Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a Cult? (contd)

See here for original blog entry

Under Readers' comments. We quote:

“my experience with 2 yrs of AA

I do not believe that AA is a cult, nor do I believe that it doesn't work for some people. I do, however, believe that the AA program has two major shortcomings. One major problem I see with AA is the way members of the program diagnose an "alcoholic." They pretty much assume that if you are there at a meeting, you have a hopeless "disease" in which you either work the progam or die an alcoholic death. If you are not working the program you are a "Dry Drunk." If you question whether or not you are an "alcoholic" you are most definitely in denial. I had members of AA tell me this after my first meeting without even knowing me personally or my drinking background. The second major problem is the program today is forced on people who have merely had isolated incidents in their lives and are not real alcoholics. Why are these major problems with the AA program? Consider this: Not everybody who is introduced into AA is a "true" alcoholic. Keep in mind that the founder of the program, Bill Wilson, was drinking two to three bottles of bathtub gin a day. These are the kinds of people who need AA, but today's AA is mostly void of these kinds of people. For example, my introduction to AA is much like many other people's introduction into today's AA program. I got a DWI (Driving while intoxicated) when I was 24. On the suggestion of my attorney, I attended several AA meetings voluntarily before my court date so that I could show the judge that I was taking positive steps to better my situation before showing up to court. In response, the court ordered me to 3 meetings a week for the duration of my probation which was 1 1/2 years. So, as you can see, I have been to several AA meetings involuntarily. I would say I have observed at least 1/2 of the people attending these meetings were also either court ordered or sent their involuntarily. AA has been good and bad for me. I had to drop most of my previous friends at the time of my arrest and became friends with mostly alcoholics in the program due to my extensive amount of time spent there. AA has some great people with good intentions. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I do not go to AA today by choice. It is very depressing and I find it hurts my outlook on life more than helps it. I was actually told by a member of AA that because he did not work the steps properly that "he wanted to put a gun in his mouth at 25 yrs sober." He was implying this would happen to me. I have never been suicidal in my life and if I were at 25 yrs sober I do not believe it would have anything to do with alcoholism. That was my final bout with AA. Today I am involved in the things that I enjoy in life. I make positive choices for myself. Mountain biking, rock climbing, volunteering, spending time with the people that I love in my life. I meet people through these positive activities instead of hanging out in bars and this has increased my standard of life dramatically. I attribute my experience to growing up and learning from my mistakes rather than "alcoholism." On the downside, nearly all of the people I have met over the 1 1/2 years of attending AA I no longer have friendships with. Why? Because I am a "dry drunk" to them and will most likely die an alcoholic death. This has been very disturbing and damaging to me and hard for me to swallow. I still see some friends that I met in AA upon occasion. But it is a weird and uncomfortable experience in which they act concerned about my well being and try to get me to come back to meetings. Honestly, I feel that I am better off meeting positive people outside of the AA program for this very reason. It seems that even some members with 20 plus years sobriety have extreme difficulty in moving on with their lives. I simply do not see how a behavior that they quit 20 yrs ago can still have such a big impact on their lives. Maybe someone like Bill Wilson who put themselves through the "alcoholic" ringer needs that kind of daily support. However, for at least for me that kind of thinking keeps me from moving on to bigger and better things.”

Comment: This demonstrates the inadvisability of 'diagnosing' other people to be alcoholic, and the questionable practice of 'enforced' (via DWI etc) attendance at AA meetings.

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

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