So You’re Trying to Stay Sober Without AA?

You might find that group therapy benefits you more if you need the guidance of a therapist for mental health, social, emotional, or relationship issues. While peer support is vital to addiction recovery, you might find other ways to stay sober. You might have a strong support system of loved ones andfamilymembers to help you in your sobriety. Or, you might need time to build a support system if your addiction negatively impacted friends and family members. You might have a slip, relapse, or strong urge to drink or use drugs. There is no shame in admitting that you need to go back in your recovery! Sometimes, you need to take a step back before moving forward. A 2006 study by Rudolf H. Moos and Bernice S. Moos saw a 67% success rate 16 years later for the 24.9% of alcoholics who ended up, on their own, undergoing a lot of AA treatment. The study’s results may be skewed by self-selection bias. In the United States and Canada, AA meetings are held in hundreds of correctional facilities.

Then there’s people trying to run my life as well. They think I should be doing such & such with my life. There are many aspects of AA that I still believe are truly great. The storytelling, which is a powerful force of validation and healing for both the teller and the listener. I have AA to thank as the conduit by which God finally got through to me. This is why I go to meetings at this point, to help others. The steps and the sponsor/sponsee relationships can be very positive and helpful.

Staying Sober

I had a calm mind and a light, humorous presence. I was also moderately driven and had developed a degree of strength and flexibility. All this, after nearly 20 years of drug and alcohol addiction. I have some good and healthy people in my life who are kind, friendly and loving. They are consistent and supportive, just as I try and be. These are the people I need to spend time with, and let go of trying to fit into aa. Glad to know how others feel and that I am not alone with this. So great to read everyone’s comments and ideas about why they stayed and why they left.

• Then there’s people trying to run my life as well.
• There are other ways, but AA have made it clear… we give you 1 week and you will be drinking.
• If you can, avoid going to events where you know that drinking is going to be a big part.
• Grateful to be alive and sober today but really had a problem with the sponsorship deal.

If I do end up drinking and it gets bad, I hope nothing happens to me or anybody else, and I would have another chance at AA. Some feel like that is reason enough to keep on going to meetings forever. I still don’t like going to meetings so I made a choice to not go and not drink. Some also say alcoholism is a disease an some say it’s not. I don’t care if it is or not, I drink alcoholically and I don’t want bad things to happen to me, so I can’t drink. It is that first drink, I tried for years on my own without the support group. Bad things still happen but I don’t deal with it drinking. Good things happen and I don’t have to be drinking for them to happen. I’ve learned a lot and I could not have done it without AA.

AA in media

It has been driven in to me that I am sick and insane. I am diseased and will be for the rest of my life. Thank you also for reminding me about the spiritual idea… because the reality is I have been a selfish person and without AA’s look at me behavior I would never acknowledge that. Purely and simply AA has shown me that there are other people in this world. I absolutely agree, I had started sober without aa to do some volunteer work and loved it! I find joy in many things but have struggled with the idea I have a brain destined to torture me. But after I started going to meetings out of curiosity, I learned that I did have a problem with drinking, and that it was affecting my life in many more adverse ways than I thought. There are also several other group support programs out there.

These narrow minded people are sicker than the real people I prefer being around. The program is meant to be ‘a program of attraction, not promotion’ and I sure as hell am not attracted to any of it anymore. There was a time I needed AA but all I wanted was to get rid Sober House of the drinking. I don’t care a damn about the rest of what happens in life. I also sure as hell don’t want what AA has to offer, which is another one of these cliches they often spout. I had a good go at being in AA, but I have never really felt like I fitted in.

You can explore different types ofsupport groupsthat might help you in your long-term sobriety. Finding a sober community is essential to feel a sense of belonging and camaraderie in your shared struggles to overcome addiction. Continue to grow and nurture important relationships. Join a support group, and as you get more experience, look for ways to help others. You can become a mentor or a sponsor to those in early recovery. Addiction is a “chronic brain disease” that is treatable yet not cured. Addiction treatment is an ongoing, lifelong process. Relapse of any chronic diseases, like asthma and diabetes, can and do occur throughout a person’s lifetime. Rehabs.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. In CBS’ Elementary, Jonny Lee Miller plays an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes who is a recovering drug addict.

Drunks – a 1995 film starring Richard Lewis as an alcoholic who leaves an AA meeting and relapses. The film cuts back and forth between his eventual relapse and the other meeting attendees. Dodes has not, as of March 2020, read the 2020 Cochrane review showing AA efficacy, but opposes the idea that a social network is needed to overcome substance abuse. Average member sobriety is slightly under 10 years with 36% sober more than ten years, 13% sober from five to ten years, 24% sober from one to five years, and 27% sober less than one year.