Does it help?
Does it make crave alcohol?
Is it a waste of time?
Recent studies about the effectiveness of treatment have confused me. I have come to the conclusion that I am an alcoholic and I want to know if i should go to AA or find something different. What helps most?
Comment below!
“AA” has been a life line for many, many years. Look in your phone book and dial the number. They can answer all your questions. No it is not a waste of time if you are willing to take a true assessment of yourself and want to get healthy. It won’t be easy, but first and foremost…so it for yourself.
Best of life.
Yeah it helps, at one time the judge sentenced me there, about 27 years ago, and I abstained after the first meeting.
well it didnt help for my mom but that is because she wasnt ready. you sound like you are. but this did help for 3 of my friends. all have been sober for more than 6 years. pretty amazing. but i do think after some time you should gain a sort of independance which the people who attend this dont seem to. or at least my friends havent. they still go non stop to AA (after 6 years as i said) and need to run to their councelor for everything. like cannot make decisions on their own. i am a recovered pill addict. yes different than alcohol but i didnt have any help. just will power and i feel i am mentally stronger than my friends (sadly…dont take that wrong) i just make my own decisions and dont need to run to someone who tells me what i should do. its hard to see them like that. good luck to you
Sounds like you’ve passed the biggest challenge. You’ve decided that you have a problem. No matter what you think about AA, it will at least give you access to a lot of people going through the same thing that you are. Also they can show things to do besides drink…To me the biggest thing that keeps you drinking is that you don’t know of anything to do that no longer involves drinking. Not drinking can be very boring without something else to do.
It helps.Its not what you think.It may save your life,and your sanity.You are not judged there on who or what you are but if your serious on wanting to quit or just fooling yourself.The thing is your surrounded by people just like you,with similar problems.Its a support group.And realize that many people whom come to terms with this dont often get it right on the first try.Its OK,but go,youve got nothing to lose,and so much to gain.As for me I was a drug user since ’83.I thought it was never a problem,and by most peoples stories I was a very successful addict.I was different.I waited until 2005 to quit and it cost me everything,job ,money etc etc .But I did get back up.That was my price to pay for all the years i partied,and never got caught.So take some advice and try it before the price costs you more than you can pay(in your life)
I really believe that any addiction is a metal mind set. If you have a strong mind set and realize you do not need the substance to function then the better off you will be. You need to ween yourself off slowly since your body is use to the daily alcohol intake. But once you get to 2 beers a day or even one it will become easier and easier. Then soon you will see that you dont need the substance in your daily life.
Then go a while without the substance. See how you can handle it. Then maybe try to have just one beverage. Not two just one.
One beer a day is actually proven to be healthy so keep that in mind.
Good luck best wishes
Yeah it helps, if you want it ……………………..
Great organization
AA has boasts the same success rate as no treatment at all, 5%. If AA helped at all shouldn’t it have a higher success rate that no treatment? And it has a mortality rate 6 times higher according to a study run by George Vaillant.
“One recent study found that 80% of all alcoholics who recover for a year or more do so on their own, some after being unsuccessfully treated. When a group of these self-treated alcoholics was interviewed, 57% said they simply decided that alcohol was bad for them. Twenty-nine percent said health problems, frightening experiences, accidents, or blackouts persuaded them to quit. Others used such phrases as “Things were building up” or “I was sick and tired of it.” Support from a husband or wife was important in sustaining the resolution.
Treatment of Drug Abuse and Addiction — Part III, The Harvard Mental Health Letter, October 1995.
Check your local library, see if there are any books by Jim Christopher, Jack Trimey, or Stanton Peele. See one of them has an approach that seems right for you.
AA is more about God than about quitting drinking; several Federal Courts have declared AA “religious in nature”. I found Alcoholics Anonymous particularly unhelpful because it distracrted me from my objective of not drinking and getting a life.
Well, I have only been sober for 5 months but can tell you that I made it this far with the help of The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and God. Give it a try, it will work if you have accepted the fact that you cannot do this on your own. Not all meetings are good meetings. Try a few different ones out in your area and pick the one you feel is right for you. I went to one that made me wanna drink…LOL. Then I found a group that is excited about sobriety! Look for those! Good luck to you! By the way, as promised in The Big Book, the urge to drink has been completely removed.
waste of time? no not treally its has its benefits, but at the same timegod gave us free will then aa goes and tells you to give that up to god?? ummm which one?? im confused??? lol in reality. u made the decision to drink u should be strong enough to quit look at it this way. u amde the decision to try aa? doesnt that mean u want to?? theres 1 good sang from AA i agree with 1 day ata time, but talk to friends. AA is a religion if u dont belive in a higher power LIKE GOD then u may be shunned cuz in AA it cant work unless u give ur life over to GOD or even a rock (yes a higher power can be anything)lastlywith AA if ur married or have family they will never be more then 3rd on ur list of importance thru aa its god then aa then ur family and to me thats wrong!!!
I came to the same conclusion about my own addiction to alcohol about 10 years ago.
I quit drinking and joined AA at the same time, which might lead one to conclude that my AA membership was responsible for my quitting. However I do not think this was so.
The social support I received was helpful for a time. But it came at a very high price: the price was my ability to think for myself. I paid that price for a long time, and along the way I encountered far more sexual predators and con artists than healthy people who could serve as real role models. Eventually I decided I had to leave to save my sanity and was told I would die if I did so. I had not had a drink for nine years at the time, but as far as AA is concerned, that meant nothing. If I left, I’d drink and if I drank I’d die. (And if I didn’t drink, I was a “dry drunk”; if I did drink successfully, I was “never an alcoholic in the first place”.)
Today I choose to abstain, and am happier than ever. I don’t regret my “sobriety” in the least but I do regret the time I spent in AA.
There are a number of alternatives to AA. Try SMART Recovery, SOS, LifeRing and Rational Recovery. And good luck.
http://www.behaviortherapy.com/whatworks.htm
In my opinion there is help around to ‘support’ your own actions rather than anyone doing it for you – which is the first natural tendency. In my opinion the AA 12 steps are misguided and unecessary and there can be a lot of pressure from many immature members to conform. However, I got sober despite this because I sought out the few people who I Iiked and told everyone else to sod off. However, if you expose yourself to it continually, the AA idea of powerlessness is insidiously pervasive and has an effect even if you think your being rational. Also, if you pursue AA’s god based solution your unlikely to make any progress on any other route. There are alternatives nowadays like Smartrecovery. Their website is worth a look. All the best.