Originally Posted by DriGuy

The first time I heard someone in AA say, "Maybe you need to drink some more before you're ready to quit," I had a similar reaction to Hodd. I recoiled at the crassness of the remark, but I also read into that an indirect but strong warning and a subtle suggestion that quitting has to be your decision. And in spite of the callousness of the remark, I do believe that quitting has to be our decision. Had someone said that to me when I was considering quitting, it would have sent a chill down my spine that would have caused me to pause and seriously consider. Other's may see it as a green light not to quit, but I don't believe that is the intention of the remark.

It's one thing for a peer in denial to say this, but it's a bit different in AA where such a remark is made in the context of the horror stories about personal experiences with the alcoholic life. It strongly expresses the concept that a person needs to make this decision for themselves. And I believe that's a hard reality. Should a person just go out and continue to drink until he has a moment of clarity? We all hope that an alcoholic wouldn't, but in the end that's what happens.

Alternatively, a person could just be told, they need to quit, but I think many people here would admit they had heard that plenty of times in their own lives, but to no avail. Perhaps a person just needs more knowledge about consequences and warnings about the dangers, but you get a snoot full of that in AA too.

In my experience and for what it's worth, the "go out and drink some more" comment is not something that you hear often in AA.