.

3/6/2012 11:23:04 AM

If by tried, you mean was forced to go to... then... yes..

It's actually pretty cool.

3/6/2012 11:25:02 AM

Anonymous



http://www.aa.org/

3/6/2012 11:26:27 AM

spelled it wrong

3/6/2012 11:31:02 AM

lol i got a dwi in college which made me go to a substance abuse course which made me go to AA.

Since almost anyone can look up the other two things might as well come clean on AA too.

Seriously though i was given the option to go to 4 AA classes 4 NA classes or a mix of both.
EVERYONE there was cool, humble and i actually met some great people. Whom i still use as business contacts 6 years later.

3/6/2012 11:31:30 AM

i've been going for awhile now, and i just don't want to go anymore.

3/6/2012 11:32:01 AM

Total farce in my opinion.

Alcoholism is no more of a disease than someone who smokes cigarettes all the time or wolfs down a pint of Haagen Daas every night. Its a coping mechanism, nothing more, and labeling it a 'disease' is not only medically inaccurate, it sends a message to the abuser that they're the victim, rather than to accept personal responsibility for their behavior.

Get help, but realize there's no one to blame but yourself.

[Edited on March 6, 2012 at 11:36 AM. Reason : Don't get me wrong, though...I'm a pretty big alky myself]

3/6/2012 11:32:13 AM

I went to a meeting once...but I forgot why. I feel like it was for some class in college. Or maybe I'm confusing it with a TV show or movie I watched...but I'm pretty sure this was for real...

3/6/2012 11:32:25 AM

^^ addiction is a genetic pre-disposition for most people. Not really a disease but it helps explain it most addicts better.

3/6/2012 11:34:12 AM

i think at this point i'd rather take responsibility for the way my life has gone instead of blaming it on a disease that i'm a reassured time and time again will wreak havoc on my life until i am dead and buried. i just can't agree with it. i can't believe that i am any different than anyone else albeit i do have a terrible anixety and beat myself up as a means of stuffing deep seeded anger and sadness and pain and memories... all that shit.

i do get jealous of people that seem on the outside to cope with life better.

3/6/2012 11:37:02 AM

Quote :

"i just don't want to go anymore."

this and what you wrote in the post above^ would be really good topics to talk about with your sponsor or a therapist

3/6/2012 11:38:56 AM

Quote :

"I went to a meeting once...but I forgot why. I feel like it was for some class in college. Or maybe I'm confusing it with a TV show or movie I watched...but I'm pretty sure this was for real..."

hahaha this happens to me way more often than I'd like to admit. it also happens with dreams. I dream so vividly and oftentimes so realistically (it's either ultra-realistic or fucked-up crazy, nothing in between) that I can't remember if a memory was from real-life or a dream.

3/6/2012 11:42:46 AM

i've fired 5 sponsors. i HATED having them, and i couldn't even tell you why.

3/6/2012 11:43:02 AM

So why are you going to AA? what triggered it?

just because you are there doesn't mean you're an alcoholic. The basic test is... can you have a drink with lunch and stop? If so, you're probably fine.


If you have a drink at lunch, sneak 5 more, wreck your car on your way home to beat your kids then you probably are and should stay in a program.

3/6/2012 11:45:12 AM

that sucks.

How long have you been sober?

3/6/2012 11:45:31 AM

i ended up in the program because i was homeless and caught a huge break and got an apartment of my own, continued to drink in isolation until i desperately needed a drinking buddy and went next door and the guy was drinking but he had been in AA and noticed that i was having some serious issues and pointed out AA. been sober almost three years now but can't seem to deal well with people at all.

i don't want to risk drinking again simply because i do tend to take a heavy toll on myself when i drink and pill and smoke.

3/6/2012 11:49:40 AM

I remember now...I had to go because some project we were doing for my church basketball team made me go.

It was interesting. Do they still give away coins??

3/6/2012 11:57:33 AM

yeah. they do.

