Does AA work for you? Why or why not? I’ve attended a handful of AA meetings. Part of me liked them; part of me was indifferent. Some people praise AA; some condemn it. What do you think?
Haha. Little to quiet around here today for ya?? Lol. People get fired up on this topic. I make it no secret that I would not have gotten sober without AA. I would not have gotten my wife back without AA. I would not be as happy as I am now without AA.
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I hear you loud and clear. Case dismissed.
It works for some people. It doesn’t work for others.
I don’t buy the “it can do more harm than good” stuff some journalists seem to peddle. It’s not like A.A make you join a commune or force people to give them all their money.
I remember one guy at one meeting say “It’s nice and warm here and I am not drinking”
Good enough reason to be there.
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Hahaha. Not what I meant at all. I would never want a case dismissed. This topic does get spicy is all😉
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You can say that again.
I didn’t realize that. Honestly.
Okay, I got it. Thanks.
A really good spiritual program and the main reason I don’t drink today!
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It’s worked for me so far, and I’m just about to hit 7 months. I’m touchy about the sometimes heavy handed god stuff, but it really is flexible in terms of how you navigate spirituality. And there are Atheist/Agnostic meetings. The downside to me is the same as its strength-- there are a lot of folks in AA. It’s helped a lot of people, so a lot of people come to it for help. So there’s always somebody to talk to who’s been where you are, and there is always somebody that needs help, and you can offer it to them. I love that, I love the community of it, because I was so lonely when I was drinking. But the downside is that, yeah, you will get all kinds of people, and chances are a lot of them will rub you the wrong way, especially in early sobriety when everything feels like bullshit. But you can pick and choose who you reach out to, and you can pick and choose your meetings. It sometimes takes a while to find one you feel comfortable in.
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Agree 100% with what u said, not every meeting is the right meeting, u are not force to stay at any meeting that u don’t find helpful for your sobriety.
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Great post. Thank you. We are all part of a “community” of addicts. The fellowship that AA offers is priceless. I agree about the heavy-handed God stuff.
AA does work for some, and doesn’t for others.
I always endorse AA because there is value in the program. It’s free, and you can learn a lot of valuable things there.
Now, for me, I quit going to AA. Reason being is that alcohol isn’t present in my everyday life and it’s easy for me to not even think about drinking. The last few times I went, I personally thought it might of actually had a negative effect on me as I was listening to war stories and it started getting me thinking about drinking again.
I honestly want to give back and help people who have problems, but I think in my current phase of recovery, I am going to stay away.
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That’s a fair assessment of AA. Never thought of it as maybe being a trigger.
AA and this forum go hand in hand for me. Both or necessary for my recovery. I have to keep in contact with other alcoholics and addicts daily in order to keep my head straight.
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I’m afraid to go. For one, I’m not as severe a case as a lot of folks but can relate.
Also I don’t believe in the higher power thing… I refuse to believe some force has to fix you.
I don’t want to be reminded of drinking or fixate on drinking as being my problem. It’s a symptom of other problems for me. Why not focus on the root cause you know?
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The 12 steps is the only thing I’ve found that has not only help me not to pick up be at at a better place internally
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AA not for everyone but as been mentioned its free ! it saved my life you take what you need from meetings and leave what you dont understand i work the program in my life i give back by sponsoring and talking at meetings ,i found that i needed other people who went through what i went through and i have many friends in AA all over the world and spoke at meetings in diff Countries here in Scotland its still strong and growing stronger its worth a try going to meetings rather than sit whitE knuckled in your house trying to stop thats only my opinion what do i know only 31 years going to AA IT WORKS IF YOU WANT IT TO ,
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Great post. I agree with you.
Quantitative denial.
It’s easy to compare our level of addiction to other’s and say that my problem isn’t as bad as others.
In treatment, I came to the conclusion that addiction is addiction, and it manifest itself differently than others. The AA big book has great stories and a section of stories where people quit before it got worse.
The higher power ideal in aa is not about a force that can fix you like Christian ideology, and your higher power can be anything you choose.
And AA does get to the root of your problems in the 12 steps.
If you haven’t gone, at least try a few groups/meetings and see if it can help.
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