Terminally Unique

This is true. I was always well ahead of the curb myself, actually somewhat remarkable in retrospect, given that I was drinking myself into oblivion every night for years. I thought I was going to get away with it forever, too.
The alcohol destroyed me, and at the end, the speed with which it did so was astonishing.

gravity

I was willing to do anything to get sober so I did everything I could. AA, counseling, medical advice, spiritual advisors, support of family & friends, SR, journalling, exercise, self help books...

3 years, 8 months later...loving sobriety, loving life, confident, everything in place.

Do what you gotta do.

abc

If you can afford rehab then you can definitely afford a plane ticket to a city that has non-twelve-step rehab.

twilli59

I have learned that sobriety and recovery CAN mean different things to different people. Not always, but there are some elements to recovery that often entail a deeper look into what's behind the use. For me, abstinance from alcohol (and drugs to some extent) just made life unbearable. I had to address the other issues, and I do it with combination of AA and outside psych support. I have come to love AA because I discovered the power and truth the book held FOR ME and I found 3 meetings where I sit in a room where you can literally feel the love and energy - and humor But AAers often do get a little excited - because they found something that saved their lives and the steps addressed the ISMs that had plagued them for years. They got freee. Usually, they don't mean to force-feed AA to others - although some do, and the system pushes it because there aren't a lot of other options that they know of. But I really believe most 12-step types are just tellling what happened to them. Anyone pursuing sobriety is courageous and is starting an amazing journey toward truth.

eJoshua

I'm sorry the options in your area are so limited!

Please do whatever you need to do to get sober, though. Sometimes it takes big sacrifices. You don't need to sacrifice your convictions, but you might need to think creatively. Either way you will need to work hard.

Best of luck.

justsomeguy

Why are you so bitter about it? No one is going to be upset with you if you find sobriety and happiness and didn't do it "their way", that's fantastic no matter how you receive that in your life.

Anyone following the principals of A.A. would want nothing else for you. I certainly wish you all the best. There are certainly lots of ways that people get sober every day. To the people that are successful in A.A. that's just how they did it. It's the method that they know and were able to work to bring about the change in their life if something else would have worked for them, they might know more about it or suggest it, but it didn't .. for them.

But if addiction ever kicks your butt enough that you find you may want to give it a try don't worry, you won't be wasting anyones time or money in A.A. There is no dues or fees for A.A. and everyone that gives you their time does it selfishly as you're helping them more than they are helping you. it's just how it works. Also you wouldn't be the first or last person that has felt this exact same way about 12 step program and / or A.A. and through some course of events, has found sobriety and happiness through it later much to their suprise.

Anyone who says otherwise, has had a different experience than me in A.A.

Beebizzy

That's exactly what I did. And what I thought. So far, so good. I have no idea what's coming next. I don't rule out AA or anything else, but I'm trying this first.

I'm not sure you need to be 'desperate enough' before you decide to arrest this condition by embarking on treatments that don't appeal. That pre-supposes you have that 'luxury', of course.

For me it boiled down to this: HATING mindless drinking, HORROR at what it had done to me, and the scales finally tipping in favour of a blind-faith leap into sobriety.

It's been a laughably short time, having said that. Maybe I'm wrong. I've not been 'tested' yet. I will do whatever it takes if this doesn't work.

I wish you the best of luck. To me it seems logical that you will have a better chance of success with an approach that you are not resisting. Again, if you have that luxury.

Good luck,
BB

Bamboozle

Well, I look at it this way. I don't have to jump off a bridge to know that jumping off a bridge is a bad idea.

Truth is, there isn't a one-size-fits-all recovery. What I see as a nose-dive off a bridge, someone else sees as beautiful walk in the park. There are folks who see my way as a nose-dive off a bridge. Different strokes for different folks.


Doing yoga for a month sounds good to me. If I could get away from everything for a little while, I'd do something like that, too.

ru12

Look, no matter what method you choose to get sober you are going to have to do one main thing . . . and that is to stop putting alcohol in your mouth and swallowing.

I tried AA and it didn't resonate with me. I just decided that I wasn't going to drink anymore. Now that I've spent some time sober, since December of 2010, I've had a chance to learn a bit about different programs of recovery. I do a bit of SMART and a bit of Rational Recovery. These make sense to me. But they both come back to having to do, or not to, something . . . and that is to just stop drinking. I think it is immoral to spend one's life drunk. To me, drinking is a choice and I choose to not do it. I'm done living an immoral life. And I feel so much better. I like ME now.

I sincerely wish you peace and hope that you will do SOMETHING that will get you to stop killing yourself with alcohol.

Terminally Unique

I would have to agree with this statement. There were certainly instances to the contrary, but I believe that most of the people in AA who tried to help me were simply trying to do so in the only way that they knew how.

Zencat

Early on in my recovery journey having knowledge about addiction and the ways addiction can be treated helped me understand what direction I needed to go as a secular person.

I realized early on that I was fully capable of turning my life around but it would take some help from outside resources. Things like having a recovery plan of my own choosing and caring others to get support from, really helped.

Not all recovery programs are appropriate for everyone. Finding a treatment modality that best suites ones needs seems to the be the best way to go.

onlythetruth

Yes, this is true. Most people in AA have their hearts in the right place. It's really the treatment community that is responsible for spreading the fiction that AA is the only way, and they should know better.

CarolD

Please do not post links or specific suggestion to any treatment center that charges for their services.

You may use PM for such if you wish...but we do not allow ad's on our discussion boards. I have removed posts that did.


It's not hard to find places that suit your needs...Goodle has countless.
Thanks for respecting our SR posting rules...

stugotz

Well, I dont think is fair to blame a program for your failure. The only constant is you. Just sayin...

AkathisiA

12 step is o.k do
not
goto a "mistreatment" center.


If they want to take your phone, computer, razor ! or anything like that chances are its a Miss-treatment center !,

there are some realy nice places to recover !!! where you will be treated like a human not a criminal, the stupid old stlye lock-up treat-you-like-dirt-and-call-it-help places are still out there but 12 step is aok.

no go recover !!!! stop this non-sence !