BackToSquareOne

I just stole this from mich 3580, but he posted in the AA forum and called his myths about AA. It would be cool to see if the 2 have much common ground.

In my mind one of the biggest is that alcoholics are all in denial, when spoken to mean the alcoholic is not aware that they have a problem, I believe most are very aware of that fact.

That all alcoholics are self centered and all that other negative stuff. They can be as different as night and day from what I have seen.

What are some of your favorites?

KateL

I think we only ever deny it to others, never to ourselves, even if we continue to drink, we know it's not right, we are are not stupid. We can be ridiculously self centred when active but can't help it if we are drinking and out of sync with our real selves. Fundamentally, all the alcoholics I know are lovely, sensitive people.

PaperDolls

My "favorite" .... or the most annoying.....

Everything that comes out of an alcoholics mouth is a lie.

KateL

What rot!!

jdooner

That our minds are broken - I fundamentally disagree. I got in this big debate with other AA fellows about this point.

For one, am not sure what the reference is. I believe most people have some abnormality or vice. In the Realm of Hungry Ghost the successful Dr. was addicted to purchasing CDs of classical music, so much he missed the birth of a child. I see people everyday so addicted to food. I have a family member that was uber successful running a $20B Fund. Problem is now that he shut it down and retired he is a mess. So what is the reference? Politicians and celebs that cheat, steal, drug and drink behind closed doors?

Look at Elliot Spitzer - put people away for years in prison for what he was doing and he was worse, using tax payer dollars for his whores.

President Obama, House and Senate - prosecute people for insider trading - Martha Stewart but 80% of the upside for these elected officials comes from trading stocks mainly on inside info.

Sorry for the rant but I debate the normal benchmark - I don't believe there is a normal, so I am not sure I buy into the Alcoholic brain being broken.

Nonsensical

That there is a single cure that works for everybody.

There also seems to be some notion that the mere sight of alcohol is going to send an alcoholic into a frenzy. I've been an alcoholic for 25 years, but I kept it well-hidden from extended family until last March. I rarely drank at their homes. Now if I go to one of their houses all of the liquor is removed from its normal storage and hidden away someplace. I guess because if I see it IMAGONUTZ!

dwtbd

That outside the context of alcohol there are different.

KateL

Hear hear. Lol at hiding the alcohol, my mother still does it after many years. Too funny.

DoPerdition

That alcoholics are all sloppy drunks who can be picked out at a party or gathering on sight.

That alcoholics drink 24/7.

KateL

I was once advised to return a small eye shadow that I had pinched from a store some twenty years prior. I think I would most likely have been sectioned.

awuh1

It's within everyone's control to stop to stop drinking by making a decision to do so.

soberhawk

It does make sense to me that addicts are self centered, I am not sure imagine it possible to be an alcoholic without being self centered.

tomsteve

as replied in the other thread:
they are myths..for you
they are facts for others.

Carlotta

Not if you are also codependent.

caboblanco

There is very little you can believe from the AA or the disease model. The so called science on alcoholism is really just one big myth

we are powerless over alcohol...myth

alcoholism is an inherited disease...myth

once you have one drink an alcoholic can't stop drinking...myth

alcoholics can never moderate and to do so would always be dangerous...myth

alcoholics are all spiritually flawed..myth

no alcoholic is unique...myth

all alcoholics have permanently altered their brain chemistry and will be an alcoholic for life even if the are sober for the rest of their lives...myth

brain scans from alcoholics are always different from non alcoholics....myth

the only thing I find valid is the physical response of withdrawal..and the kindling effect. I also find the information on what alcohol can do to the liver and other organs valid

KateL

I am not self centred at all fundamentally never have been. Of course I was like a lunatic when I was drinking but that wasn't me. I am/was an alcoholic, whatever you want to call it. But still, if someone calls me self centred, I would find that extremely rude.

jdooner

If your point as the OP posted is that these are the misconceptions that you don't agree with I can understand your point but if you position, which from other posts I believe to be true is that these are facts, then I am not sure I agree with all of them as fact but would accept them as your opinion.

The genetics of addiction

ru12

There are so many...

The fact is that we are unique beings that have had a multitude of experiences that have shaped what we are today. Addiction affects us all differently. And recovery has many paths.

awuh1

One of the central problems with any attempt to have a meaningful discussion about a question that involves ‘alcoholism’ and ‘alcoholic’ is that both terms are used differently by different people. Then throw in words like ‘powerless’ and ‘disease’ and you have lots of fuel for a conversation that has lots of heat and little light.

Johnston

That I need a sponsor or group to do my thinking for me. I can do that just fine on my own thanks.