What to expect at a first meeting

WildcatMom82

I've been looking up meetings off and on for years, but never had the courage to follow through. I pretty much have every symptom of binge eating disorder, though have never seen anyone for it, and while I have lost weight in the past I still had significant binges and often obsessed over what I was and wasn't eating. In the past week I've been listening to some of the radio broadcasts on the OA site and I want to go even more now so I'm trying to gear myself up for it. Those who have been to meetings, what was your initial experience like? I've always been shy and have some social anxiety, which has gotten better since having kids, but the thought of going some place new alone and talking to others still makes me nervous.

janesmith1

They're all pretty friendly. No judgments.

Someone on youtube made a video about going to their first meeting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJt7NZli27M

There's also online oa meetings too, my profile is open and I have links to OA online!

ThriftyChica12

at my first meeting...i cried because i was at the end of my rope, and i left feeling hopeful bc i knew there was finally an answer for me.

go asap. and keep going.

zeeee

I really didn't want to go to my first meeting. I had a bazillion reasons why I knew it wasn't going to work. When I finally went, it was awkward. There are things that people say together and I didn't know why. There was someone leading the meeting and I wondered what they had done to attain the level of a leader. It was my first time in a 12-step meeting and it just seemed weird, but I sensed that they had something I wanted. After about 5 minutes I knew I was in the right place. They really understood the way I thought about food. I heard people saying things I would have NEVER said out loud about the way they ate. And there were lots of thin people there who were no longer tortured by overeating.

I cried through my first several meetings.

It may feel weird, but give it a try. If its not right for you, that's OK. But it works for me when nothing else ever came close to working. I'm down over 140 pounds and I've been completely abstinent from compulsive overeating for almost 4 years.

ohkola

I was terrified to go to my first meeting. Terrified. But I went, sat in the back, and listened. And cried my eyes out. It is something to experience when you've struggled with something for so long, by yourself, to learn that there are others out there and you don't have to go through it alone. The people at the meeting you go to should be welcoming and know exactly where you're coming from because we've all been there. You'll get hugs, smiles and probably some literature. You'll hear your story (or some variation of it).

I heard once that if it doesn't scare you, it's probably not worth doing. Just go - you won't be sorry.

healthyKYgirl

My first meeting felt awkward at first. I arrived early, and I found a room with chairs in a circle and a couple of women who said hi and asked me if I was new. They welcomed me, and then gave me a beginners packet and wrote down their names and numbers for me to call if I had questions later. People came into the meeting and sat down and generally said hi to me and to others. I was surprised when people of all different shapes and sizes came in and sat down. I listened during the meeting, and I identified with what they had to say. They told me to come back after the meeting, and a few people came to talk to me afterwards and to encourage me back. When people spoke and were so honest about their feelings and thoughts, saying things that just seemed so hard to say for me but that I really appreciated and totally identified with, I really felt like I was in a good place. I tried several meetings, and got good things out of all of them.

All the meetings have different formats - some have speakers, some do readings, some do discussions. Everyone was different. So if you go, try a couple of meetings. Everyone is non-judgmental. They all were where you are now - walking through the door for the first time and scared. And everyone was welcoming, and very, very nice and trying to be super supportive.

julesoa

I went to my first meeting 14 months ago. It took me 20 years to get there from first hearing about OA. For whatever reason I just wasn't willing enough before. Maybe I had to get really desperate first. I had read about OA off the website and oredered the 'Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous and the OA 12 steps and 12 traditions so I did some reading beforehand too. At my first meeting I was scared before I went but relieved to find ordinary people most of whom were slim but had been fat like I was. When they told their stories I knew they were telling my story too. We say give it 6 weeks to see if it's for you, but I knew from that first meeting I had come home. Yes it can seem a bit weird, the language, the talk about God or Higher Power but the fellowship and understanding is wonderful.