3/6/2012 12:03:30 PM

If you've been sober for 3 years and AA isn't doing anything, why bother going?

If it helps you not to drink, then I'd continue. If it's just making you miserable and unhappy, I'd find another way to maintain your sobriety.

3/6/2012 12:06:14 PM

it sounds like you need to see a therapist/psychologist to help you sort through and work through these issues you're having. not too sure they're even substance-related at this point. the substances generally mask more fundamental issues.


*this was NOT a condescending comment - I think probably 98% of humans would benefit from talking to an objective party on a regular basis*

3/6/2012 12:06:30 PM

Quote :

"Alcoholism is no more of a disease than someone who smokes cigarettes all the time or wolfs down a pint of Haagen Daas every night. Its a coping mechanism, nothing more, and labeling it a 'disease' is not only medically inaccurate, it sends a message to the abuser that they're the victim, rather than to accept personal responsibility for their behavior."

Whether or not it's a disease, a genetic predisposition, or just a coping mechanism, I think that society categorizes it differently than smoking/overeating/any number of other undesirable coping mechanisms because of the dangers it poses to others. If you can't stop smoking and smoke every day, you're creating a small amount of air pollution. If you can't stop eating junk food and do so every day, you're harming no one but yourself. (Yes, you are burdening the medical system and spending tax dollars, but that's a delayed reaction). But if you can't stop drinking and drink every day, eventually you're going to hurt someone else, physically (DWI, abuse, fighting) or emotionally. And therefore it requires an earlier intervention, and whether or not you agree with it, sometimes one of the most effective ways of staging such an intervention is by taking the blame off the abuser.

Personal Responsibility is sadly scarce in this country, but it's not a remedy every time for everybody when sometimes you need to control the behavior first.

[/have never been to AA]

3/6/2012 12:12:04 PM

^ good suggestion!

i was thinking about it last night. i know where i could get into see a counselor for free... couple of oppurtunities actually.

i'm just clashing with people there hardcore. and i haven't been going around as much as i used to simply because i'm not drunk or high anymore and i don't want to be. i honestly feel like a stranger to myself and being around people that are just getting sober isn't really doing much for me.

3/6/2012 12:13:20 PM

Congrats on the three years!!

You might just benefit from more one on one counseling instead of group settings or AA.

I think trying a lot of different things until you find what works for you might be what you need to do. Whether it's looking for just a therapist you can visit once a week/biweekly/monthly that's not expensive/no cost, or finding a group meeting with people who don't annoy you.

3/6/2012 12:16:35 PM

AA and NA just make you trade one addiction for another, religion.

3/6/2012 12:28:00 PM

yeah. meetings def. took the place of my using. three times a day for about a year... i was at a meeting.

3/6/2012 12:37:15 PM

^^^and thanks

3/6/2012 12:43:41 PM

You could replace the meetings with some other group activity. Running/biking groups are in every city. Rock climbing. Geocaching. I dunno what you might be into.

3/6/2012 12:54:39 PM

i've been thinking about it.

i got sober and found out that i was really good on guitar and my vocals aren't half bad. i really like singing in front of people although it makes me so so so nervous. but it's like the only time i feel like i actually got a pulse is when i'm playing in front of people.

3/6/2012 1:01:08 PM

Quote :

"AA and NA just make you trade one addiction for another, religion."

well put...


[Edited on March 6, 2012 at 1:10 PM. Reason : .]

3/6/2012 1:10:07 PM

^^
Playing music helps my anxiety a lot, although I've never played in front of anyone. If it makes you happy, keep it up. Personally, nothing has helped me more than picking up a physical hobby (rock climbing, in my case). The endorphin rush you get is a substitute for substance addiction, and if you go the route of joining a local group, you'll meet people and build up some social confidence. The added bonus is that having a hobby that keeps you in shape makes you feel better and more confident in yourself.

