In comparison, men should drink no more than fourteen drinks in a week. If any person, regardless of gender, finds themselves drinking every day it could be a problem. An alternative to AA is SMART Recovery, which does not use the 12-Step model. SMART is an acronym for “Self-Management and Recovery Training.” SMART focuses stay sober without aa more on building skills to cope with stress in everyday life and, unlike the 12-step process, does not focus on a higher power. What’s most important is making the decision to get help and finding a path to recovery and a support network that works for you. Recovery is possible, with or without the 12 steps.

• And now that naltrexone is available in an inexpensive generic form, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to promote it.
• Prodding and persistence rarely trigger the alcoholic mind to do something against their own will.
• They feel that while their higher power could help them, it’s still within their own will and power to change their lives.
• In order to find a support group that works for you and start building your sober network, we’ve compiled a list of the top online sober communities and groups.

She is one of the 2 friends that did not immediately drop me when I “left”. Over the past yr its been hard to deprogram w her in my life. She spins the convo constantly around how my spiritual life is w out AA. Its very unsettling and I seem to end the time w her very irritated. Maybe “bait” for her to run to her clones and report I am not happy joyous and free..lol. About 4 years ago I became more and more troubled by meetings, the constant self-abasement, the culty rhetoric, the falsehoods, the fear mongering. Each time I heard the promises, I thought, wow, what a hyperbolic lie.

The Importance of Friends in Recovery

Addiction which includes drugs , alcohol , sex ,gambling is an answer or better yet a symptom . Each person needs to find and then address what is pushing the addiction . Could be trauma , an anxiety disorder depression etc. or even a combination of things . Also no such thing as a personality exhibiting Sober House quote untreated alcoholism . This nonsense is being taught by fundamental AA groups. There is also an underlying set of beliefs taught in AA that constitute a philosophy that is unworkable by most human beings . How to apply accountability to your life if you’re not a part of a peer-based recovery group?

Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If none of these options sound good to you, you can build the recovery community you feel is lacking in the world. Start a group in your area or on a social networking site like Facebook, and watch it grow. To stay sober stay sober without aa during events like these, you must first be honest with yourself. Staying sober duringtriggering events, like parties, weddings,holidays, vacations, and when out with friends who drink, can be tough. With a clear mind, you can focus on what will lead to long-term happiness. You can now focus on loved ones more than before.

Find a Treatment Program That’s Right for You

Sponsors and sponsored people in AA work as equals to address risks to sobriety and maintain recovery. An AA sponsor shares their experiences, knowledge and previous mistakes with their peers in an effort to boost their success. Such groups are designed to help people battling an alcohol addiction by providing them with the support and guidance needed to stay strong in their sobriety. Since 1939, AA has helpedmillions of people recoverfrom alcohol addiction. New Directions for Women helps patients join the positive side of alcoholism recovery statistics. It’s possible with the right program, whatever that may be. We’re here to help you figure out what the right program might mean for you.

One of the nicest parts of this community is it focuses on recovery writ large. So, if you need sobriety support from harder drugs or other issues, then you might just feel at home here. For some, venturing into the male-dominated rooms of AA can feel uncomfortable . For these folks, online communities and supportive sobriety groups beyond AA can be a welcome addition to your recovery journey. It’s not that traditional 12-Step groups aren’t welcoming, but that sometimes you need a group you can relate to in order to support your sobriety—a safe space where you can actually feel like yourself. Medications are sometimes used in alcohol addiction treatment.

Some of them offer AA but don’t force participation in it because they also offer other programs. Others will compel you to participate in their AA program whether you want to or not. If you don’t like the principles of AA, look for rehabs that won’t make you attend their meetings if you don’t want to or better yet, don’t offer AA at all. Women for Sobriety supports any woman seeking to have a new life free from drugs and alcohol. They offer support groups both online as well as in person, and have volunteers who do one-on-one support over the phone. It’s a great place to connect with fellow ladies for some support in sobriety. If you’re seeking a community that’s focused on positive health and behavior change, then Hello Sunday Morning might be right for you. This community supports anyone who wants to change their relationship with alcohol, in whatever form—whether abstaining, taking a break, or just better understanding it.

And i believe it can be a dangerous place for some. I found it the same after 4 years sobriety being in the AA meeting rooms. Fair enough, AA is often the first point of contact for many people who have a problem with alcohol, but it definitely isn’t the only option available these days. If you can do without AA support and find that being there is only having a negative impact on your mental well being, by all means leave it. As they say in rooms, the door swings both ways. For me, I was where you’re at now, AA wasn’t doing me any good and I was just getting sicker mentally. I don’t go at all anymore and I’m far happier without it. I still get the occasional notion of drinking but I don’t give in to it. That’s something they lie to you about (in what is supposed to be an honest program!).

