Bugnut i have respect for your 15 yrs of sobriety, whilst i used to be a heavy drinker before, and still can be, i now know my limits.
I saw a lot from the homeless persons, and really saw were i could head if i continued.
The AA i know helps a lot of persons, what i saw was a organisation that made you depend on them, they were your crutch, though i realise it is a disease and some do require counselling and help.
I found that in the meeting, that there was a lot of guilt being spread about, The statement of.( I am a Alcoholic) I truly believe if you tell yourself that enough times you will believe it. Why is the statement not i am a recoverering Alcoholic maybe makes members feel better about themselves??
I wish you the best of luck in your sober days.
Well put Frank.
You suggest a much better label. Psychological labels and pigeon holes must be used very carefully.
One of the problems with AA is the apparent religious aspect of it. There is no proof on earth that any god exists other than in the imagination of individuals. Moreover, religions have used their claimed allegiance with one deity or another for quite evil purposes. If an AA member later loses his faith in whatever god he was lead to believe in, then the credibility of AA could well disappear with it and any good that it might have done for him would be gone with it.
Religion is used as a means to subjugate individuals or groups to the will of the leader who claims some allegiance with a god or magical set of beliefs. Ultimately, this is not helpful to anyone who is weakened emotionally, mentally or spiritually. He must find his
own strength rather than rely indefinitely on other people or some belief structure as a crutch. To announce god as one's saviour is to deny one's achievement and, therefore one's ability to survive alone.
Organisations can help people to recover from their own personal abysses but only as a crutch for a while. The victim has to be shown his own true worth and strength. Alcoholism is one of the most difficult afflictions to treat. Dealing with the physical dependence is one thing but, also, the original cause needs to be identified and dealt with. I believe that groups are not the appropriate place for psychotherapy. It must be undertaken in private with a properly trained and accredited therapist.
You might find interesting a book titled 'Stuart: A Life Backwards' by Alexander Masters. Stuart was an alcoholic, a man with violent tendencies, a criminal and a down and out. It's a true story that is imaginatively written in a way that first shows how Stuart turned out and then reveals, bit by bit, the causes. It's available on Amazon.
