"The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous" -Article- March 18, 2015

[Seagirl1]

Spirit I so like your thoroughness of research in this area. I must admit I have read your posts several times over trying to get a grip of the where the research is at this point! It reminded me of Uni days ! lol. I guess I can only go on my own experience of walking into my first meeting in an AA room. As most of us know.....we are already feeling guilt, shame and despair. I was wary, scared and unsettled. The first person to greet me was a wonderful Irish lady (who appeared to me to be a bit "under the weather") telling me that "yes, even women have alcohol problems" . Lol. Be it my exceptional sensitivity to all and everything in this world I tried to fit in and "do and say all the right things". I surely didn't think I belonged there for all the right or wrong reasons but I tried to fit in.....if you get my drift. Meantime in my "real life" I was dealing with a dying husband and other myriads of personal anxieties. I had hit the booze big time to deal with unrelenting pain. ( Just as an aside here, I did find a beautiful 12 step meeting where I found absolute solace for awhile....it was not about the booze at all......but about finding peace for and hour and a half...and I think that is what makes AA something beautiful and there lies the danger, because the Fellowship of like minded people can indeed cushion us to "behave" so to speak. What a dichotomy. I had half a glass of wine one night, went back and confessed and never went back again. That is the absolute "absoluteness" of a dangerous doctrine. My "failure" was overwhelming to me. I sincerely hope that there can be a change in the way the world views "alcoholics" . It is still a cruel and unwarranted label. I think that AA has not advanced the cause. I still know why it has "anonymous" in its label. Believe me , it is not like admitting going to the Ritz for dinner ! It still has the same old stigma which has to change IMHO. In my life, it had horrendous ramifications for me with my family.....it was always something that was going to come up against me whenever I was perceived to be "acting out". Oh my, she used to go to AA, must be the booze again. Such a stigma. So not warranted and so not fair. Therefore I call out for AA to become not a treatment for us and relegated to a past where it belongs.