Foxman, you jump to conclusions and make assertions that simply don't exist. To suggest I'm against the entire treatment industry is nonsensical and is something you have manufactured in your own mind. As I have said in the past, each person needs to find the resources that speak to them, whether it is AA, Smart Recovery, Rational Recovery, ADAPT, ACoA....whatever, or combinations of all of them. As to the 12 steps being the "best they've got so far"......well, that's a little arrogant to suggest the idea. It's one method, which happened to be the first mainstream program, however, if you do doe research you'll find the attrition rate of AA to be very high and the success rate to be about 5%. And some people just don't want to be force-fed the ideology. If AA sorts out 5% of those with an extreme alcohol abuse problem then that's a good thing. If this site solves the problem for 5% of the people (although I think it's much higher) that is great too.
I’m really struggling to understand why anyone would need to label the various degrees of alcohol dysfunction. What difference does it make whether a person is a true alcoholic, a hard drinker or drunk or just drinks several alcoholic beverages each night or every weekend? As long as the person in question perceives that he or she has a problem with control then a problem is what it is. It can be just as difficult to stop or modify a behavior regardless of its frequency. By discounting or minimizing one persons struggle over another’s simply discourages the less frequent drinker from addressing their habit or fooling themselves into thinking that their perception is false and continue to abuse. The fact remains that alcohol abuse can be progressive in nature and the individual that seeks support for nightly indulgences or weekend binges is simply dealing with their problem a little earlier than the person who has lost everything. The process of abstaining or moderating is no less difficult.
I also do not grasp why the nature or severity of the trigger would play a part in a persons ability to address a maladaptive response to said trigger. Does it not have more to do with the resiliency and the person’s constitution? PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is not reserved for the obvious. If that were the case the industry built around human despondency wouldn’t be so lucrative. There are a plethora of variables when it comes to human suffering. Furthermore, not everyone is dealing with past hurts when they develop a substance abuse issue. Therefore does it really matter whether a person was sexually abused as a child, raised by boozing caregivers, works for an abusive boss or is overwhelmed by the day to day? What matters is an individual’s ability to cope. Is the individual able to put the event in perspective? Can the person acknowledge the issue, own it and then move on?
That is why we are here. We are searching for a supportive environment where our problems are the same but different. Our goals are also shared. No one here suffers more than any other in their own right with their battle. I hope that eventually I won’t have to “work” at anything. No steps, no perpetual recovery, no worry or thought given to alcohol ever again. I want freedom. The same freedom I feel from smoking. I do not ever worry about relapsing and starting to smoke again. In my opinion, true freedom from alcohol, means modifying behavior so that alcohol has no further impact on my life. How I get there is irrelevant.
TS
Hi a77734,
