Personally, I think becoming sober and staying sober happily works better with some kind of recovery program for support. AA is probably the most well known, and it's my own personal choice, but there are lots of different programs our there now besides AA that are working for tons of people. Going it alone isn't for me. Case in point: I have a family friend who is retired. Big beer drinker all his life. Decided to quit and he's been sober for three years now. No AA, no therapy, for AVRT, nothing. But, he's not happy. He still wishes he could drink like other people, and he's not content that he can't. He has to fight the desire to drink every single day. To me, that sounds utterly miserable. A recovery program gave me the tools to do the things that took that desire away. I'm indifferent to alcohol. I don't care if other people drink, but it's not for me and I can accept that and live at peace with myself and the world around me. Sorry this was so long.