General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Alcoholics Anonymous has a terrible success rate, addiction expert finds [View all]Andy823
(11,495 posts)And countless others that I know. If a person is not ready to stop with their addiction, then nothing is going to work, period.
As for the professional help, if that professional is a recovering alcoholic then I am OK with that, but way to many so called professionals have never been through what those of us who are alcoholics have, and in way to many cases their "program" does not work for us. You can tell someone how to "fix" themselves, but the real problem is we are all individuals and what works for one person may not work for others. I know many alcoholics who went to professionals for help, ones who had no idea what they were going though and the never did stop drinking.
I have sat through many AA meetings and if you really "want" help you can usually find that help from listening to others who have been there and gone through the same things you have. You learn that you are not the only one who has felt like the only answer is to drink.
I have been sober for 29 years this coming October and AA put me on the right track. I spent two years getting a degree in substance abuse counseling along with others like me who had stopped drinking with the help of AA and wanted to do more to help others. The twelves steps helped all of us get on the right track and to take things one day at a time.
I lost my sister on March 17 of this year. She had a drinking problem that let to poor health and like a lot of alcoholics she smoked way to much. She got sick, it turned into pneumonia, she tried to self medicate with booze, and she didn't make it.
Alcoholics never get cured, they are only one drink away from going back no matter how long they have been sober. I think a combination of AA and professional help is a good idea, but as I stated above, the person you get the help from should be someone who has been through the ordeal and knows the problems you are facing.
AA really does help if you want to work the program.