shepherd1

I was wondering if any of you have any opinions on the time of day of AA meetings and if that has any effect on how successful they will be in helping the person. I have been looking into meetings in my area, and it seems the only ones within reasonable driving distance all have their meetings before 2 p.m., with the one closest to me at 11 a.m. I have never been a daytime drinker and only ever have cravings during evening hours. At 11 a.m., alcohol is the furthest thing from my mind. But come 7 p.m., it’s like a light switch turns on and the craving hits all of a sudden and I’ll down a half bottle of rum in about 3 hours. If I don’t drink and make it through the night, come morning it’s like the switch has been turned off again and I once again have no cravings until the evening.

So, I’m just wondering if going to AA meetings during time periods when I have no desire to drink are going to help me? Ideally there would be a meeting between 7 and 10 p.m., as those are the only times when I seriously want to drink. That’s when I do most of my reading on SR as well.

Thanks!
Jon

biminiblue

Go to the 11 and tell someone exactly what you've said here.

There are solutions, and usually people in AA have them

I'm sure there are informal gatherings in the afternoons, you are not the only one who drinks at 4-8PM. Have you called the AA phone number for your area? There may be other meetings. I'm assuming you are looking online and have not gotten a meeting schedule directly from AA? Online meeting schedules are pretty unreliable where I live. The problem is you may be looking at an old page on the internet, not an updated schedule.

When you go to a meeting they will give you a schedule of all the meetings in the area. Also, many people get together at local coffee or dining places for informal chats. Those are great ways to kill time and pick their brains.

Go to a meeting...I agree that you need to find a way to distract during your drinking times. I'm sure they will have a solution. I think any meeting is better than none - it is a way to connect on a daily basis and remind yourself that you don't drink. Every meeting has its own personality, so I don't think it is easy to say one is better than another, it's a personal preference thing. There are other ways to stay busy from 4-8, (or 7-10) too.

Welcome to the site!

IOAA2

To me any time of the day is a good meeting time.

When I got sober very few meetings were before 8-8:30 PM and that’s a long late time for us that started to drink around 4PM.

Today in the same area there are about 300 meetings a week, many starting at 7AM, noon. 5 PM and 7sh.

If your areas meeting times don’t appeal to you and others start a new meeting, it’s not that difficult.

BE WELL

CAPTAINZING2000

Bigger cities offer different times.

Mine are usually 7 or 8 pm here. There is one I go to on occasion at 9:30 on Sunday mornings.

Nice to have the option of different times though.

heartcore

My take on it is that you don't go to AA meetings to directly combat an urge or craving to drink (although sometimes they may help with that). I think of AA as a place to meet others who are on the journey, to learn about the AA program, and to build a sober community. The true work of AA is in the book and the steps - which is work that you do on your own. You will build a relationship with a sponsor and will make program friends. As mentioned above, part of the power of AA is in those coffee dates and phone calls with individual members.

I can only speak to my own experience, but for me, AA meetings didn't (and don't) stop me from drinking. Through doing the steps, I have gained some understanding of myself, but that didn't stop me drinking. I already had a relationship with a higher power, so I didn't get that in AA, but even that wouldn't have stopped me from drinking.

I believe that I had to firmly decide - completely, utterly decide - that I would never drink again. AA has supported that decision. If I never got to go to an AA meeting again, it would not impact my sobriety. I would find other communities and other methods which supported my decision (SR is one of those communities).

I say this because I believe that AA is a single (powerful) tool in a very full box of tools. You can learn alot about alcoholism and yourself in those daytime meetings, but in the wee hours of the night, there won't be a meeting, and it will be about your resolve and - in some cases - the support of those you've brought into your "team," whether you find them in AA meetings or here online or if you have supportive folks among your friends and family already...

sg1970

Have you gotten a meeting list for your area? A lot of the meetings around here you would not know about without the list. Their internet list is a little lacking.

tomsteve

Welp, going to meetings and not drinking don't treat alcoholism IMO. So I personally don't think time of day a meeting is matter. I wasn't a morning drinker yet have been attending a 7 a.m. Meeting for a while now, where I see quite a few others who weren't morning drinkers and are sober today.

immri

See I'm the opposite, I almost always started drinking in the daytime before 2pm, so by night the cravings normaly subside for me because I only kept drinking at night to keep the buzz going/stop being sick
I normally go to nighttime meetings though because I work some days and they're more convineant.
I don't think it matters too much

Mountainmanbob

When I used to work I went to evening meetings.
Retired now, I prefer early morning.

Whenever we can get there is a good time.

Mountainman

anattaboy

I went to meetings so I wouldn't drink back in 2010 and it worked very well but we had 5 meetings a day starting at 8am. The hardest part for me was 6am till 8--true white knuckling for a few days. Maybe a walk at the mall? Join the Y? Online meetings? Chat here at SR? Get creative, don't let the urge define you. It passes soon and quickly.