Interesting article for anyone skeptical of AA

Like I said, I’ve tried a lot of them and they all have their benefits. What I’m saying is it’s not good to try and disprove one way because of your own personal anecdotal evidence.

I’m not. But, people who come here and are on the fence about AA get everyone jumping down their throats telling them to keep going until they find a meeting they like (which can be very discouraging), whereas maybe they’d actually benefit from a different program. :woman_shrugging:t3:

I will also say, coming from a mental health background, I think AA (and other programs) would be even more successful if people worked on their mental health needs alongside their sobriety needs (just my two cents though).

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How is the advice concerning AA there any different than much of what we do and say elsewhere in life?

What do you mean?

AA encourages outside help. Whether people do so is not within their domain.

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Thank you for posting this. I am 323 days sober and found that AA was not for me. I went to an outpatient rehab that was also AA based, and although it helped me detox and get on the right path, I dreaded every AA themed moment. It’s not for everyone.

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I’ve never been to a meeting where they’ve encouraged anyone to get professional help. What I will say though is a common theme I’ve noticed is a ton of underlying trauma that has been unaddressed. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve read the big book front to back, can you point me in the direction where it states that?

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I agree. Once my mental health was salvaged, after about 3 months sober, I found it blissfully simple to detest alcohol.

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I’m so happy that you were able to work on both :heart:️ having control and a better understanding of both concerns definitely aids in recovery!

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The founder of AA actually encourages people to seek outside help as he did. I work in the recovery field myself and encourage all of my clients to seek counseling for mental health and addiction, as well as attending self help groups.

This is why these types of articles are not helpful. People without an understanding of the program trying to tell people why not to do it.

I mean he went to rehab, which is not the same thing as working on mental health issues.

Everyone’s story is different. For me, as a mental health professional who has also had a boat ton of therapy, I can honestly say that I have done more work on my mental health since going to AA than I ever did before.

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Right! As I said, if the program works for you, then that is awesome. But, to constantly shove it down everyone’s throats, when it may not benefit them, is absolutely foolish. And obviously no one here is going to agree with me and I’m okay with that :woman_shrugging:t3:

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Where are you getting this info from? It’s even in the AA literature that AA does not have a monopoly on recovery and encourages people to seek the help they need elsewhere

“We [AA] are not doctors” See eg.

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Thank you! I will read this now.

Please show us an example where people here have shoved AA down someone’s throat.

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I knew one of you big bookers would know what I was talking about :joy:

Okay, all I got from this is that you shouldn’t stop taking your prescribed medications, unless directed by a doctor or you’re abusing them. And then I read a bunch of anecdotal stories about how people felt pressured by members of AA to stop their medication and it ended up not being the right thing to do. Lol