It was heavily contested by insurance companies because of the exact reason you said. They don’t want to pay for anything and that’s the truth. Why would an insurance company that is in the game to make money accept anything to be covered if they didn’t have to. And like acne alcoholism is treated with medication at times but insurances have been paying for that for acne meds and even surgeries if bad enough for years. I am not 100% convinced it is a disease but it definitely seems to alter your brain function which is at least a disorder.
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Agreed on the information part. Seems more opinionated than factual. Acne can be cause by eating grease but it can be caused by hormones, stress, environmental factors. And to compare the two is like comparing a cold to cancer. There are plenty of things that can be cured by not putting stuff in our bodies that are considered diseases.
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I do understand that its nice to find community with others who are on a similar path. And that some people do have really negative experiences of 12 step recovery. But let’s not be negative about on others on a different path. On the forum we have a wide range of people with different addictions and recovery programs all willing to support each other.
I also think the idea of having to do some soul searching etc… Well don’t we? For me at least thinking about what it was that was leading me to drink has been important. That is what’s helped me say fuck this and actually (so far at least) make different choices.
Doing that bit of soul searching, along with connecting to a sober community (this forum - which is not inspired by 12 steps and is very much take what you need and leave the rest), helped make it easier for me to accept the changes in lifestyle in the short term. I don’t have many sober connections IRL, definitely not raving ones! Now I am nearly four years alcohol free and I can go out with people drinking and not get tempted. Not sure how relatable that is to opiates, but it’s my experience.
Admittedly I am more selective about the events I choose to go, the people I go with, and I don’t go out nearly as often. But I don’t want or need to either cos I’m not constantly looking for excuses to escape from my life! I have a broader set of interests and activities that I do, and am more comfortable spending time on my own too.
I haven’t personally done 12 steps but have got some fantastic support, advice and friendship here from people who have. I have found looking for the similarities rather than the differences has been helpful in building those connections.
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Yep me 486 days sober good luck
Celebrated 1500 days sober yesterday…no AA. I had a similar feeling towards AA for a while. I grew up with an alcoholic father who, much to his credit, has been sober for 35 years through AA. Growing up though, he was still rageful, emotionally violent and terrifying. I was dating someone in AA when I decided to get sober as well and they were very much the type to shoot down the recovery path of anyone not doing AA. While they may have been sober, they were filled with resentment, bitterness and judgement. It left a sour taste in my mouth.
As I’ve been here on TS for the last four years though, I recognize that members of AA on here have been invaluable to my recovery. This is because they, like me, had an issue with alcohol. While we may have different paths, we were all at one time struggling with the same beast, and have that beast subdued by some means.
I still don’t agree with my exes dismissal of alternate means of recovery bc outside of AA, but I did have to own up at some point to how my active addiction contributed towards his bitterness and resentment.
and it’s because of that that I have to understand that EVERYONE is entitled to their sober path. The more something works for people, the more they tend to shout it from the rooftops. In my four years sober I have been lucky enough to hear a lot of shouting from a lot of rooftops. A chorus of a thousand ropes being thrown out into the abyss, there for anyone who is looking for a way out of the dark.
A lot of those ropes are made from AA thread, and I believe that the people meant to grab those ropes will. While I may not have grabbed that rope, I still got a TON of tips about how to climb out from the fine sober folks of AA in here.
Ultimately, my biggest lesson has been that there is no OTHER in recovery, there’s only US. Glad to be here sober with you today.
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Why am I wrong about acne and what did you find antagonistic. I really don’t want anyone to feel attacked, so could you explain my mistakes, rather than just say I made them. Unless I am corrected and agree that I was off base, I will continue making the same mistakes.
Thanks for responding.
Stephen
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I am interested in every single thing that I possibly can do that is positive And a good influence
that will help me in my recovery so if I have to do the 12 steps then I am willing to do the steps
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How did you deal withdrawals and the anxiety
Zero interest in AA, 12 steps or anything else along those lines, or any other path, save my own…
Stumbled upon the group/forum “checking in daily” page…
I’m over 3yrs AF, never looked back,
Be well on your journey.
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It’s not that I have no interest, I just feel that it is not for me. I just had enough of the drinking and what comes with it. After many times telling myself this, I was serious this time. I found this forum and it has been a lot of help for me.
