Alternative support for alcoholics

Is Alcoholics Anonymous the only support for recovering alcoholics? No, although AA is the largest, oldest and most successful. AA has been in existence since 1935. If you aren’t familiar with AA and have seen the critical portrayals in media, then you might think AA is like a cult for religious fanatics. Because AA has been successful and is widespread, it attracts critics, but AA has to be experienced if you want to understand how it works. AA is worldwide with over 2 million members. However, even with AA’s huge success, many alcoholics don’t like AA and quit attending after a short while.

There are many reasons why alcoholics don’t stick with AA after their first introduction. Not everyone entering AA has a desire to stop drinking. Many who attend AA are sent there by the courts because they either have a DUI or got in trouble as a result of drinking and doing drugs. Some court programs or probation officers don’t distinguish between alcohol and other drugs when it comes to AA — they might send cocaine addicts to AA. There’s an identity problem when cocaine addicts or opiate addicts go to AA and everyone in the group is talking about drinking experiences.

As a result of the problems with identification, larger cities have Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and there’s even Cocaine Anonymous meetings. The 12 step program of AA was copied by others who have problems with drugs other than alcohol. The literature for these other 12 step programs is a little different from AA literature, but the concepts and steps are basically the same.

Some people introduced to AA, or any 12 step program, have a problem with talk about God, although AA doesn’t require anyone accept any religious tenets. AA debated this issue from the beginning. Some original members thought all mention of God should be removed because it would exclude agnostics and atheists, and the program was designed to help all alcoholics. The compromise was to suggest a reliance on a Higher Power as the person chose to conceive of a High Power — the Higher Power could be a set of recovery principles. The idea was that alcoholics who try to deal with alcohol on their own usually don’t succeed because addiction is stronger than their will power. Even the compromise is too much spirituality for some people, so they don’t stay with AA.

Because some recovering alcoholics have a problem with AA, there is alternative support for alcoholics. None of these support groups are as large and widespread as AA, but in most decent size towns they can be found. Not all these groups suggest abstinence. Many of the groups are an outgrowth of a mainly psychological approach to addiction. Many believe that if their members want to try to moderate their drinking or drug use, then that’s fine — it’s about harm reduction rather than total abstinence. How this works I don’t know. I’m not aware of any valid studies. From my experience in the treatment field, when alcoholics and drug addicts try to moderate their drug use, they don’t succeed over the long term. But, here’s a site that lists some of the support groups that are alternatives to AA. I suggest abstinence to all alcoholics and drug addicts, but everyone has to make their own decision. The main thing is to celebrate recovery and stay honest and aware.