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> Those that swear by it are those that defeated their alcohol reliance while in AA or replaced their alcohol reliance with a reliance on AA events. It’s anecd

> Those that swear by it are those that defeated their alcohol reliance while in AA or replaced their alcohol reliance with a reliance on AA events. It’s anecdotal but in my case I replaced a reliance on alcohol by a reliance on sports. It’s likely a lot healthier than drinking but it’s a reliance/addiction all the same. I went to a few AA meetings and it didn’t work so well for me, always seemed to be a lot of guilt and shame floating around the room, though this could have just been my local meeting, too. In the end, it works for some people and that’s great. It didn’t work for me but I found another way, and that’s great, too.

pluma 9y ago
The only problem with saying "it works for some people and that's great" is that it is known that sending people to AA performs worse than just leaving people to their own devices. If you get the flu it takes about two to three weeks to recover from it naturally. Imagine there's a flu cure that extends that to two to six weeks. Sure, some people take the cure and get better in two weeks while some who don't may only get better after three weeks. But it's still blindingly obvious that you'd be better off avoiding it and those that got better after two weeks would have likely recovered as quickly on their own (or using a different cure). Some AA advocates argue AA has a higher success rate than widely reported but the problem is that AA is extremely secretive about the actual numbers and sees recovery as a lifestyle rather than a process. AA doesn't aim to cure alcoholism, it just aims to keep people sober. Some people simply are more prone to addiction. Teaching these people to cope by channeling that addiction into something healthier than drugs (or gambling or whatever) is great but that's not really what AA aims to do.

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> Those that swear by it are those that defeated their alcohol reliance while in AA or replaced their alcohol reliance with a reliance on AA events. It’s anecd

by docdeek 9y ago

pluma 9y ago
The only problem with saying "it works for some people and that's great" is that it is known that sending people to AA performs worse than just leaving people to their own devices. If you get the flu it takes about two to three weeks to recover from it naturally. Imagine there's a flu cure that extends that to two to six weeks. Sure, some people take the cure and get better in two weeks while some who don't may only get better after three weeks. But it's still blindingly obvious that you'd be better off avoiding it and those that got better after two weeks would have likely recovered as quickly on their own (or using a different cure). Some AA advocates argue AA has a higher success rate than widely reported but the problem is that AA is extremely secretive about the actual numbers and sees recovery as a lifestyle rather than a process. AA doesn't aim to cure alcoholism, it just aims to keep people sober. Some people simply are more prone to addiction. Teaching these people to cope by channeling that addiction into something healthier than drugs (or gambling or whatever) is great but that's not really what AA aims to do.