Comments on: How effective is A.A.? http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/ "a" is for addiction Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:50:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: jerry http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-10847 jerry Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:40:37 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-10847 AA requires surrender and willingness but suppose you are not able or capable of surrender--suppose you are oppositional defiant and rebellious-are you doomed or is there other paths- I propose that many people get long time clean and sober and get high again and state they have relapsed but i believe that most people that relapse have never really relapsed due to they never recovered! My reasoning goes like this-Addicts by their nature or just habit "just do what they want to do-when they want to do it-with who they want to do it with- anytime they want to do it." This means that most addicts that believe they relapsed never relapsed because when they did not want to do drugs or drink they stopped and stayed stopped till they no longer wanted to do "recovery" and wanted to do "addiction" again. This means that there was no qualitative change in their thoughts or behaviors- for they wanted to use drugs and then they wanted to stop and stayed stopped till they gave into the wants again to get high and they got high. this means they are just doing what they want whether it is to use or not to use -it is all the same psychic pattern. An addict has to learn to resist their own impulse to not do something and then they have changed-meaning when they learn to force themselves to attend meetings or go to church or what have you-then that person has changed;but any person that has never learned to resist their own impulses has never recovered and therefore could never have relapsed. A person who loves recovery and going to those meetings and making coffee or calling sponsor is someone doing what they want to do and nothing more or less-nothing has changed in any spectacular ways-but the person THAT FORCES THEMSELVES TO TAKE RECOVERY ACTIONS--IS developing strong resistance to acting on impulse and they are in RECOVERY-only for as long as they do what they don't want to do-IN the end the only thing that will protect someone is if they have the ability to resist the offer or opportunity to get high or do drugs. The more we practice forcing ourselves to take recovery actions the stronger we become-we are taking the Rebelious-Defiant-Oppossitional behavior and making it an asset instead of a liability.it should be especially noted that when a person admits "powerlessness and surrender as well as unmanageability" does nothing to improve or build self esteem or sense of self worth or give them a sense of personal value that would be a deterrent from using drugs BUT the person who challenges themselves and forces themselves to take recovery actions that they do not want to do then when they overcome their on desires or feelings or impulses--THAT person experiences increase in Self Esteem-any time we force ourselves to do the right things automatically builds and increases Self Esteem. AA requires surrender and willingness but suppose you are not able or capable of surrender–suppose you are oppositional defiant and rebellious-are you doomed or is there other paths-
I propose that many people get long time clean and sober and get high again and state they have relapsed but i believe that most people that relapse have never really relapsed due to they never recovered!
My reasoning goes like this-Addicts by their nature or just habit “just do what they want to do-when they want to do it-with who they want to do it with- anytime they want to do it.” This means that most addicts that believe they relapsed never relapsed because when they did not want to do drugs or drink they stopped and stayed stopped till they no longer wanted to do “recovery” and wanted to do “addiction” again. This means that there was no qualitative change in their thoughts or behaviors- for they wanted to use drugs and then they wanted to stop and stayed stopped till they gave into the wants again to get high and they got high. this means they are just doing what they want whether it is to use or not to use -it is all the same psychic pattern.
An addict has to learn to resist their own impulse to not do something and then they have changed-meaning when they learn to force themselves to attend meetings or go to church or what have you-then that person has changed;but any person that has never learned to resist their own impulses has never recovered and therefore could never have relapsed. A person who loves recovery and going to those meetings and making coffee or calling sponsor is someone doing what they want to do and nothing more or less-nothing has changed in any spectacular ways-but the person THAT FORCES THEMSELVES TO TAKE RECOVERY ACTIONS–IS developing strong resistance to acting on impulse and they are in RECOVERY-only for as long as they do what they don’t want to do-IN the end the only thing that will protect someone is if they have the ability to resist the offer or opportunity to get high or do drugs. The more we practice forcing ourselves to take recovery actions the stronger we become-we are taking the Rebelious-Defiant-Oppossitional behavior and making it an asset instead of a liability.it should be especially noted that when a person admits “powerlessness and surrender as well as unmanageability” does nothing to improve or build self esteem or sense of self worth or give them a sense of personal value that would be a deterrent from using drugs BUT the person who challenges themselves and forces themselves to take recovery actions that they do not want to do then when they overcome their on desires or feelings or impulses–THAT person experiences increase in Self Esteem-any time we force ourselves to do the right things automatically builds and increases Self Esteem.