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That’s right Chris 
everyone has there own way of staying sober and if it work for you that’s all that matters
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On my own road but I’m sure I can’t do it alone. And this is where I find my sober tribe.
Now I’m sober I can work on myself. I’m in a psychotherapy group doing psychotherapy, which I could never have done with any success if I wasn’t sober. At the same time being in therapy helps me greatly in staying sober. And when therapy ends in 11 weeks time I will keep working my recovery. Sure I need to keep working my recovery. Want to too.
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Hey thanks. I was trying to use it as a relatively tame thing to use, but afterwards realized that there were probably people on here who have struggled with it.
As for my comment about the irony of this platform being derived from 12 steps, I was referring to the counting of days and time and that is it. I don’t believe in the hierarchy of time. After the initial fog has cleared one can return to a healthy life in weeks,or be a sober dirtball for years. It is very individual.
I was also a bit amused by responses to my post which asked if there were people with no interest whatsoever in the 12 steps and 9/10ths of the replies told me about how they had integrated it into their recovery. I actually meant it when I said zero interest. Honestly, I think it is watered down fundamental Christianity that leaves the concept of free will behind. No, I am not agnostic, I am a stone cold atheist who thinks prayer directed at someone or thing is like having an imaginary friend. I outgrew that.
Stephen
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Maybe you could start an athiest thread sure you can get like minded people with the same values and beliefs to conversate.
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** internal sigh ** I totally respect all paths of recovery that people choose to take, I don’t understand the need to openly talk them down with such a negative opinion and criticism. Really disrespectful. Its demeaning to those who these methods are working for.
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Please dont insult those for whom it works for. Why would an addict ask the question if they weren’t interested even a little bit?
If you wanted to know other options, you could’ve just asked. This forum is great for diversity!
I hope you have a great day. ODAAT!
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I understand why people would feel like this, AA and it’s so called “disease model” is not without flaws in theory, practice, and in its members. As a member of A.A. I have experienced many moments of uncomfortabiloty in my interactions in the meetings, and I have questioned some of the narratives portrayed as you mentioned, and some of the members seemingly unmoving ideologies. However, despite this, the uncomfortabily experienced by myself in aa is nothing compared to that of alcoholic misery, and in many ways has actually been a place of growth rather than regression. AA has helped me completely change my life. Do I think it’s a perfect programme filled with perfect people operating flawlessly at its highest potential, no. Does it help me personally, unequivocally yes. So when I see people aa bashing, especially other people who in some way align with the description of the alcoholic at some point in time, I think it’s sad. In my personal experience I have found 99 percent of people, be it Alcoholics, non alcoholics or members of 12 step groups are very supportive of any inclination to improve ones own situation regarding a struggle with substances… So to follow that trend, I support you in whatever moment that you’re trying to achieve to better yourself. Hope it is going, And continues to go well.
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i dont attend AA but I do agree its a disease, and i do have a higher power. there are concepts from AA that I have found very useful and very true. I used to have to go when i was on probation and over time some of the concepts stuck out and kept with me, and kept me going.
Why not go to an AA meeting? You don’t need to agree with everything, just like anything in life. But you might learn a new perspective on something you really never know. People after the meetings a lot of times will reach out and talk to you, maybe share a story that relates with you.
Its like growing up and my sister went to Youth Group, and I learned, she wasn’t there for church, she was there for the friends.
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For someone who has zero interest in it, you sure have alot to say about it 
Maybe try focusing on why you started this thread - to connect with people who don’t use AA in recovery - rather than slam the practice of AA at every given opportunity. Otherwise maybe you need to change your thread title to ‘Everything I Disagree With About AA’.
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There is a unspoken rule of the forum, and most recovery groups I’ve encountered, to focus on what’s helped us get better and how, rather than what hasn’t. To reinforce the good behaviors that led us to thriving again.
If for nothing else, to not actively discourage others just starting out from what may be good for them even if not so much for us.
That said, aside from AA, CBT therapy, both group and individual, are certainly tools in my box as well. SMART is a kind of CBT, though I seem to recall it’s actually REBT? And also offers group support.
That and just good clean living. Exercise, meditation, balanced sleep and diet.
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