12-step programs struggle with anonymity in digital age

AJC sports columnist Jeff Schultz doesn't know why his son Josh became a drug addict, but he says his family is stronger for it. To read his family's story, go to http://personaljourneys.myajc.com/lost-found.

Ian W., 21, flirted with drugs in high school. The romance turned rocky, however, and the young Atlantan found himself clutched by a relentless suitor he couldn’t escape.

He went into recovery and reclaimed his life, with the help of a treatment center, his family and a 12-step program.

He has been working a 12-step program for about three years. Most of his friends are in recovery, and they are a close group. They are accustomed to telling one another about their addictions, their struggles and their joys.

But he is careful around people he doesn’t know, and he wouldn’t share anything on Facebook, he said, because “it can lead to drama.”

While the world has changed in countless ways since Bill W. and friends started Alcoholics Anonymous 80 years ago, one thing has not changed in the world of AA — the belief that anonymity provides a safe environment for people recovering from addiction. That's why last names are never revealed.

Yet in an era of constant, instantaneous sharing of personal information via text, Twitter, Facebook ad infinitum, how can young people safeguard their anonymity? An even bigger question may be, is it even important to do so? A growing number of people believe anonymity might actually hinder recovery. A Unite to Face Addiction march is planned for Washington in October to promote openness.

But many experts still hold that anonymity is key to working a successful recovery program.

"There's no way I would say anonymity isn't important to recovery," said John O'Neill, director of addiction services at the Menninger Clinic, a world-renowned psychiatric hospital in Houston. "There's just too much stigma attached to it."

Regardless of the growing debate surrounding it, anonymity will be intensely guarded by the organizers of the Alcoholics Anonymous 2015 International Convention, which meets July 2-5 in Atlanta. About 50,000 people who battle alcohol addiction are expected to attend, including many teens and young adults.

In a world dominated by social media, some young people and experts who work with them say anonymity gets increasingly more difficult to practice and that makes it even more important to maintain. Some youths do not realize sharing could harm them years later, in addition to arming not-so-friendly people on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with immediate ammunition for gossip.

“We live in this age where everything is tweeted, Snapchatted and Instagrammed, and it’s really too bad because it can prevent people from getting the help they need,” O’Neill said. “The ability to get help anonymously is essential.”

Yet detractors of anonymity believe talking about addiction openly can help to destigmatize it.

“People have the right to talk about it,” said Clancy Martin, philosophy professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Martin has written and spoken publicly about his addiction and has sometimes been criticized for it.

Over the years, many celebrities have been open about their addictions. Robin Williams and David Letterman are just two who openly talked about battling addiction.

Addiction experts note, however, AA or other 12-step programs are rarely mentioned — and they never break the anonymity of anyone else.

That’s because people who work an AA program — or a 12-step program of any kind — know that one of the 12 traditions is that AA should remain anonymous “at the level of press, radio, TV and films.”

Those traditions, however, were started by Bill W. and friends in 1935, when no one dreamed of a world with constant text messaging, Facebook updates and people openly talking about their most personal experiences.

And few could have imagined that alcohol would become the widespread problem for youths and young adults it is today.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, underage alcohol abuse is one of the most serious health issues facing youths. And it poses special risks to youths, who are more likely to drink and drive. Not to mention, alcohol abuse impairs brain development.

Once a young person has developed an addiction, the best treatment, experts said, typically involves a 12-step program. And anonymity is essential to helping them to feel safe — from parents, teachers and other well-meaning adults who may beg, plead or threaten a youth to stop drinking, often to no avail.

"It is extremely important," said Roseann Rook, a certified addiction counselor with Timberline Knolls treatment facility near Chicago. "A person in recovery is sharing in a very different way than a person who is sharing something with their hairdresser, or someone else. That may be to get attention or to get sympathy."

Sharing confidentially has a healing effect that, while perhaps not fully understood, bolsters a recovering addict’s ability to gain support from the group.

"The goal is to protect the group," said Teresa Johnston, director of Kennesaw State University's Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery. "It builds community."

Written and published in collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Journalism and Youth Today at Kennesaw State University.