Best Path to Recovery
 

How does one know the best path to take in their journey to recovery? I was on the AA website yesterday and the number of alcoholics that fall off the wagon is staggering.....only a 20% to 25% success rate of recovery. These are not encouraging stats. Are success rates higher if one goes into a treatment facility for 30+ days? Have any of you been successful with just AA and family support and/or counseling? I really want to do this right but unsure of the best path to take. Failure is not an option. There seems to be many variables in how one approaches their sobriety. It's confusing and scary at the same time.

Blarney we are all different, for me it was medical detox followed by immersing myself totally into AA for over 6 months doing a minimum of a meeting a day, reading recovery literature, and taking the steps with my sponsor along with following suggestions. When I went into detox I was hopeless, I was however willing to do any thing suggested to stay sober, detox suggested tons of AA and AA suggested the steps.

I know folks in AA that went to anywhere from 2-6 long term rehabs and still wound up getting drunk again, every one of them has said that it was not until they fully embraced the steps of AA that they were able to be able to stay sober and happy.

I know some folks in AA that detoxed while they went to AA meetings, I have seen more then one person shaking so bad from withdrawals during a meeting that they could barely keep from spilling a half cup of coffee holding it with both hands. Some of them made it with AA alone.

I made it with a medical detox, tons of AA and VERY silent presence of my family for the first 6 months, then they began to beleive that maybe I was serious about this sobriety deal and I might just stay sober.

The best suggestion I was ever given besides AA was given to me in detox and it sure worked well for me was "Spend as much time working on your recovery as you did drinking!"

If you want sobriety you can have it, but it takes work, patience, persaverance, HONESTY, an OPEN mind, and a willingness to do what ever it takes to not drink TODAY!.

It was not easy for me, it was damn hard those first 2-3 months, but it has been WELL worth it in spades!

Ha! Hi Blarney. You don't know what a hornet's nest you may have stepped in with those questions.

I recovered by having a spiritual awakening as the result of AA's 12 steps. I worked them thoroughly and honestly as described in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. This was after was various failures with doctors, medication, counseling, outpatient treatment, inpatient rehab.

I've been around for a little bit and work with a lot of newcomers to AA and recovery. What I have seen in that experience, is that an alcoholic who honestly and thorough works the steps like I did, never fails to recover. I haven't seen it yet.

Never. Sounds like a mighty different stat than the one you found. Bear in mind that there is a huge difference between going to AA meetings and taking the steps that will lead to a spiritual awakening. I think the stat you found lines up pretty well with my experience of the people that come to meetings. Most do not finish the steps and most fail to stay sober.

If you're willing to follow directions and take the steps, you will absolutely recover. If you're willing to come to meetings and hang out, well, it depends. Some folks can stay sober on support and fellowship. I could not. I needed that complete psychic change. The AA program of recovery is really directed at those of us like me.

Let me ditto what Keith said.

If anything, the number one thing you can do to ensure your sobriety is the unwavering willingness to remain honest. If you bring kung-fu-like honesty to the program of AA, from the first stop onward, the not drinking will take care of itself.

This might be a silly answer: whichever one works for you... different approaches work for different people.

Quote:

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Failure is not an option.

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Failure is not trying - by asking for help, you're already on your way. Like my friend Taz told me, anyone who is in recovery is a hero :)

Regarding the statistics you mentioned... addiction is very challenging to deal with. I doubt AA's statistics are any better or any worse than those of any other formal programme.

Addiction affects all aspects of our being: spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, social... Personally, I've been addressing those aspects by using a variety of methods. I'm actually thinking about attending AA... I already use SMART, therapy, and other tools, and don't see why this couldn't work.

Anyway, my suggestion is to be aggressive and thorough. Take care :)

eta: Thanks Carol ;) !!. Yes, SR is the mainstay of my treatment programme, the advice and support offered here are instrumental parts of my recovery.

Welcome to our recovery community.....:wave:

I use God...AA and SR for my recovery from alcoholism.
I've been sucessfully happily sober for years...:yup:

Not everyone chooses my way and it's not the only way.
Please stay here with us....you will find support and
others will share what is working for them.

Regardless of what way you find to stay sober
I think the key is.....
You have to want to be sober
more than you want to drink.

