Originally Posted by
Nonsensical 
It got me wondering if I had tried MM years ago if I would have concluded sooner that I needed abstinence. I kept trying my own moderation programs, thinking I would come up with some set of restrictions that worked. Perhaps if I had tried a more regimented approach like MM when it failed I would have moved toward abstinence sooner than I did. Can't turn back the hands of time, of course, but I can't rule out that it might have helped convince me earlier there was only one drinking program I can control - the zero consumption method.
I had previously discounted MM based on my assumption that it did nothing but convince people who can't control their drinking that they can - putting them in potentially dangerous situations. It very likely has that effect on at least some of the members, but now I can conceive of situations where it might also be helpful.
Thoughts?
Over a year ago, I looked into MM, and I did review their material in depth. I researched MM, hoping I could find a way to moderate. While I didn't exactly implement their techniques for moderation, it didn't take long to conclude that 1) I would never be able to moderate for very long using their techniques, and 2) abstinence was the way I needed to go.
In that sense MM helped me to finally move in the right direction.