can you quit drinking without AA?
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: NJ
Posts: 20,458
Originally Posted by FormerBeerLover 
There's LOTS of us here (and elsewhere) that have recovered without any so-called "program" (AA or otherwise). That's not a knock against AA, just a fact. And yes, I considered myself a "real" alcoholic (drank for nearly 30 years, the last 10 years got drunk nearly every single day). I did get some face-to-face support from a few key family members and close friends. I've also found SR to be an important tool to help me stay the course. I've had some people here say I was never a "real" alcoholic or I must be a "dry drunk" or I'm an AA basher...none of which is true. All I can do is go on living a happily sober life and hopefully inspire others to do the same.
my friends never force me or ask why i don't drink and neither does my family, i mainly tell those who ask that i quit for health reasons. Drinking intensifies "meanopause"
symptoms and HTN, promotes weight gain too, all things I don't need.
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 47
I was almost 9 months sober when I came to AA. I've only been attending meetings for about a month and a half. So I quit on my own, but AA makes it easier and better. Honestly, AA helps me more with everyday life than it does with abstaining from alcohol.
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Bklyn. NY
Posts: 1,859
Can you quit drinking without AA?
Me? No. I couldn't. But that doesn't really matter.
Can you quit drinking without AA?
If you want to and find you can't, we'll always be there to help. I'm very happy to be a part of AA, it's done nothing but enrich my life.
Me? No. I couldn't. But that doesn't really matter.
Can you quit drinking without AA?
If you want to and find you can't, we'll always be there to help. I'm very happy to be a part of AA, it's done nothing but enrich my life.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 5,678
I think a lot of people ask this question, of themselves anyway, and personally I think it is born out of AA's descriptions of different types of drinkers. It is unfortunate that someone's ability to quit drinking without AA is sometimes used to accuse someone of not being a 'real' alcoholic. Personally I almost wanted to prove a point about it, almost like if I could do it without AA then I wouldn't have to say I was an alcoholic. I do hate that word. I think there was some addictive thinking in that thought though. Then I have decided not to be daft and use it if I think it helps. I do not like the focus on one book, never been one for narrow viewpoints, but there is some really good stuff in AA that is of use to everyone, and not just alcoholics either. There was another part of me that felt like I was avoiding something by avoiding AA. I know I was avoiding public speaking, but also the usual scary elements of the steps. So many people duck out before step 4. I have learnt for sure from a lifetime of avoiding everything that it doesn't equal progress. So yeah, of course you can stay sober without AA, but if it helps what's the big deal. Maybe it is worth checking your motives, you may find like me you have other issues around it x
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: canada
Posts: 7,242
Originally Posted by rowd44
I am curious to know if there are people that considered themselves addicted to alcohol and who have quit for more than 1 year without AA; 12 steps or rehab? In other words, has anyone just quit because they were ready and used a common sense approach that alcohol was causing problems in their lives and it was time to abstain.
yes, sure. i quit in 2006 by realizing i was a drunk and joining others in LifeRing secular recovery.
and stayed quit.
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Melbourne Australia.
Posts: 3,748
After a couple of decades of extreme drinking I finally found AA via de-tox in 1995 and some of it seemed to rub off on me, despite a short stay.
Some months later I opted for "normal drinking" and largely succeeded.
The problem was, I still very much had an alcoholic mind set and my limited drinking(I usually wanted more) required an insane vigilance, lest I got back to those really bad old days. Nothing too normal about that!
Now back with AA, six months in to recovery, doing the steps, attending meetings, meditating with God (HP)taking things on a daily basis, seeing a better life as a work in progress, and I am moving along better than I can recall.
I see AA as the catalyst in an ultra long and hard learning curve.
Some months later I opted for "normal drinking" and largely succeeded.
The problem was, I still very much had an alcoholic mind set and my limited drinking(I usually wanted more) required an insane vigilance, lest I got back to those really bad old days. Nothing too normal about that!
Now back with AA, six months in to recovery, doing the steps, attending meetings, meditating with God (HP)taking things on a daily basis, seeing a better life as a work in progress, and I am moving along better than I can recall.
I see AA as the catalyst in an ultra long and hard learning curve.