3/6/2012 1:14:48 PM

Quote :

"AA and NA just make you trade one addiction for another, religion."

this is true of all [whatevers] Anonymous groups

if it works for you, great and congratulations. but that "higher power" stuff creeped me out

3/6/2012 2:50:54 PM

Quote :

"that "higher power" stuff creeped me out"

When as a teenager I accompanied Dad to the occasional AA meeting, or Mom to the occasional Al-Anon meeting (mainly SOs and adult children of alcoholics), I had that same sentiment.

3/7/2012 6:47:29 AM

Addicts obviously can't trust themselves to make good decisions so they have to believe in a higher power (actual or manifested) to help control or divert their addiction.


The thing that sucks is i don't really even like to drink anymore unless everyone else is drunk and i can't handle their annoying asses sober.

3/7/2012 8:30:20 AM

My brother does AA...2x a day, everyday.

All it did was replace his addiction to drugs/alcohol for addiction to group therapy.

Plus it is where he met his future drug dealer...

I'd advise against.

3/7/2012 9:27:43 AM

I know someone else who got nothing from those programs except contacts with whom they got fucked up with later on... but maybe all the people involved were there because they were forced, not because they wanted to be there and change.

3/7/2012 9:45:57 AM

"The thing that sucks is i don't really even like to drink anymore unless everyone else is drunk and i can't handle their annoying asses sober."







exactly.

3/7/2012 10:08:47 AM

My cousin did a 30-day inpatient rehab as well as AA. He was sober for about a year, but now is back to drinking daily. Like others have said itt, his sponsor is now his regular drinking buddy. Addiction is a disease imo, and much harder to cure than most people think.

[Edited on March 7, 2012 at 12:46 PM. Reason : a]

3/7/2012 12:45:51 PM

i believe it is just hard to move on. it can be extremely scary if a person has been rutted for most of their lifetime and fears what is beyond the rut. i was watching Great Expectations not too long ago--the good one with Ethan Hawke and Gweneth--and she was saying something about how if a person was held captive in the darkness for a long time wouldn't it be hard for them to understand that there was ever any such thing as light. It was good. I dug it.

^^^^and good for rock climbing! better to be extreme about something healthy.

i found a counselor yesterday and i'm doing my intake on friday so I'm pretty stoked. unfriended a lot of AA people and feel okay about that too.

3/7/2012 2:05:46 PM

that's awesome, good luck!

Remember, we always have the power to remove ourselves from a situation. If everyone around you is getting wasted and you don't want to be sober around them, find something else to do somewhere else.

3/7/2012 2:10:55 PM

Find a bunch of sick people to hang out with. Most of them can't drink because of their meds.

3/7/2012 3:08:34 PM

s'right. or too old to handle the hangovers.

3/8/2012 10:11:36 AM

you could do what my former (divorced out of family) uncle did: join a church and become a self-righteous Bible-thumping Christian. I'm a baptized and practicing Episcopalian, but this guy takes it to a whole new level. The guy ran over a million dollars into the ground with coke and alcohol and brags about how he used to be "wasted" by noon everyday (a case deep by his standards) and nobody (including myself as a child) was any the wiser. Prick now talks down to everyone that drinks a drop. I can't describe in words how much I loathe this type of person. Fucking hypocrite. Like others have said, alcohol is a coping mechanism. some people do drugs, some people work 24/7, some people have church and God, some people play sports (which I don't knock at all) but the way I see it, whatever gets you through with the least damage to yourself and others is the way to go, and don't be so judgmental about others' decisions.

3/10/2012 1:08:20 AM

^agree completely. i'm in the process of reviewing my experience in AA. they're sick people that are keeping eachother company. i just can't lie to myself like that anymore. it's been a miserable experience.

the guy that got me into AA was drunk off his ass and dosing seroquil 300s everynight but i guess i was fucked up in the head too and all his talk of god and speaking your heart and being a shepard and all that really had me going. but 2 years sober and i was about to have an aneurism when people were telling me that they were happy when all i saw was crazy.

lesson learned in my case.

[Edited on March 12, 2012 at 10:41 AM. Reason : .]

3/12/2012 10:28:53 AM