Originally Posted by
azureseas 
Has anyone else done this without face to face support? One topic they covered was isolating and it made me think maybe me avoiding face to face support is me isolating.
It depends on whether you are introverted, extroverted, comfortable with people, etc. It can help some people, but it can make things worse for others. Some people do not like to "share," for example, and others do not like group settings.
The AA meetings force me to sit down with and tolerate many other people who have differing views and opinions, which is something I might normally avoid. I go to GLBT/Gay AA, Agnostic AA, as well as "mainstream" AA meetings, so I get quite a variety of personalities.
However, I do not consider support in any way *necessary* for me to abstain. In the final analysis, I have to keep myself clean and sober - nobody else will do it for me.