Just curious if anyone stays sober without AA. I go. But I white knuckle the shit out of it just for the wisdom. I don’t buy into the 12 step nonsense. I know loads of people who have stayed sober for years and never went to any meetings. Looking into other alternatives to staying sober
I have never been to AA but I’m only day 13. I keep the idea of going on the back burner just in case the going gets tougher 
. Perhaps it’s not ideal for every type of personality, but I’m sure that there would be pearls of wisdom there for most?..
I find Allen Carr’s book really helpful for changing my mindset about alcohol 
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I don’t go to meetings. I have tried and every time I go I just want to drink afterwards. I have found staying busy and concentrating on my relationship
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I don’t go to AA either, I don’t think I need it per se, however I’ve only been a little over 3 days sober. It’s just important to realize you are not your compulsions or thoughts but the decisions you make. Just remember you CAN choose NOT to drink and choose instead to focus your energy on things more important to you. i.e relationships with friends, family, SO or working out, picking up new skills etc. Power to us, we can do it.
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I was never fond of a.a myself but I have found one meeting I like to go to once a week and I never miss it. It’s not a meeting where everyone is super serious and you can never go off topic. It’s more like a big family coming together every Monday to talk about how their week went and ways to deal with certain situations. Luckily I found myself a meeting like that because a lot of other ones I have gone to seem more “cult” like. It’s nice to know you have 20 or 30 numbers of sober people you can call if you ever need someone to talk to . I wouldn’t count it out 100% I had to shop around to 10 or 20 meetings before I found one with the right people. I didn’t think I needed it either cuz my ego was too big and wouldn’t accept help from strangers
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AA worked for to date im open minded and what ever keeps you sober great but i dont think i would have stayed this long sober if i hadnt went to meets but i wish everyone well be safe
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I like to think of myself as someone who has decided not to drink anymore. I don’t like the tag alcoholic as it has a loser sound to it. I just don’t want to drink anymore and it would be better if I never did. But to each their own and whatever they find helps them is good in my book
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I am almost thru Day 20, only think about AA, but have no plans to go. I have a close friend 3+ years sober, who is a regular at AA. I have yet to tell her about my attempt at sobriety, but plan to after Day 30. She may convince me? But I am secretly hoping she just becomes a support person “on the side”.
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I don’t currently go to AA. However there is an AA reflection hour that I’ve been thinking about trying out. AA just seems too religious for me.
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I am atheist and I still take a lot out of the meeting i go to. I just tune out all the Prayers and stuff they do sometimes. It’s really not a religious program but some meetings do hammer religion into it way too hard
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When I read about AA, it sounded to me like I have to say I am an alcoholic and will be until the day I die. I beg to differ. I smoked cigarettes from the age of 16 until I was 26 (minus the months I was pregnant), I used Paul McKenna to retrain my brain which has been mega successful and I can honestly say that I am not a smoker who chooses not to smoke, I AM NOT A SMOKER. I think that that I can retrain myself to not have a dependence on alcohol, I refuse to believe there is no light at the end of the tunnel, I can recover and I will recover. Rant over!
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For me considering myself always being an alcoholic is a constant reminder of why I had to stop drinking and why I can’t even pick up one drink. Because I am alcoholic if I do that. And of course a.a believes there’s light at the end of the tunnel,I feel like people are just too hard headed or scared to check out some meetings because they read too much into it on paper. Just my opinion.
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@Mester, I’ve been sober for 33 days now. I’ve been to a total of 3 AA meetings. I may go back every now and then, but like @Steve92 said I won’t be working the 12 steps so to speak. I went basically out of curiosity and it was nice to open up and tell my story to people who are not judgemental. I also showed up to get my 30 day chip. For me it’s a place I can go get things off my chest if I feel the need and the chip thing to me is just an exercise in goal setting. I certainly don’t need AA to stay sober. This time I’m in control of my destiny and I’m owning it!
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I think millions and millions of people beat their alcohol problems everyday without AA and minimal support. You just don’t hear so much from these people, they just go about their merry lives. For me, I consider myself a driven and stubborn person when I put my mind to something. I’ll see things through to the end. That used to be drinking hard, working hard, still maintaining a gym routine. Now I’m focusing that same zealous energy to stop drinking and living more healthily.
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I’ve done the aa and na but my fiance said it best once I left the meeting I wanted to go out and use or drink more. So just staying busy, my kids and focusing on my relationship keeps me from doing anything. That and we don’t go out so it mind over matter.
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I’ve done AA before. I did it for 2 years when I was sober for 4. I hated it with a passion. Sure, there was some helpful meetings from time to time. But for the most part it was the same shit different day nonsense.
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Just starting out and not planning on using AA. It was the first place I looked but online the overly religious 12 steps were a bit off putting as someone not part of the church.
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I’ve never been keen on AA. I felt I needed the support group but I just don’t like the way AA works. YOU guys are my support. You’re there whenever I need you and have questions. You’re here even when there are no meetings near me.
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I’m only 17 days sober, but I’m not using AA and don’t plan to. I don’t believe in a higher power, and even though it can work without that, it doesn’t seem like it’s for me. I’m taking the approach of choosing not to drink. I started reading This Naked Mind, thanks to this forum, and I’m blown away by it so far. It has definitely changed how I look at alcohol and has already helped me a lot
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