Addictions & Answers_It's the 75th Anniversary of AA_ is It Time to Ditch the Anonymous' in Alcoholics Anonymous

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It's the 75th anniversary of AA:Is it time to ditch the'anonymous' in AlcoholicsAnonymous?ADDICTIONS & ANSWERS

Saturday, June 26th 2010, 4:00 AM

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BILL: A few years ag o, I went to a MurrayHill AA meeting. “I was once at a cocktailparty,” one of the speakers said to meafterwards, “where you said you were in AAand asked for iced tea. You were the firstadult I ever met who did not drink. Up tillthen, I thought of AA as a bunch of shabbypeople, ashamed of who they were –winos or skid-row bums, or you had to besome kind of religious maniac, and if Iwent to a meeting, they’d make me s inghymns.

“But there you were, clean and sober,telling a joke or two without a drink or even

seeming to miss it! That memory stayedwith me. Then one day, near the end of myrope, I thought, Ell ie, why not try AAyourself? Bill, you never said a word tome, but memory of you at that party changed m y life.”

DR. DAVE: And you’re telling our Daily News readers this story right now because--?”

BILL: This month marks AA’s 75th Anniversary. Maybe it’s time for AA to evolve with thetimes – maybe Anonymity has worn out its usefulness? To give you a feeling for that nowvanished time, pick up an AA pamphlet called, "Problems Other Than Alcohol." It waswritten by co-founder Bill W. hims elf. He begins by saying nonalcoholic addicts shouldnever be admi tted into AA. “No nonalcoholic, whatever his affliction, can be converted intoan alcohol ic AA mem ber." Today, drug addicts are accepted routinely at any AA meeting;and drug courts, which are set up to deal with narcotics cases only, demand that clientsattend so many meetings a week, AA or NA, either will do.

DR. DAVE: Writing this column for the Daily News, we have indeed heard from a lot of

other groups —START, Rational Recovery, and some more closely connected to religion,Alcoholics Victorious or Rapha Groups. All have changed the wording of the 12 Steps tosuit their own therapeutic philosophy.

BILL: Exactly my point. Isn’t it time for the AA leadership to drop thei r secrecy, and spendthe next 75 years organizing all these splinter groups into one great overall movement“to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers” along with their partner, NA,carrying “the message to the addict.”

DAVE: Whoa there! NA and AA are no more partners than AA and Rational Recovery. AAcooperates, but says it will “never affiliate” with other organizations. As for the leadershipthat you think exists, one of the basic tenets of AA is that “Our leaders are but trustedservants, they do not govern.”

BILL: Pretty clear they won’t be making many decisions where votes would be needed toorganize with the other programs

DR. DAVE: Bill, what you are advocating goes against one of AA’s most traditional

beliefs: “That Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all [our] Traditions, reminding us toplace principles before personalities.”

BILL: Well then, maybe it’s time for a new leadership, one that won’t be so cautiousabout collaborating with everybody else to be more e ffective. Sorry to be the one whopoints out the Emperor has no pants, but AA’s rules were des igned back when, like theMurray Hill member s aid, if people knew you were an alcoholic, they simply saw you as adeadbeat scoundrel. Now, with chemical dependency seen as a treatable disease whyare they still in hiding?

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23 comments | See All Comm ents » To comment, Register or Log In [Discussion guidelines]

10:49:08 PM

Jun 30, 2010

Report Offensive Post

AA doesn't say they are medical professionals, as a matter of fact they

stress they are not. It's not theology: it's a God of your understandingor not. Make a group or a chair your higher power, be an agnostic or athiest. It doesn't force God or bad medical knowledge on anyone. Idon't know if there are an y recovery groups that boas t of a highpercentage of recovery. How many are going to say the word: relapse.AA may not be for everyone. It is the oldes t recovery program and it i sstill going strong. So, for anyone who has had a negative experience,try another AA group. The 12 Steps do work: they aren't psychology or faux-religion. But they do make you think. I find those who dis credit AAso vehemently are either afraid of the program and/or refuse to try tounderstand the program. Not to mention the "God" thing turns themoff. But it's not a religious program. It is a spiritual program. There isno magic cure for addiction. A few years ago when a pill came out thatsa

10:52:14 PMJun 30, 2010


Cont- a few years ago a pill came out that would take away thecravings to drink, but people in the groups I attend didn't want to try it.They would miss the fellowship and the laughter. AA is about beingwith people who have the same addicition as you. It's about sharingyour days and weeks experiences, no matter if they are good, in themiddle or horrendous. It's about staying away from a drink-that day.

7:52:43 AMJul 1, 2010


AA is a cult. That is not inherently a bad word but it is a fact. For mepersonally, I found that faith healing and religious conversion did nothelp me to stay sober. It was only after I discarded such bronze-agetribe inspired myths that I had success in sobriety. The idea that AA isthe best or only way to get and stay sober would be laughable if itweren't so tragic.