]]> By: pressingtheissue http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-10378 pressingtheissue Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:04:43 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-10378 I'm a recovering Heroin/Cocaine/Alcohol addict and have been told countless times to go to N/A and A/A every day. I first went to N/A a few years back and was approached by a drug dealer there. I used that night.. I found out that this is not an isolated incident. I then was advised to go to A/A and just say that I was an addict. For some reason it seems to do me more harem than good. All I could think about was getting loaded! I really believe that It's not for everyone. I've been fine with out it, others may need it. Remember addiction is different for everyone!Check out my site, pressingtheissue for more info. Just click on my name above! I’m a recovering Heroin/Cocaine/Alcohol addict and have been told countless times to go to N/A and A/A every day. I first went to N/A a few years back and was approached by a drug dealer there. I used that night.. I found out that this is not an isolated incident. I then was advised to go to A/A and just say that I was an addict. For some reason it seems to do me more harem than good. All I could think about was getting loaded! I really believe that It’s not for everyone. I’ve been fine with out it, others may need it. Remember addiction is different for everyone!Check out my site, pressingtheissue for more info. Just click on my name above!

]]> By: PickledGherkin http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-10372 PickledGherkin Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:25:53 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-10372 AA is a dangerous cult. Read the Orange Papers. Read stinkin-thinkin[dot]com. AA spreads dangerous lies. Alcoholism is not a disease. AA is a dangerous cult. Read the Orange Papers. Read stinkin-thinkin[dot]com. AA spreads dangerous lies. Alcoholism is not a disease.

]]> By: Typo http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-2719 Typo Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:11:12 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-2719 Thanks for this interesting post! What's always struck me with AA is the message that if you have one single drink you're right back where you started. It sounds so scary to me. One slip up, and all that hard work down the drain! Signed, Typo Thanks for this interesting post!

What’s always struck me with AA is the message that if you have one single drink you’re right back where you started. It sounds so scary to me. One slip up, and all that hard work down the drain!

Signed,
Typo

]]> By: sleepyshepherd http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1625 sleepyshepherd Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:38:37 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1625 I can think of one very good reason that AA is successful and that is the very fact that it is anonymous. It takes a lot of courage admitting that you are an alcoholic because with it comes the shame and guilt of all of the things you have said and done to loved ones and friends. A person with an alcohol addiction or any other addiction can only step into recovery and stay there if they can count on a support system. Most of the time everyone the alcoholic knows is also an alcoholic or addict; the very existence of AA makes it possible to obtain support and to spend time with other people who can relate to him without worrying about the things that he shared getting spread throughout to his community. You will not find any data on the statistics of members or club business; the fact that AA has been around for so long and do have people who talk about it, and their success stories of years in sobriety should satisfy the question of its legitimacy. Does it work for everyone? I believe that AA is an organization that should exist because it has helped so many people get sober and stay that way; it did not work for me. I was a hopeless alcoholic beginning in my 20’s up until 1995. When I first went into recovery I was isolating myself from my friends and just about everyone because either my friends triggered me or I was just afraid to go out sober. I realized that it was not healthy for me to cut myself off from the world and had heard of AA and decided to give it a try. The first meeting was fine because I had the opportunity to cry about it and get a lot of things off of my chest and a better outlook for my future; however, any of the subsequent meetings I attended would cause me to experience these almost uncontrollable cravings and the longer I sat in a meeting the more likely I would leave there straight to the liquor store – this happened 3 times. Yet any other day or time, I would be able to re-focus on something else by journaling or listening to music on my headphones. I found that every time I started to think about going to an AA meeting, I would start rationalizing that it had been a while since I drank and that I was in control and could have just one drink and stop. This may sound funny but it is true; during times of weakness along with my other “tools” to stay sober, just the idea of AA got me through another day. Signed, sober going on 11 years. I can think of one very good reason that AA is successful and that is the very fact that it is anonymous. It takes a lot of courage admitting that you are an alcoholic because with it comes the shame and guilt of all of the things you have said and done to loved ones and friends. A person with an alcohol addiction or any other addiction can only step into recovery and stay there if they can count on a support system. Most of the time everyone the alcoholic knows is also an alcoholic or addict; the very existence of AA makes it possible to obtain support and to spend time with other people who can relate to him without worrying about the things that he shared getting spread throughout to his community. You will not find any data on the statistics of members or club business; the fact that AA has been around for so long and do have people who talk about it, and their success stories of years in sobriety should satisfy the question of its legitimacy.

