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Q&A: How well do alcohol recovery programs actually work?

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I was looking through some old posts and found this question. I thought it was a good one so I wanted to post an answer here. The question comes from ‘almintaka’:

Hi Everyone,Alcoholics Anonymous (“AA”, spiritual), Rational Recovery (“RR”, cognitive), SMART (cognitive), Save Ourselves (“SOS”, cognitive) and other alcohol recovery programs all claim varying levels of success in helping alcoholics on the road to recovery. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding their claims, as even a quick search on the internet will reveal. Viewing this chaos of opinions from “outside the box”, it certainly seems as though they’re all blowing smoke. Anecdotal arguments are used, tabloid-style quotations are touted as being authentic, and “my way or the highway” rationalizing is often used. One thing they all have in common is that apparently none of them has a handle on real statistics (though I could be wrong here; I just haven’t found any). In addition, independent studies (NIAA, Dawson) have shown that these programs are no more successful than no program at all. What’s your opion? Do one or more of these programs work better than nothing?

Answer: I can only tell you from my own experiences. With the help of AA I quit drinking over 8 yrs ago. I had reached my own personal bottom and did not know where else to turn. The amount of alcohol I was drinking nor the amount of time I spent drunk was not really the issue. The issue was that for me personally, whenever I started drinking that I was not going to stop until I passed out or I ran out of alcohol. I was introduced to the program of AA and the things I heard in those meetings appealed to me personally and with the help of the people I met in those meetings I have been able to stay sober. A lot of people are able to drink sociably and if they can , then by God they ought to…..but I can’t and I realize that if I ever take another drink then I will most likely be back in the same condition in no time at all. Some people that admit to theirselves that they have a drinking problem are able to quit without the help of a program like AA. More power to them…….maybe they have a stronger will and don’t need the support of a program like AA. I personally did not have the willpower to quit without help and AA gave me the ability to personally overcome my disease. AA is not for all alcoholics…..some people have a problem with the atmosphere that exists in an AA meeting. That’s OK too…..I do not look down on people that have this problem/disease and seek help elsewhere or nowhere at all…….I do not judge. You will notice that in several places in this answer that I have used the word “personally”. This is because of the way that I have recovered from this problem/disease is with AA. My last thought for you is that if you do have a problem with alcohol and you realize and admit this then you might try quitting on your own…….if you succeed then so much the better……..if you find that after quitting you are still having a hard time staying sober then you might consider finding a support group. And if you can’t find a group then email me and we will find one for you together because that is another thing you learn in AA…….and that is that for one to keep their sobriety one has to give it away. Good Luck

Tagged:Other – General Health Care


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