# Can we approach someone who is still drinking?

**In short:**
- Yes. Chapter 7 of the Big Book, "Working With Others," is written about approaching alcoholics who are still drinking. It tells you how to find them and when to go and see them (pp. 89–91).
- It sets conditions. There should be some sign the man wants to stop; if he doesn't, "don't waste time trying to persuade him" (p. 90). Don't deal with him while he's very drunk, and never force yourself on him (p. 90).
- That is how A.A. began. Bill W. reached Dr. Bob while Dr. Bob was still drinking, and the two of them found their third man strapped to a hospital bed (pp. 155–157).

## What Chapter 7 says, in order

1. **Go and find them.** "Perhaps you are not acquainted with any drinkers who want to recover" (p. 89). Ask doctors, ministers, priests or hospitals (p. 89). "Remember they are very ill" (p. 89).
2. **Look for a man who wants to stop.** "If he does not want to stop drinking, don't waste time trying to persuade him" (p. 90). If there's any sign he wants to stop, talk first with the person closest to him (p. 90).
3. **Pick the moment.** Sometimes it's wise to wait until he goes on a binge (p. 90). "Don't deal with him when he is very drunk, unless he is ugly and the family needs your help" (p. 90). Wait for the end of the spree, or at least a lucid interval (p. 90).
4. **Don't push.** "If he does not want to see you, never force yourself upon him" (p. 90).
5. **Go while he's still shaky.** "Call on him while he is still jittery. He may be more receptive when depressed" (p. 91). If he needs a hospital, he should have one (p. 91).

The rest of the chapter assumes the work happens in hard places: "innumerable trips to police courts, sanitariums, hospitals, jails and asylums" (p. 97), a drunk who may "smash the furniture in your home" (p. 97). "You should not hesitate to visit the most sordid spot on earth on such an errand" (p. 102).

## How the first members did it

Chapter 11 tells the story without names (footnotes added in later editions name the people). A man sober only a few months, alone in a strange city, phoned a clergyman to find an alcoholic to talk to (pp. 154–155). The man he found was "nearing the nadir of alcoholic despair" (p. 155) and went on "a roaring bender" after their first talk (p. 155). A footnote identifies this as Bill's first visit with Dr. Bob (p. 155).

Then the two of them called a hospital and asked the head nurse for "a first class alcoholic prospect" (p. 156). She described a man who had just beaten up two nurses and was "strapped down tight" (p. 156). One of them answered, "Put him in a private room. We'll be down" (p. 157). That man became A.A. number three (p. 156 footnote; p. 158).

The book ends by telling the reader to ask, each morning, "what you can do each day for the man who is still sick" (Ch. 11, p. 164).

## What the text doesn't support

The book doesn't tell you to chase everyone who drinks. It says the opposite about a man who doesn't want to stop (p. 90), and that it's "a waste of time to keep chasing a man who cannot or will not work with you" (p. 96). Its reason isn't to give up on him: leaving him alone may convince him he can't recover by himself (p. 96), and the time is better spent on "some other alcoholic" who is ready (p. 96). See: *What if the person I'm helping doesn't want it?*

Nor does the book say "wait until he hits bottom" in so many words. Waiting for the end of a binge is about timing the visit (p. 90), not a reason to stay away.

## Read it yourself
- Chapter 7, "Working With Others" (pp. 89–103), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt7.pdf
- Chapter 11, *A Vision for You* (pp. 151–164): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt11.pdf
- The full book, *Alcoholics Anonymous*: https://onlineliterature.aa.org
- Related: *What does Step 12 really say?* · *What is a "Twelfth Step call"?* · *What if the person I'm helping doesn't want it?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Chapter 7, "Working With Others" | 89–97, 102 | 1939 |
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Chapter 11, "A Vision for You" | 154–158, 164 | 1939 (the footnotes naming Bill, Dr. Bob and A.A. number three were added in later editions) |

Page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). The Preface says the program chapters have been "left largely untouched" since 1939 (p. xi), but our sources have no first edition to compare page numbers against.

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc.*