Does it work for everyone? I believe that AA is an organization that should exist because it has helped so many people get sober and stay that way; it did not work for me. I was a hopeless alcoholic beginning in my 20’s up until 1995. When I first went into recovery I was isolating myself from my friends and just about everyone because either my friends triggered me or I was just afraid to go out sober. I realized that it was not healthy for me to cut myself off from the world and had heard of AA and decided to give it a try.

The first meeting was fine because I had the opportunity to cry about it and get a lot of things off of my chest and a better outlook for my future; however, any of the subsequent meetings I attended would cause me to experience these almost uncontrollable cravings and the longer I sat in a meeting the more likely I would leave there straight to the liquor store – this happened 3 times. Yet any other day or time, I would be able to re-focus on something else by journaling or listening to music on my headphones. I found that every time I started to think about going to an AA meeting, I would start rationalizing that it had been a while since I drank and that I was in control and could have just one drink and stop.

This may sound funny but it is true; during times of weakness along with my other “tools” to stay sober, just the idea of AA got me through another day. Signed, sober going on 11 years.

]]> By: Jana Burson M.D. http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1456 Jana Burson M.D. Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:46:34 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1456 I always recommend 12-step meetings to my patients, because there is considerable evidence to prove these meetings help. In fact, studies of AA’s effectiveness have been conducted since 1945. A metanalysis of thirty-three studies, done from 1945 until 1990, shows a positive association between the frequency of AA meetings attended by an alcoholic and increased abstinence from alcohol. In other words, an overall summary of these studies shows that the more AA meetings attended, the more likely the alcoholic stayed sober. (1) However, there were two of the thirty-three studies that showed a negative association, meaning that more AA meetings was associated with less time of sobriety. At times, organizations that oppose Alcoholics Anonymous quote one of these two studies and give no information about the other twenty- nine studies. Of course, it may be that alcoholics who are more motivated to stay sober go to more AA meetings, and the number of meetings attended was thus a marker of commitment to sobriety. Was it the degree of motivation of the person, rather than the AA program, that produced the better outcomes? Later studies done in the 1990s controlled for the degree of personal motivation, and still showed a positive correlation between number of meetings attended and sobriety. (2) Later studies looked not at the number of AA meetings attended, but rather the degree of involvement of alcoholics in the AA program. Several studies showed that the degree of involvement was a more important determinant of length of time of abstinence from alcohol than just the number of meetings attended. Multiple studies, looking at outcomes other than abstinence from alcohol, have found that AA attendance was also associated with emotional well-being, serenity, and finding purpose in life. (1) AA has never claimed to have all the answers or solutions. (3) Strangely, most alternatives to twelve step recovery use as their main selling point, “Not like Alcoholics Anonymous.” I have read books authored by people who seem quite bitter that AA did not “fix” them, as if AA had some obligation to do so. Twelve step recovery programs don’t force membership on anyone. In fact, the only way to become a member is to say you want to be a member. So... if 12-step meetings help, great. If not, then don’t go. They have helped about two million people worldwide, but they don’t work for everyone. Thankfully, there’s more than one path to recovery. 1. Tonigan, J. Scott, “Alcoholics Anonymous Outcomes and Benefits,” in Recent Developments in Alcoholics, Volume 18, Research on Alcoholics Anonymous and Spirituality in Addiction Recovery, edited by Marc Galanter and Lee Ann Kaskutas. P 357-372. 2. McKeller J, Stewart E., Humphreys k, “Alcoholics Anonymous and positive alcohol-related outcomes: cause, consequence, or just a correlate?” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2003, April, 71 (2) p 302-308. 3. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., (often called the “Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous”) Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc., New York City, 2001, p 164. I always recommend 12-step meetings to my patients, because there is considerable evidence to prove these meetings help. In fact, studies of AA’s effectiveness have been conducted since 1945.

A metanalysis of thirty-three studies, done from 1945 until 1990, shows a positive association between the frequency of AA meetings attended by an alcoholic and increased abstinence from alcohol. In other words, an overall summary of these studies shows that the more AA meetings attended, the more likely the alcoholic stayed sober. (1) However, there were two of the thirty-three studies that showed a negative association, meaning that more AA meetings was associated with less time of sobriety. At times, organizations that oppose Alcoholics Anonymous quote one of these two studies and give no information about the other twenty- nine studies.

