Concepts
The phrase "terminal vagueness" describes a characteristic of compulsive debtors, a systematic avoidance of monitoring finances–including avoiding communication with creditors–leading to an overestimation or underestimation of account balances. An overestimation may result in incurring unsecured debt. "Clarity" is the opposite of vagueness, requiring a clear picture of how much money one has and owes, at any given time. DA encourages "awareness" of the cultural pervasiveness of debt and overspending. DA suggests members stay aware of manipulative advertising tactics as well as thoughts and feelings that trigger their desire to spend money.
Excessive preoccupation with indebtedness can lead to both "emotional indebtedness" and "self-debting." Self-debting is the inability to identify or fulfill personal needs because of such preoccupations, whereas emotional indebtedness is the accompanying stress, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness or despair, and even suicidal ideation. Self-debting manifests in various ways such as taking drastic measures to hide evidence of problems with money or debt, paying creditors to the detriment of one's needs, or even spending excessive amounts of time managing finances.
"Abstinence" in DA is abstaining from incurring any new unsecured debt, a strict definition that includes not paying bills when due, borrowing money from a family member or friend without collateral, credit card debt and other unsecured loans. If a member has abstained from incurring unsecured debt for a day, he or she is "solvent" for that day. Solvency, in this sense, is a neologism differing from the common definition of solvency (the degree to which assets exceeds liabilities).
A belief in an "abundant universe" underlines much of the DA program. Competition is learned from, but not feared, as there are enough resources for everyone. This perspective counters deprivation thinking that accompanies compulsive debting, overspending, and underearning.
DA members may be vague or unfocused about their goals in life. For this reason, DA encourages members to develop "vision," the ability to form a clear and specific picture of what they want to do in life. Visions are discovered by abstaining from incurring unsecured debt, following the Twelve Steps and using the Twelve Tools. Ignoring one's vision is similar to self-debting, it may result in physical or emotional distress, or preoccupation with other people's lives rather than focusing on oneself.
Read more about this topic: Debtors Anonymous
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