate of recoveries resulting from psychiatric effort is considerable, we physicians must admit we have made little impression upon the problem as a whole. Many types do not respond to the ordinary psychological approach.	Doctors cannot always help alcoholics. We can help some. But we cannot help others. We cannot help them have a big change of mind.
I do not hold with those who believe that alcoholism is entirely a problem of mental control. I have had many men who had, for example, worked a period of months on some problem or business deal which was to be settled on a certain date, favorably to them. They took a drink a day or so prior to the date, and then the phenomenon of craving at once became paramount to all other interests so that the important appointment was not met. These men were not drinking to escape; they were drinking to overcome a craving beyond their mental control.	Sometimes alcoholics get drunk when things are going well. Sometimes they get so drunk they cause problems. In this case, you cannot say that they are drinking because of their problems. It is the other way round. It is the drinking that is causing their problems. Once an alcoholic starts drinking, all they want to do is carry on. This is true even if this produces bad results for them. They cannot help it. A strong impulse is making them do it.
There are many situations which arise out of the phenomenon of craving which cause men to make the supreme sacrifice rather than continue to fight.	Sometimes alcoholics do really bad things drunk. They cannot live with what they have done, so they kill themselves.
The classification of alcoholics seems most difficult, and in much detail is outside the scope of this book. There are, of course, the psychopaths who are emotionally unstable. We are all familiar with this type. They are always “going on the wagon for keeps.” They are over-remorseful and make many resolutions, but never a decision.	There are lots of different types of alcoholic. Some keep stopping and starting. They keep trying but keep failing.
There is the type of man who is unwilling to admit that he cannot take a drink. He plans various ways of drinking. He changes his brand or his environment. There is the type who always believes that after being entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger. There is the manic-depressive type, who is, perhaps, the least understood by his friends, and about whom a whole chapter could be written.	Some will not admit that they are alcoholic. They keep trying to drink less. Some think that, if they stay sober for a bit, when they start again, they will not drink so much. Some are very up and down in their mood.
Then there are types entirely normal in every respect except in the effect alcohol has upon them. They are often able, intelligent, friendly people.	Some are normal except they drink too much.
All these, and many others, have one symptom in common: they cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon, as we have suggested, may be the manifestation of an allergy which differentiates these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence.	Yes, there are lots of different types. But do not worry about that. What matters is what they have in common: when they start drinking, they drink too much. There is nothing they can do about it. This is different than what happens in normal people. Normal people can stop after a few drinks. Once someone is like this, they will be like this forever. If they can avoid the first drink, they will be alright.
This immediately precipitates us into a seething caldron of debate. Much has been written pro and con, but among physicians, the general opinion seems to be that most chronic alcoholics are doomed.	Doctors argue about alcoholism. Until AA came along, most doctors agreed that treatment did not work on most alcoholics. This meant they would die of alcoholism.
What is the solution? Perhaps I can best answer this by relating one of my experiences.	Let me tell you a story.
About one year prior to this experience a man was brought in to be treated for chronic alcoholism. He had but partially recovered from a gastric hemorrhage and seemed to be a case of pathological mental deterioration. He had lost everything worthwhile in life and was only living, one might say, to drink. He frankly admitted and believed that for him there was no hope. Following the elimination of alcohol, there was found to be no permanent brain injury. He accepted the plan outlined in this book. One year later he called to see me, and I experienced a very strange sensation. I knew the man by name, and partly recognized his features, but there all resemblance ended. From a trembling, despairing, nervous wreck, had emerged a man brimming over with self-reliance and contentment. I talked with him for some time, but was not able to bring myself to feel that I had known him before. To me he was a stranger, and so he left me. A long time has passed with no return to alcohol.	A patient of mine was a very bad alcoholic. We sobered him up. He tried the method described in the book. He got well. Once he had recovered, he seemed to be a totally different person. He has stayed sober ever since.
When I need a mental uplift, I often think of another case brought in by a physician prominent in New York. The patient had made his own diagnosis, and deciding his situation hopeless, had hidden in a deserted barn determined to die. He was rescued by a searching party, and, in desperate condition, brought to me. Following his physical rehabilitation, he had a talk with me in which he frankly stated he thought the treatment a waste of effort, unless I could assure him, which no one ever had, that in the future he would have the “will power” to resist the impulse to drink.	I treated another alcoholic. I sobered him up. He did not think he could get well. He knew he had a strong impulse to drink. He did not think he could beat the impulse.
His alcoholic problem was so complex, and his depression so great, that we felt his only hope would be through what we then called “moral psychology,” and we doubted if even that would have any effect.	He had lots of problems related to his drinking. He was really depressed. We thought he could try the AA method. We did not think it was going to work.
However, he did become “sold” on the ideas contained in this book. He has not had a drink for a great many years. I see him now and then and he is as fine a specimen of manhood as one could wish to meet.	He did what the book said. He got well. It did work. He is still sober and doing well.
I earnestly advise every alcoholic to read this book through, and though perhaps he came to scoff, he may remain to pray.	If you are alcoholic, read this book. You might not believe what it says right away. But you might end up trying its suggestions. You might even ending up praying to God.
William D. Silkworth, M.D.	Dr Silkworth