Of course, it may be that alcoholics who are more motivated to stay sober go to more AA meetings, and the number of meetings attended was thus a marker of commitment to sobriety. Was it the degree of motivation of the person, rather than the AA program, that produced the better outcomes? Later studies done in the 1990s controlled for the degree of personal motivation, and still showed a positive correlation between number of meetings attended and sobriety. (2)

Later studies looked not at the number of AA meetings attended, but rather the degree of involvement of alcoholics in the AA program. Several studies showed that the degree of involvement was a more important determinant of length of time of abstinence from alcohol than just the number of meetings attended. Multiple studies, looking at outcomes other than abstinence from alcohol, have found that AA attendance was also associated with emotional well-being, serenity, and finding purpose in life. (1)

AA has never claimed to have all the answers or solutions. (3) Strangely, most alternatives to twelve step recovery use as their main selling point, “Not like Alcoholics Anonymous.” I have read books authored by people who seem quite bitter that AA did not “fix” them, as if AA had some obligation to do so. Twelve step recovery programs don’t force membership on anyone. In fact, the only way to become a member is to say you want to be a member.

So… if 12-step meetings help, great.

If not, then don’t go.

They have helped about two million people worldwide, but they don’t work for everyone. Thankfully, there’s more than one path to recovery.

1. Tonigan, J. Scott, “Alcoholics Anonymous Outcomes and Benefits,” in Recent Developments in Alcoholics, Volume 18, Research on Alcoholics Anonymous and Spirituality in Addiction Recovery, edited by Marc Galanter and Lee Ann Kaskutas. P 357-372.
2. McKeller J, Stewart E., Humphreys k, “Alcoholics Anonymous and positive alcohol-related outcomes: cause, consequence, or just a correlate?” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2003, April, 71 (2) p 302-308.
3. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., (often called the “Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous”) Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc., New York City, 2001, p 164.

]]> By: Jim T. http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1431 Jim T. Sat, 07 Aug 2010 11:50:15 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1431 All medical evidence suggests that AA is the ONLY thing with a proven track record. Having said that, I do not subscribe to the thought of keeping "statistics" on members "success". Progress in ones own recovery depends solely on willingness to believe in a power greater than ourselves. Willingness to take action and willingness to pass that on with no recognition . Humility is essential. Can you imagine keeping a record of relapses and posting them on line for all to see? If the newcommer is to continue to enter AA, anonymity must be ABSOLUTE! Jim T. Delray Beach, FL. All medical evidence suggests that AA is the ONLY thing with a proven track record. Having said that, I do not subscribe to the thought of keeping “statistics” on members “success”. Progress in ones own recovery depends solely on willingness to believe in a power greater than ourselves. Willingness to take action and willingness to pass that on with no recognition . Humility is essential. Can you imagine keeping a record of relapses and posting them on line for all to see? If the newcommer is to continue to enter AA, anonymity must be ABSOLUTE!

Jim T.
Delray Beach, FL.

]]> By: downloader http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1383 downloader Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:40:41 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1383 Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog? Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?

]]> By: Jane Derry http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1349 Jane Derry Mon, 31 May 2010 20:58:09 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1349 You'll get as much out of AA as you put into AA. You’ll get as much out of AA as you put into AA.

]]> By: Teresa Billinger http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1322 Teresa Billinger Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:18:44 +0000 http://addictionblog.org/body/how-effective-is-aa/#comment-1322 This a question that is coming to service more so now than ever. I do believe that AA has it's strong points but on the other hand I was told in NA that with recovery comes relapse...well that is like telling a thief when the alarm system is going to be turned off. So what did I do but used again and spiraled farther into my drinking than ever. But on the other hand...working the steps, meeting others who were struggling with the same addictions and finding my place of serenity was awesome. I just chose to move forward and out of my addiction and become powerful not powerless. I grew past it I guess where they said I never would. HMMMM!! So I guess it is good on some aspect but I agree it should be used along side other forms of treatment and not solely alone as a treatment. Maybe some revamping of the big book might be in order...as hard as it is to change a legacy...sometimes things change and grow and so needs to the inside workings. LIVE~LAUGH~LOVE This a question that is coming to service more so now than ever. I do believe that AA has it’s strong points but on the other hand I was told in NA that with recovery comes relapse…well that is like telling a thief when the alarm system is going to be turned off. So what did I do but used again and spiraled farther into my drinking than ever.

But on the other hand…working the steps, meeting others who were struggling with the same addictions and finding my place of serenity was awesome. I just chose to move forward and out of my addiction and become powerful not powerless. I grew past it I guess where they said I never would. HMMMM!!

So I guess it is good on some aspect but I agree it should be used along side other forms of treatment and not solely alone as a treatment. Maybe some revamping of the big book might be in order…as hard as it is to change a legacy…sometimes things change and grow and so needs to the inside workings.

LIVE~LAUGH~LOVE

]]>