Posted by galtin on November 4, 2001, at 22:22:55
In reply to Re: addiction and recovery » Elizabeth, posted by Rosa on November 2, 2001, at 6:16:04
> > I thought that in AA, NA, etc. they consider you to be still addicted even if you're completely abstinent (once an addict, always an addict, that kind of thing)? (I'm not saying I agree with this attitude, mind you!)
> > > > -elizabeth
Hi All,
Most alcoholics in AA refer to themselves as a "recovering" alcoholic. The reason for steering clear of the term "recovered" is two-fold. First, all the evidence suggests that AAers can never get over their addiction. In fact, people who "go out," even after 20 years free from alcohol, are soon drinking more than they did ever before. Second, AAers commit themselves to a program of recovery so that they can live a relatively happy and fulfilled life without alcohol. Again, the evidence is that recovering alcoholics who stop "working" the program and who drop away from meetings quickly become restless, irritable and discontent. In other words, they become like actively drinking alcoholics but without the drink. So,just as an AAers abstenance from alcohol must be lifelong, so must her dedication to AA's program of recovery. This is why critics of AA claim that members just trade one addiction for another.But AA doesn't have a monopoly on recovery. Other programs, like Rational Recovery and Women in Sobriety, believe in short-term treatment followed by graduation. Not to mention former AAers, especially women, who believe that AA is useful for a period of years but forces on the alcoholic too much of a loser self-conception. There are also other organizations that offer heavy drinkers a way back to moderate drinking.
I have no idea which approaches work best, but I suspect that there are different kinds of alcohol addicts. Some do well in AA, while others loath it and find answers in Rational Recovery. Then there are those alcoholics like my grandfather. He drank his way through 35 years and then just stopped. Not only that, but had a drink or two, never more, when the mood hit him.
Happily, I don't have to figure out all this multiplicity of addictive treatments and cures. I just need to know what works for the alcoholic I know best.
galtin
poster:galtin
thread:12188
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20011025/msgs/13499.html