AA Is Not The Only Way

Now, I am a Christian, but I read this article about Alcoholics Anonymous and why some Atheists think it is a cult, and I have to say I agree. I started to feel this way when last year I moved in with a roommate who insisted I needed AA, despite the fact that I literally have less then 1 drink a month. She kept telling me I needed "spiritual healing" and I thought "no, I don’t, I have all the spirit I need".

I don’t know. I have just met a lot of people who have been in AA or NA and it seems like they are all brain washed. Most of them will insist you are an addict, even if you don’t drink or do drugs and they will just tell you that you are in denial if you disagree.

What do you think?

http://www.positiveatheism.org/rw/ofcourse.htm

I’m a former alcoholic and was an AA member for nine years.

Based on my experience, yes, I believe that AA is a cult. The philosophy of the group is that the individual is powerless and needs to surrender to a "higher power" ("God as I understand him") in order to recover. This very idea keeps people sick and tied to the group forever, where they often (not always) become isolated, inbred and brainwashed.

I agree with Taf that many AA members are perfectly well meaning people. However, their good intentions do not mean that the group is not a cult. I imagine that many of the members of FLDS are well meaning too and truly believe they are practicing God’s will, just like the Jim Jones folks etc. It isn’t intent that counts, it’s outcome.

Which brings me to the next point. While the cult question is interesting, it evades the real issue which is whether or not AA actually works as advertised. Here, the answer is clear: NO.

Take a look at the following website, which contains a thorough complilation of the research regarding the effectiveness of AA. It is very eye opening. There’s some information on the cult question, too, on the site:

http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html

My husband has been an alcoholic for three years and I have found research findings proving how alcohol affects brain function. I would like to find out how alcoholism can be treated. Please help me find him a good rehab center where he can get alcoholism treatment.

You have mentioned how alcoholism affects brain function. I am glad to inform you that the initiative you took to find out the effects of alcoholism is one of the best ways to treat addiction. Education is a powerful tool. Most alcoholics have no idea how much damage they are causing because of this dangerous and ‘unbreakable’ habit.

I suggest that you share with your husband whatever information you might find about alcoholism especially those about how to get alcoholism treatment. Knowing how alcohol can take its toll on his body functions may also convince him to stop drinking.

Overcoming alcoholism will not only require rehab treatment but also the support and understanding of family and friends. Oftentimes, when an alcoholic fails to admit his addiction, an intervention is done between him and his loved ones. This would make the alcoholic realize his problem and eventually accept the fact that he needs treatment.

Aside from undergoing rehab treatment and joining social organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous, self-control is also an effective alcoholism treatment. It would require commitment and discipline to lessen alcohol consumption. Although it may seem difficult for an alcoholic to abstain from drinking, his very self-control may just be the most effective way to make him stay sober.

I wish you and your husband the best.

Society has labeled alcoholism a "disease". Do you agree or disagree, and why?
tcturout, calling me ignorant wins you no brownie points. I asked a simple question and expected a simple answer. Calling others that dont agree with ur point of view is offensive, and very liberal minded. You wont be winning the best answer this time.

Alcaholics have an excuse for everything. When they get pulled over its the stupid police who dont know what they’re doing. When they lose their license its the dumb unfair laws. When they get fired the boss is an asshole and they hated that job anyway. One excuse after another. Calling alcaholism a disease is just one more excuse for alcaholics to use. Excuses and denials become their way of life.

I remember reading a while back about a controversial new rehabilitation for alcoholics where they teach you how to control your alcohol intake, not eliminate it. What do you think? Do you think this could work for some alcoholics?

That idea would be good for social drunks, no alcoholics.

Explain why you feel this way.

I decided it was a cult when they told me if I left, I’d die.

They discourage people from outside friendships, calling non-AA members "normies" or "earth people" and saying that they cannot understand an alcoholic. ONLY ANOTHER ALCOHOLIC can understand.

They speak in "thought-stopping" slogans. Individualism is discouraged. They feel they have an inside track to God, many believe they are chosen. They employ many "bait-and-switch tactics. I could go on…

I’m a recent college graduate searching out my entry level job as a preschool teacher or private school teacher. I’ve also been sober for 2 years in Alcoholics Anonymous. My sponsor has offered to be one of my references on my applications for employment but every time it asks "Relationship" I don’t know what to put her as without giving away my anonymity. Does anyone know how to do this??

I’d suggest asking your sponsor if you could do some work for them –housework, yardwork, ect. And then you could say for applying that this person is a family friend who has paid you for odd jobs.

I have been relying on alcohol lately, and I want to change that. I want to treat this alcoholism. I was just wondering if going through treatment would mean never having to drink anything alcoholic ever again in my life.

The goal of alcoholism treatments is to help the person go into abstinence. It’s advisable that you don’t consume any alcoholic drinks in a long span of time. This doesn’t mean that you can’t drink alcohol ever again, just that when you do so, you’ll be sure to do it in moderation. Excessive drinking will have you addicted again in no time, and you don’t want that. If you really want to be sober, work on it. It’s always a wonderful feeling when you’re experiencing bliss without alcohol messing with your brain.

Malaria is a disease; alcoholism is a behavior.

It’s a choice to become an alcoholic.

I come from one of the worst areas in Manhattan. I was raised very poor with divorced parents. My Mother was an alcoholic and left me in the care of my Dad.

I was always a nice girl in elementary/middle school. I got good grades, had a few friends, and for the most part lived an ordinary everyday life. It wasn’t until I got into high school I got more aggressive.

1st School – There was a girl who sold drugs in school. There are police officers stationed outside of the bathrooms. They smelled marijuana smoke. When I exited the restroom they asked if I was smoking, I told them no.

The next day this girl, whom I didn’t know at all, comes up to me and starts calling me a snitch. I lost it and got into a fight with her. I was asked to leave the school.

For the next two years I was completely good. I got good grades, stayed out of trouble, and so on so forth. I was transferred to a new school, you could say it was "nicer" (no metal detectors). I recently had a falling out with one of my classmates. She says I was talking shit about her. I wasn’t and so on so forth.

I got an anonymous call the other week. I didn’t answer it and got a voicemail: "Watch out bitch, you talk a lot of shit let’s see if you can back it up." I absolutely do not want to get into any confrontation with this girl. On my last day of school my counselor said I had much promise in getting into NYU (There was a NYU profressor of English literature who sat in our Humanities class and assigned a paper about the Vietnam War. I got a 100% and 2 page comment about how he liked it very much). This is my chance to get out of the situation I am. I grew up very poor and want nothing more then to get out of what I’ve known for so long — poverty, violence, and so on so forth. I know if I even lay a finger on this girl they’re going to send me to an alternative school.

I feel so hopeless. I don’t know what to do? My brother dropped out of high school. My uncle dropped out of high school and has a lengthy criminal record. My cousin dropped out and had a baby at 16. This is my chance to make it out and I feel so hopeless.

Advice?

Call the cops on the girl that called you, it’s the best revenge. Yeah, it sounds like snitching but you can ask the cops to keep you anonymous and you’re the one who’s gonna be laughing when she’s sitting in a jail cell.

This person needs treatment against alcoholism and I would like to know if he can take the treatment without loose his security clearance and/or his job.

Yes. (However the clearance may be temporally suspended until the treatment program is complete.)

In fact this may be the only way for that person to keep that clearance.

The act of voluntarily requesting treatment for a substance abuse problem is seen as a ‘good thing’ by security managers. In general, we will protect that person’s position in order to encourage other people with similar problems to seek treatment.