Rageaholics Anonymous-
Abstinence Statement
Our primary purpose is to abstain from expressing our anger and help others achieve abstinence. In line with this purpose, we feel that a brief statement regarding the meaning of abstinence is in order.
In Rageaholics Anonymous, we define abstinence in terms of behavior rather than mental states. We do not focus our efforts upon abstaining from thinking angry thoughts but from acting on that anger. Just as A.A. focuses on the need to stop the behavior of drinking, and as O.A. focuses on compulsive eating, so R.A. focuses on the need to stop acting out our anger. The angry thoughts may take years to drain away as one works the twelve steps of recovery; abstinence from expressing the destructive and addictive anger, however, can begin today, and is the basic foundation upon which all subsequent personal growth depends. "Progress rather than perfection" is the atmosphere for growth that we seek to promote.