tomsteve

there is evidence what alcohol has done for you:
"Alcohol has ruined everything in my life. I can honestly say that every problem that I've had in the last 6 years has been linked to my alcoholism. I can't do it anymore."

yet you drank anyways. so, evidence of something doesn't seem to matter.

im not religious either, but have been sober since 4/23/05 through AA.

you can make the excuse of needing evidence for ANY recovery method right into your grave.

SpaghettiFan

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SpaghettiFan

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SpaghettiFan

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Dee74

whats up spaghettifan?

D

SpaghettiFan

Hello! How are you doing today?

SpaghettiFan

Do you have any real evidence that AA works better than any other method of quitting?

columbus

Two people quit drinking. One went to AA, the other took a different path.

Which way is better? The way that worked for each.

LadyBlue0527

I love the above!

Through all the discussion of this program, that program, this tool, that tool what really matters?

It really comes down to not only what works for you but what keeps you sober and happy about it.

SoberCAH

Spaghetti -

I am my only statistic.

I tried to not drink many times with no success

I was a daily drunk for many years.

Then, when I feared that I would lose what little I had left (at that point, my career), I entered a treatment center and they directed me to AA.

I have gone to meetings and worked the Steps ever since.

It's been since 9/22/1988 for me.

I credit God and AA, in that order.

I have had a great life.

I hope that you get and stay sober.

It's a lot better, and in the long run, easier, than drinking and waiting for more bad things to happen.

JWS

All I know is everything else I have tried has failed. I can say for certain that some nights the only thing separating me from a drink is a meeting. I am a strong believer in meetings.

Algorithm

You are not two different people, but your drinking eventually gave birth to a new, rogue persona, whose sole purpose is to perpetuate the addiction. It is functionally amoral, and essentially sociopathic, which is why it doesn't care about your suffering, or your ruined life.

Meraviglioso

Let me preface by saying I am not a regular attendee of AA. However, I do go occasionally when I can arrange child care and am not too tired to get to a meeting. Does it matter that there is scientific evidence as to how it works? The point is is that is does work for a lot of people. You may be one of them but how will you know if you don't give it a try. Doing nothing doesn't seem to be the answer.

As for scientific evidence, I once accepted some materials from some Jehovah's Witnesses that came to my door. There was an article about how jellyfish move through the water. I can't remember all of the details, but given the bodily makeup of jellyfish and the physics of moving through water it is nothing short of a miracle (a God granted miracle according to them) that jellyfish can "get around" in the sea/ocean. There is nothing scientific to explain it, yet it has been seen that jellyfish move themselves freely all the time.

It may be that you just need to have faith in yourself that you can get sober and have faith that you need help to do so. Understanding/evidence/science.... it seems to be that at "rock bottom" one would be beyond that.

Keep posting here, we are all behind you every step of the way.

Dee74

I'm not in AA or any other group for that matter, but I do have real evidence that doing nothing is less effective than doing something.

If you have decided that AA is not for you there are other meeting based groups that may appeal to you like SMART or LifeRing.

Rational Recovery has no meetings but is another approach.

Some people have counselling, others see their Drs and may take meds, some go to outpatient as opposed to inpatient rehab.

whatever works to change, and maybe even save, your life is a great thing

D

Austin4Wyo

Dee has it right. I could always talk myself out of change. So I stayed drunk.

When I finally found the pain of continuing to be less than the pain of changing, I changed.

As for AA? I hit lots of meetings, meet with my sponsor and call him whenever I need to (most recently, over a chick), and am working the steps. I go to meetings and see other people that are and continue to be sober day in and day out. Presently, I'm sober, and have been for a little stretch. If I keep doing things the way I am, I have a reasonable confidence that I can get to bed tonight sober, and so on tomorrow and down the road.

As opposed to when I continued drinking, which, oddly enough, continued getting me drunk.

Why not give it a try? How could you be worse off? 90 meetings in 90 days is often suggested. If it doesn't work, how is it different than where you're at now?

And dear God, man...what if it actually WORKS?

MLD51

The program of AA doesn't work without your full and willing participation. You work the program. It's a set of suggested steps. I know lots of people in AA who don't really work the program. They expect it to just work if they go to meetings and read the big book and maybe pray. They relapse, or go though life not drinking, but still miserable. Then there are people who work their butts off working those steps, connecting with other sober people, and sharing their experiences with others. Those are the people who tend to have success. There's no way to "prove" that AA works better than other methods. In the end, whatever plan you make, it's up to YOU to put your plan into action, every day. Any program will fail if you do not commit yourself to sobriety. There's no magic bullet out there.