Men and women from across the globe who struggle with alcoholism benefit from Alcoholics Anonymous. Alcoholics Anonymous, or A. A. for short, is a program that helps alcoholics meet together and discuss their problem and ways to change. Anyone can join A. A. as long as they want to quit drinking. There is no cost to join A. A.
Alcoholics who are in the A. A. program will meet together on a regular basis to discuss their struggles. The meetings are informal in nature and open to anyone who needs help. Participants are to stop drinking immediately as they progress through the program’s twelve steps that are supposed to break them from the hold of alcohol. The twelve steps involve admitting that there is a problem, acknowledging that outside help is needed to fix the problem, taking an internal moral inventory, turning to the individual’s version of God, making amends to people injured by the alcoholism, among other things. While the original twelve steps are religious in nature, some groups have modified them to remove this feature. Non-Christians can be perfectly comfortable in the A. A. program.
So is A. A. the right program for you as you try to loosen the hold that alcohol has on your life? According to the organization’s website, people who have tried to stop drinking, but could not stay away from the bottle for more than a day or so are good candidates. Also, people who feel defensive about their drinking problem should consider joining. Those who need a drink first thing in the morning are definite candidates. When alcohol begins to affect your daily life, including your job and family life, then A. A. is a good program to try.
Alcoholics Anonymous is effective for members who stick with the program. However, this is one problem with the program. The drop out rate is fairly high, as high as 50% for first-time attendees. This is probably due to the fact that these individuals were not really ready to give up their drinking habits.
A. A. focuses on teaching alcoholics to abstain from drinking altogether. Some believe this is not wise, as they believe that people should be taught to manage their drinking, rather than avoid it altogether. However, since alcoholics struggle with addiction, A. A. believes that teaching alcoholics to abstain altogether is the most effective form of treatment. After all, it only takes one drink to turn an alcoholic back to his addiction.