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> I think organisations like AA do great harm when they tell their patients that you're an "addict for life". I really don't think you are the kind of "addict"

> I think organisations like AA do great harm when they tell their patients that you're an "addict for life". I really don't think you are the kind of "addict" that AA is designed. They are often for people who have hit rock-bottom due to their alcoholism.

tomhoward 5y ago
I think I could have ended up at that kind of rock bottom had I not found the path I ended up on. And more importantly, there's no reason why the techniques I've found wouldn't work for people in AA; they're just not widely known about. I guess mainstream psychiatry and Christianity are the sources for AA's methods, and they're just not aware of what else is out there that could be more effective.
- jkhdigital 5y ago
  My experience was that the AA “methods” are just a vehicle for the true healing, which comes from the people. The magic is not in the 12 steps, it is in the genuine companionship and selfless service of the other alcoholics who walk with you all along the way. > there's no reason why the techniques I've found wouldn't work for people in AA Respectfully, I don’t think you have any idea what you’re talking about. Spend some time in a few AA meetings, maybe a meeting in a prison, and reconsider your hypothesis.
  - tomhoward 5y ago
    > My experience was that the AA “methods” are just a vehicle for the true healing, which comes from the people I can believe that, and I'll happily grant that's an extremely valuable spect of it, given how much social isolation is an exacerbating factor in addiction and relapse. > Respectfully, I don’t think you have any idea what you’re talking about. Spend some time in a few AA meetings, maybe a meeting in a prison, and reconsider your hypothesis. That's not respectful at all, regardless of the reality of my knowledge of the topic. I've been very close with people who went to AA, including one who lost his life after several years in it. I've been close with others with other substance addictions, including at least one who ended up in prison. Though I wasn't understanding of it at the time, in retrospect I can recognise what was powering their addictions. These techniques would have helped those people the way they helped me. It's been demonstrated by at least one prominent researcher, Dr Gabor Mate - https://drgabormate.com/topic/addiction/ https://drgabormate.com/topic/addiction/

tomhoward 5y ago

I think I could have ended up at that kind of rock bottom had I not found the path I ended up on. And more importantly, there's no reason why the techniques I've found wouldn't work for people in AA; they're just not widely known about. I guess mainstream psychiatry and Christianity are the sources for AA's methods, and they're just not aware of what else is out there that could be more effective.

jkhdigital 5y ago
My experience was that the AA “methods” are just a vehicle for the true healing, which comes from the people. The magic is not in the 12 steps, it is in the genuine companionship and selfless service of the other alcoholics who walk with you all along the way. > there's no reason why the techniques I've found wouldn't work for people in AA Respectfully, I don’t think you have any idea what you’re talking about. Spend some time in a few AA meetings, maybe a meeting in a prison, and reconsider your hypothesis.
- tomhoward 5y ago
  > My experience was that the AA “methods” are just a vehicle for the true healing, which comes from the people I can believe that, and I'll happily grant that's an extremely valuable spect of it, given how much social isolation is an exacerbating factor in addiction and relapse. > Respectfully, I don’t think you have any idea what you’re talking about. Spend some time in a few AA meetings, maybe a meeting in a prison, and reconsider your hypothesis. That's not respectful at all, regardless of the reality of my knowledge of the topic. I've been very close with people who went to AA, including one who lost his life after several years in it. I've been close with others with other substance addictions, including at least one who ended up in prison. Though I wasn't understanding of it at the time, in retrospect I can recognise what was powering their addictions. These techniques would have helped those people the way they helped me. It's been demonstrated by at least one prominent researcher, Dr Gabor Mate - https://drgabormate.com/topic/addiction/ https://drgabormate.com/topic/addiction/