9:51:33 AMJul 1, 2010

@EntropyClosedSy Maybe AA didn't work for you, but it is not a cu lt."No dues or fees." No s tanding on street corners or subway stationswith brochures or strange costumes preying on the lonely or weak.Perhaps Dr.Moore could give us the medical definition or what themedical profession defines as a Cult? Take what you like from theprogram and leave the rest. But it's not a cult.

RECENT COMMENTS FROM DAILY NEWS READERS

You may also be interested in:

DR. DAVE: The answer is—thousands of recovering alcoholics and addicts did give uptheir anonymity after the St Paul Summit of 2001, led by the most recognized recoveringperson of his era—the late Senator Paul Wellstone. AA, NA and the other programsremained anonymous—it was their members who come together in public with NOorganization affiliation.

BILL: Sort of a reverse anonymity where the recovering people a re known, but their support group affiliations aren’t!

DR. DAVE: And if any of our readers want to reach out and join this new unified group of recovering persons -- maybe as a birthday tribute to the first group of drunks back inAkron Ohio who started it all -- they can go to the group’s website and join, what is aptlycalled, The Faces and Voices of Recovery.

BILL: On my way Doc, just a mouse click away.

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6:50:39 PMJul 1, 2010


AA meets the criteria for 4 of the 5 defin itions of cult (Merriam-Webster) and arguably all 5. It walks like a duck Orion. It's a duck. 1 :formal religious veneration : worship 2 : a s ystem of religious beliefsand ritual; also : its body of adherents 3 : a religion regarded asunorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents 4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator 5 a :great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a filmor book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : the object of such devotion c : a usually small groupof people characterized by such devotion

9:33:31 PMJul 1, 2010


I try for restraint of pen and tongue- I try, but to use the definitions of adictionary, rather than the medical profession to describe AA as a cult-is being clo sed minded. YOU didn 't like AA. It didn't work for YOU.Fine, I hope you remain sober. I truly do. Whatever keeps you sober -that's great. But don't discredit AA. A rational discussion is fine butvehement comments are not. It makes me think- hmmm...what is theperson afraid of? Just stay sober. That is what matters. We agree todisagree. Have a great and safe 4TH of July.

10:05:13 PMJul 1, 2010


Orion- You are just not making sense. Of course I use a dictionary todetermine the definition of cult. It is not a diagnosis or medical finding

why would I use a "medical profession" to determine the definition of a non-medical word like "cult." AA is a cult. You can't just make stuff up when it suits you and retain any credibility. And I will continue tomention that it didn't work for me, doesn't work for the vast majority of people and is an outdated, tardy, syncopted and late, not to mentionarcane - excuse for treatment for addiction. That is my opinion andexperience and if I chosoe to express it I will - hoping that peoplerealize they have otehr treatment modalities available and that AA isBY NO MEANS means the only way to get and s tay sober.

1:29:56 AMJul 3, 2010


Orion2, George Vaillant, former AA Trustee & Di ck B., noted AAhistorian, are among the many people that call a cult. I call it cult-likeor cult-lite, because if I call it a cult, people stop listening to anythingelse I m ight say. I found som e of your remarks telling; you claimnothing works as well as AA, then start talking about anti-craving

medications that have been shown to be much more effective than AAin scientific trials . You say you and your AA friends wouldn 't take itbecause you enjoy what you get ou t of AA. So what you're saying isthat you don't care if there are m ore effective methods out there, you'regoing to continue to proselytize for AA. For those that are interes ted inwhat treatment methods are more effective than AA, 37 of them canbe found here: "What works? A summary of alcohol treatmentresearch" in R. K. Hester & W.R. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of alcoholism treatment approaches: Effective alternatives (3rd ed.),2003, Allyn & Bacon: http://www.beha

1:31:19 AMJul 3, 2010


http://www.behaviortherapy.com/whatworks.htm

12:17:03 PMJul 9, 2010


I can understand how you might feel as you do, but it would be indirect contrast to what has made AA so s uccessful these 75 years.Anonymity is for the newcomer who is already embarrassed or ashamed, angry or resentful, that they might feel comfortable and notbe afraid that they'll see a neighbor or acquaintance who will telleveryone that wil l lis ten what a terrible person they are. Anonymity isfor the preservation of AA. Bill W. was warned in his time that if he or anyone else were to become a "poster boy" for AA and relapse itwould be proof to the naysayers that AA doesn't work. The secondmost im portant Tradition is that each group is autonomous, free todecide for itself what best serves the members. If you can not find agroup that suits you, you can start your own. "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking". I agree that in the age of "celebrity rehabs" and "sober cures" AA could use a higher profile, butit would be at AA's expense. In the early days

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Addictions & Answers_It's the 75th Anniversary of AA_ is It Time to Ditch the Anonymous' in Alcoholics Anonymous