Good to see a new member....:yup:

im on board with tazman and keith on this one blarney.my stroy in a nutshell was this,,,,drank for 20 yrs,in that time i tried doctors,counselling,pills and potions,physc ward,,the list goes on,i even tried AA briefly four years ago.i went back at the begining of this year and really was done with it,i did what was suggested and went to lots of meetings and called at least 3 folk every day from the fellowship.within a month i had picked up a drink again,,i drank for 12 hours only and it was like a switch going off,i poured the drink away and got back to a meeting that night.the compulsion to drink left me,that was eight months ago.i knew there and then that meetings were not enough,i am a chronic alcoholic.that means that when i stop drinking the physical side is fixed for a while.but then i am left with the spiritual malady,,if this is not treated i will be forever picking up the first drink,i am powerless over alcohol.so,i got a sponsor asap,got on the steps and went at it h£ll for leather,i did everything that was suggested to me and made a point of doing things i was scared of doing,lots of other things too,,in fact i just surrendered to everything,,did the opposite to what the old me would have done,,,,in a short time i have changed beyond recognition.my thinking has changed,i no longer live in self.i have had a spritual awakening as a result of the 12 steps,i have recovered from the spiritual malady.alot of folk would think this was fairly quick progress,,and that maybe it cant be so! but it is,,it is my journey and it is the truth,,i have no need to lie anymore,,im living the truth.i wish you well in your journey.

The number of alcoholics who don't work steps is also staggering. The success rates are much higher for those who do work the steps, get a sponsor and have a daily program.

No one really knows what's best for any other person, and usually not even themselves. I know by the time I quit, my committment to sobriety was very strong, and I was willing to try ANYTHING to stay quit. AA is not part of my recovery, however that speaks nothing towards the strength of my recovery and how hard i have worked to grow into the person I am today. It's our to drink another drink, no matter the program we work or don't work.

:cheer Welcome! Whatever method or program you choose, you have found a good place here. The SR community is full of folks who provide great support and insight. I'm finding it a wonderful help in my own recovery. Good luck. Looking forward to seeing around the site!

Hi BlarneyStone and welcome to SR.

Everyone here has given good advice, and even AA is a personal program, basically we get out of it what we put in. Most important thing for me was that I had to want to stay sober, MORE than I wanted to drink. It was AA that helped me to get through the hard times, and helped me turn my life into something a little more manageable. Much like Taz, it was hard sometimes in the beginning, that is where the support of the group helps. It will get easier with time...:hug:

Cathy

Like everyone seems to say "different strokes for different folks" there is no 1 way that will work for everyone 100% of the time. Try 1- try them all if necessary. You have to WANT to quit and in many cases you have to NEED to quit. I didn't want to quit but I was told quit or die a slow death so I chose to quit. I very quickly accepted that "drinking is NOT an option" for me; I went to 8-10 AA meetings and it was a great place for me to start, first of all it made me realize how un-alone I was and the literature and the steps are great tools which I took with me and added to my renewed and enlightened faith in God I've had no trouble staying sober for over 2 years. I also strongly grasped on to the idea of having an allergy to alcohol and that is how I think of alcohol now, that I'm allergic to it and for me that is enough.

It may sound trite Blaney but the best way is the way that works.

There's a lot of different approaches at work here at SR - AA, SMART, LifeRing, counselling, inpatient, outpatient....my way involves a lot of service work, a lot of work on 'me' and never drinking, no matter what :)

Read around, ask questions, find a way that makes sense to you...and work it with full commitment.

As Matt said, you're already on your way :)
D

As long as you are motivated and honest, I believe you can recover.

I have used books and SR as my support system.

My advice is to make recovery your priority and work on it every day.

I can only tell you what works for me and that is AA meetings, a sponsor and working the steps. Honestly I don't know what the stats are, but what I do know is that if you really want to stop drinking then it can be done.

Half measures avail us nothing, I am proof of that, today I do whatever is suggested to stay sober because I don't want to ever go back to where I was. I went to any lengths to get high and drunk and today I go to any lengths to stay sober.

Good luck with whatever you choose as a program of recovery.

Having a personalized addiction treatment plan has worked wonders for me. I understand that the real challenge is finding out what recovery method works best for you. I feel as long as one goes in any healthy direction with commitment dedication and passion, one will recover regardless of what one chooses as a recovery method.

Oz that is one of the great things about AA, there are all sorts of combo recovery programs, the root of my recovery and others is in the program as spelled out in the Big Book, and the fellowship. Added to that some use religion, therapist, recovery & spiritual books, and even other programs to supplement thier recovery.

Heck even in the Big Book golks using AA for thier recovery are encouraged to supplement thier programs, in Chapter 6 (Into Action) of the BB it says:

In AA we are encouraged to seek recovery where ever we may find it to strengthen our programs.

Do not get me wrong, I know some folks in AA that totally ignoring the above quote straight out of the Big Book who say things like "If it ain't in the Bog Book it ain't recovery!".

I always keep in mind that there are no rules in AA, only suggestions.