31–40 of 366 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It works for a lot of people. For many people, particularly the worst cases, it does not. Most people who end up in AA have tried self-help already.
For people who lack willpower and who suffer the continual moral failing of their dependency on alcohol, AA is an option.
I completely agree with the message that people-helping people is super effective. But I'd like to point out that one of the core tenants of AA is to surrender to a higher power. I'm not advocating in favor of religion. But rather highlighting that maybe people who accept 'surrender' of their own will are more likely to get better. There's something to the concept that seems powerful. Anecdotally, I've known someone…
I completely agree with the message that people-helping people is super effective. But I'd like to point out that one of the core tenants of AA is to surrender to a higher power. I'm not advocating in favor of religion. But rather highlighting that maybe people who accept 'surrender' of their own will are more likely to get better. There's something to the concept that seems powerful. Anecdotally, I've known someone…
Sure, it might be obsolete now, but if someone is in bad enough shape (such as an alcoholic), even an obsolete religion may still be a better tool for the job than something like psychotherapy. Psychotherapy doesn't directly add any sort of community to a person's life. I had a drinking problem for some time and a big reason for that is I hated the people I was surrounded by (who were often not much different from myself at the time) and needed to tune out somehow.
The AA way was described in The Power of Habit as one of the examples of successful habit change. Basically: keep the habit's cue(e.g. feeling depressesed) and the reward(social interaction) but replace the bad habit(drinking) with a better one(meeting with the sponsor).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think there's a major understanding of this part of AA. This DOES NOT mean acknowledging that you believe there is a god. The concept of a "higher power" can mean anything you want it to mean. You can imagine your higher power is Gandalf, Sauron, elves at the bottom of the garden, or even some aspect of your "best self." You could imagine it to be the spirits of your ancestors or even something like the energy of t…
> You can imagine your higher power is Gandalf, Sauron, elves at the bottom of the garden That's quite cheeky. Telling people to believe in a "higher power" simply translates into the gods in the mainstream religion in the society they live in.
It probably is related to the social network effect that was described with Vietnam vets dumping heroin addiction when they returned home to their old social groups that didn't accomodate the behavior. AA et al provide a new social group that actively tries to stop the addiction.
I completely agree with the message that people-helping people is super effective. But I'd like to point out that one of the core tenants of AA is to surrender to a higher power. I'm not advocating in favor of religion. But rather highlighting that maybe people who accept 'surrender' of their own will are more likely to get better. There's something to the concept that seems powerful. Anecdotally, I've known someone…
I think there's a major understanding of this part of AA. This DOES NOT mean acknowledging that you believe there is a god. The concept of a "higher power" can mean anything you want it to mean. You can imagine your higher power is Gandalf, Sauron, elves at the bottom of the garden, or even some aspect of your "best self." You could imagine it to be the spirits of your ancestors or even something like the energy of t…
There are people that can just say "from tomorrow I will believe in God/afterlife/spirits etc. It would be so easy to live knowing that your loved ones are not gone or that if you are good enough your problems will be solved soon but for some people(like me) it is like trying to convince me that 2+2=5 and giving cancer to children has a higher purpose that we are to stupid to understand but we still should worship that "bigger" thing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For people who lack willpower and who suffer the continual moral failing of their dependency on alcohol, AA is an option.
I really take issue with this characterization. Please have some respect and humility: addiction is a serious matter, and this characterization of addicts as weak-willed and immoral is inaccurate and misleading for anyone out there who is seeking a way out.