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lakeside, Ca
Posts: 10,208
AA might just be
Originally Posted by Joe Nerv
And then AA came to be for those who couldn't.
God has always supplied tools
for the one with a true desire to be sober (must be willing)
AA might just be one of his recently sent tools ??
I try to keep a full tool belt (kind of a treatment center saying)
a little bit of a lot of things is what has helped to keep me sober
Mountainman
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,778
Originally Posted by karate
I went from total lunacy ,miserable ,drunk EVERY DAY ,to moderate drinker ,or most of the time no drinking at all .
I went to AA for a little while ,but decided it was not for me -too set in stone .
I like the hamsnetwork approach ,A google search will find it quickly .HAMS: Harm Reduction for Alcohol
Bottom line -we all have to find what works for our own situation .
I went to AA for a little while ,but decided it was not for me -too set in stone .
I like the hamsnetwork approach ,A google search will find it quickly .HAMS: Harm Reduction for Alcohol
Bottom line -we all have to find what works for our own situation .
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Bethlehem, PA.
Posts: 1,781
You know, the problem with reaching a very high level of pain and then throwing in the towel is that you might be dead long before you get there. The pull of the druk and ability to block out the pain can be very great.
In the early 90's I was heavily addicted and experienced withdrawals that were absolute hell. Visual and auditory hallucinations along with days of blind terror where death seemed like a great option were not uncommon. The thing is I still did it for another 20 years.
This is the main reason that any method that helps you break free of it is great in my book. No one has to take the thing that far, you are not missing anything by stopping before it gets to those extremes.
In the early 90's I was heavily addicted and experienced withdrawals that were absolute hell. Visual and auditory hallucinations along with days of blind terror where death seemed like a great option were not uncommon. The thing is I still did it for another 20 years.
This is the main reason that any method that helps you break free of it is great in my book. No one has to take the thing that far, you are not missing anything by stopping before it gets to those extremes.
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: des moines ia
Posts: 362
Originally Posted by FormerBeerLover
There's LOTS of us here (and elsewhere) that have recovered without any so-called "program" (AA or otherwise). That's not a knock against AA, just a fact. And yes, I considered myself a "real" alcoholic (drank for nearly 30 years, the last 10 years got drunk nearly every single day). I did get some face-to-face support from a few key family members and close friends. I've also found SR to be an important tool to help me stay the course. I've had some people here say I was never a "real" alcoholic or I must be a "dry drunk" or I'm an AA basher...none of which is true. All I can do is go on living a happily sober life and hopefully inspire others to do the same.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Gulf Coast, Florida USA
Posts: 5,731
Originally Posted by rowd44
After over 3 decades of drinking I just had an insight one day after a bad bender, saw it for what it was and threw in the towel for good. That was over 5 years ago. No program needed but I was just done with it at that point
Back to Square one - did you consider yourself addicted to alcohol or just a person who drank lots and have a bad bender?
Back to Square one - did you consider yourself addicted to alcohol or just a person who drank lots and have a bad bender?
Good 4 u!!! You were ready!
Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Severance Colorado
Posts: 150
Originally Posted by Mountainmanbob
millions of people stopped drinking before AA in 1935
After telling Rowland H. that he could never regain his position in society, Dr. Carl Jung, the renowned Swiss psychiatrist, was asked, "Is there no exceptions?"
"Yes," replied Dr. Jung, "there is. Exceptions to cases such as yours have been occurring since early times. Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences." He went on to describe a spiritual experience as "To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them"
"Yes," replied Dr. Jung, "there is. Exceptions to cases such as yours have been occurring since early times. Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences." He went on to describe a spiritual experience as "To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them"
Having drunk excessively for 16 years, Talbot maintained sobriety for the following forty years of his life. There is evidence that Matt’s first seven years after taking the pledge were especially difficult.He found strength in prayer, began to attend daily Mass, and read religious books and pamphlets. He repaid all his debts scrupulously. Having searched for the fiddler whose instrument he had stolen, and failed to find him, he gave the money to the church to have Mass said for him.
Of course the necessity of a Spiritual Awakening is just my personal opinion and not to be taken as actual fact. But if you like it, go with it.
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