This is terrible and probably not much better than no program at all. Many people have indeed managed to defeat an addiction and maintain sobriety on their own for many years. Most people will need help to quit, especially for drugs with severe withdrawal syndromes like the opioids. For sure, stopping even a 30-milligram daily oxycodone habit would produce powerful withdrawal symptoms that most people simply couldn’t endure. Higher addiction levels would be far worse and even more difficult to withstand.

“Well,” he told me, “it’s 2,000 euros.” That’s about $2,500—a fraction of the cost of inpatient rehab in the United States, which routinely runs in the tens of thousands of dollars for a 28-day stay. We once thought about drinking problems in binary terms—you either had control or you didn’t; you were an alcoholic or you weren’t—but experts now describe a spectrum. An estimated 18 million Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorder, as the DSM-5, the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual, calls it. The rest fall somewhere in the mild-to-moderate range, but they have been largely ignored by researchers and clinicians. Both groups—the hard-core abusers and the more moderate overdrinkers—need more-individualized treatment options. Psychologists and psychiatrists are often trained to provide cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy to treat patients with alcohol-use disorder.
I don’t care if it is or not, I drink alcoholically and I don’t want bad things to happen to me, so I can’t drink. It is that first drink, I tried for years on my own without the support group. Bad things still happen but I don’t deal with it drinking. Good things happen and I don’t have to be drinking for them to happen. I’ve learned a lot and I could not have done it without AA.

I can still succumb to doubt and fear at times. Feelings of inferiority, anger and confusion at what happens in life, but hell am I really that unique? My problem wasn’t with the program so much it was with other members who seemed to go out of their way to try and humiliate me. It came to a head a couple of months ago at a meeting. This one member tried to get a rise out of me, playing the clown behind my back and generally being obnoxious. When it came time for the meeting he sat down next to me. I felt my hackles rise and knew that if I didn’t leave the meeting I was going to thump him. Many times there is shouting, anger and self defeating brainwashing that often makes me feel leaving worse than when I arrived.

It was the exact kind of feeling that, prior to sobriety, I’d have drunk more to get rid of… I remind myself that there are lots of good reasons not to drink. The more recovered I got, the less sense it made to attribute aspects of my character simply to alcoholism. If you think you have a drinking problem, you should check out AA. Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Long-term sobriety is a relative term—it means different things to different people. But many people consider long-term sobriety to be sobriety that has lasted at least one year. It depends on what substance you are recovering from, how long you’ve been using it, and how much you used. Sobriety fatigue can last a few weeks to a few months.

I find joy in many things but have struggled with the idea I have a brain destined to torture me. There are those who will try this first simply because of the name and the popularity that it seems to have. And for many many people this is enough for them and they have great success. But there are plenty of other programs out there that could help you as well. My family and my friends who have known me for 20 years recognize that I’m an alcoholic—they knew long before I did. It’s taken a lot of humiliation, soul-searching and grim self-evaluation for me to admit I am an alcoholic—first to myself, then to my inner circle, then to the world at large. Please don’t further demean me by telling me it’s not real or pushing me for proof. I’d been sober for more than a year before I admitted to anyone that I was an alcoholic and sober for two years before I submitted the general public to that ugly news. Initial reactions ranged from actual tears of gratitude and relief to the girl at the bar I was managing who looked at me slyly, swaying on her heels and said, “So what would happen if you took just one sip?

People in recovery can experience a lot of shame simply for having become addicted in the first place. If PAWS is severe or if you’re experiencing prolonged symptoms, a medical professional can help you work through them and remain in recovery without relapse. Some definitions of sobriety call for complete lifelong abstinence while others focus on developing coping mechanisms that can reduce harm with the understanding that setbacks are common. There are a variety of tools available that can support your path to sobriety. Research suggests that while 12-step groups are effective, people often don’t continue their involvement at beneficial levels over the long term. Verywell Mind’s content is for informational and educational purposes only.

When reflecting on past behavior, these feelings are normal and natural emotions. But do not allow these feelings to become excessive; they can be toxic and prevent you from moving forward in your recovery journey. Do not feel discouraged if you are struggling to stay sober, be proud of what you have achieved and how far you have come. Long-term sobriety often comes with setbacks, but this does not mean you have failed. The most important thing is your determination and commitment to progressing on your recovery journey. To answer this question, we’ll share some benefits that AA offers the recovering alcoholic. We’ll explain how other types of recovery programs can help as well. Nevertheless, the choice to become a part of the AA community is yours and yours alone. Is free, as well as a new membership program that offers more virtual meetings, a community forum, group coaching, and more.

When combined with other evidence-based therapies , MAT can help prevent relapse and increase your chance of recovery. Disulfiram , acamprosate , and naltrexone are the most common medications used to treat AUD. Outpatient programs are often part of aftercare programs once you complete an inpatient or PHP program. The goal of outpatient treatment is to provide therapy, education, and support in a flexible environment. Conversely, the more you spend your time doing things you enjoy, the less you’ll spend drinking. For example, if you’re struggling in your marriage or dealing with trauma, you may turn to alcohol as an escape mechanism.