In the proogram you have to go through 12 steps ( actually you go through the 12 steps the rest of your non drinking life)... question is if the AA book syas" these steps are MERELY SUGGESTIONS" then WHY does one have to go through the 12 steps...why can't they just quit drinking and go to meetings..period
2007-09-07 16:40:46 · 9 answers · asked by cristelle R 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
You don't have to do the steps. You can still go to meetings no matter what you do or don't do. The steps are there for helping those that need it. I know many alcoholics that go to meetings and that is enough to keep them sober for another day. What ever works do but whatever you do don't be afraid to attend meetings no matter what.
2007-09-07 16:50:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Everything in the program is a suggestion. There are no "musts". However the suggestions made are things that other alcoholics have found to work for them, and what works for one alcoholic has a pretty good chance of working for another.
In my own case I was able to stop drinking on the very first day I joined AA. It's been 9 years now without a drink or a drug or any other mind-altering substance.
But sobriety was a strange thing for me. I had to put down the bottle or die, but when I did so, I also gave up the only coping mechanism I had. This is just me, I don't know about anyone else, but I really did not know how to deal with anything without a drink to give me the courage or numb the pain.
For me working the steps gave me the tools I needed to deal with life without alcohol. I might or might not be sober today without those steps, but I am quite sure that if I was still sober I would be out of my mind.
And I didn't get sober to be miserable. I got sober to live a healthy life. That's what has happened, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
2007-09-08 04:22:58 · answer #2 · answered by Helen W. 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I have no doubt just going to meetings and working the "one hour recovery" method, works. Many alcoholics just go to meetings and quit drinking. The question is: Do you want to grow as a person? Alcoholism is just a by product of a bigger problem within yourself.
The 12 steps help us alcoholics grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The 12 steps, when done, help us continue to grow as human beings. That is as simple as I can put it. After all, AA teaches us "Keep it Simple."
Best wishes
2007-09-07 19:17:38 · answer #3 · answered by blondbrainserenity 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
For this alcoholic, not drinking and going to meetings was all I could do for the first few weeks. Then I became what has been mildly described as restless, irritable and discontent. In order to achieve lasting sobriety, I had to achieve a 'psychic change' or spiritual experience. The 12 steps are how we in AA did it. Bill W. and Dr. Bob were wise enough to understand that AA is not for everybody and AA is not the only way to quit drinking. You do not 'have' to go through the steps if you don't want to, but in order to get what we have, you have to do what we did. There is more to AA than just not drinking.
The steps have allowed me to find an inner peace and serenity that was not possible with the 'white knuckle treatment'. If all you want to do is stop drinking, throw a beer bottle at a cop car and you will quit immediately.
2007-09-07 18:21:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
before everything, i understand this is probable a soreness to flow by means of dropping your license, going to court, fines, etc. you're able to be depressed approximately that, yet don't be depressed considering the fact which you made a mistake. all of us cause them to, and additionally you have for sure discovered from yours and did each and every of the wonderful issues to impressive it. i'm so happy which you chanced on the potential to offer up chilly turkey and intend to make the wonderful selections. in case you experience you have the eating below administration and are in no way tempted to drink, then i think of you're no longer an alcoholic. Do you have a wellness practitioner which you spot many times and are delicate chatting with? He ought to probable adivse you on what a scientific college seems for and what may be the terrific steps which you will take at this element. sturdy success!!!! i could be very pleased with myself if I have been you :)
2016-12-16 14:27:09 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No one "must" work the 12 steps and you could just quit and go to meetings. My experience is that people that don't work the steps still have to carry around all of the issues that led to the addiction. It's an inside job. Just removing the addiction will, eventually, not be enough.
2007-09-07 17:05:19 · answer #6 · answered by Natalie O 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
"Of course all AA's, even the best, fall far short of such
achievements as a consistent thing. Without necessarily taking that first drink, we often get quite far off the beam. Our troubles sometimes begin with indifference. We are sober and happy in our AA work. Things go well at home and office. We naturally congratulate ourselves on what later proves to be a far too easy and superficial point of view. We temporarily cease to grow because we feel satisfied that there is no need for all of AA's Twelve Steps for us. We are doing fine on a few of them. Maybe we are doing fine on only two of them, the First Step and that part of the Twelfth where we 'carry the message.' In AA slang, that blissful state is known as 'two-stepping.' And it can go on for years." (Twelve and Twelve, Step Twelve, pg. 112)
...I've been a "two-stepper" before and can easily fall back into the trap. Step Ten, Step Eleven and that part of the Twelfth Step where it says, "practice these principles in all our affairs" can help keep me from falling into the trap again. AA is loaded with "two-steppers" and AA's who want to get well need to avoid asking these people to sponsor them. That's for their good and yours too.
2007-09-08 04:56:18 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A 12 step program actually helps you control your own thoughts/focus instead of letting others. You can just quit drinking and go to meetings, but that won't help you work on whatever was going on inside your mind that drove you to that point.
2007-09-07 16:58:07 · answer #8 · answered by American Spirit 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Because the AA is almost like a cult. They brainwash you into thinking their way and if you don't agree you are 'in denial'. I'd stay away from them. They don't even have high recovery rates in their group, it's just the only popular recovery choice out there right now.
2007-09-07 17:03:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