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Understanding your motivation is the first step in your sober journey, and it is critical for long-term success. While it may seem like a good idea, having too many options can give people anxiety or make it seem like it’s impossible to feel satisfied. With so many different choices, people end up staying in the program they started with. Stability is something that both support groups and formal drug treatment strongly encourage their members to establish by creating a routine. The addicted brain has been significantly overworked and overstimulated. There’s reassurance and comfort to be found in repetition and a sense of stability that their life has likely been missing for some time.
You might have a strong support system of loved ones and family members to help you in your sobriety. Or, you might need time to build a support system if your addiction negatively impacted friends and family members. You might have a slip, relapse, or strong urge to drink or use drugs. There is no shame in admitting that you need to go back in your recovery! Sometimes, you need to take a step back before moving forward.
The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous
In 1945’s The Lost Weekend, a struggling novelist tries to loosen his writer’s block with booze, to devastating effect. In Days of Wine and Roses, released in 1962, Jack Lemmon slides into alcoholism along with his wife, played by Lee Remick. He finds help through AA, but she rejects the group and loses her family.
I stopped attending meetings because a lot of stuff I was instructed to believe became less useful the more “sober” I got. The other day I came across this great article that spells out the very frustration I would feel in meetings. From my very first meeting, I learned a lot about addiction and how my addictive nature manifests. I worked with a sponsor and did the Steps, which gave me tons of invaluable insight into myself and my experience.
So You’re Trying to Stay Sober Without AA?
One of the challenges of getting sober with AA is about willpower. 12 step philosophy emphasizes surrendering control to higher power. Nevertheless, many people in the rooms end up “white-knucking” their way through sobriety, especially in the early stages. Strong cravings can make it feel like https://ecosoberhouse.com/ a battle of wills between you and alcohol. For people with severe alcohol use disorder, or who expect intense withdrawal symptoms, some form of medical detox may be necessary. Sudden withdrawal from heavy drinking can be dangerous or even fatal, so it’s best to have a doctor’s supervision.
The best part of my job is knowing that we are creating a safe, healthy, nonjudgmental environment where people can come and better their lives. There is nothing more satisfying than helping others learn to live again and piece their lives back together as they become strong, productive members of society. At TruHealing Centers across the country, we work with you on an individual basis to find an addiction treatment plan tailored to your needs. If you need help, many of us at Amatus have been where you are, struggling with our own Substance Use Disorders.
Other Choices for Beating Drug Addiction and Alcoholism
The review was published March 11 in Cochrane Database of Systematic Review. Cochrane requires its authors to undertake a rigorous process that ensures the studies represented in its summaries are high-quality and the review of evidence is unbiased. Most of all, I was isolated and lonely, my drinking and poor choices having alienated me from everyone around me. Granted, it was our first night in the country, and I was probably experiencing jet lag in addition to the effects of the booze.
- If you choose to quit drinking without AA, it’s important to consider your current social scene and whether or not you’d like to change that.
- I hadn’t taken the time to think about what might work best for me.
- One study found that mutual support groups can be as effective as 12-step programs and may help improve the odds of success for people who are committed to maintaining a lifetime of total abstinence.
Many support groups have recreational activities for members to have fun together. Most addiction support groups are peer-run without the guidance of a professional. You might find that group therapy benefits you more if you need the guidance of a therapist for mental health, social, emotional, or relationship issues. While peer support is vital to addiction recovery, you might find other ways to stay sober. Treatment centers can help to keep you safe from the triggers and stressors in your everyday life.
What to Expect from an AA Meeting
It may seem that relapse is the last thing that could happen to you, but the truth is they are very common for people new to recovery. With a bustling online community and local meetings throughout the United States, LifeRing Secular Recovery is an alternative to traditional, spiritually based, 12-Step programs such as AA. LifeRing believes that stay sober without aa each individual holds their own key to recovery, and it is not necessary to then place control in the hands of a spiritual being. One of the most popular forms of alcohol addiction management and recovery support is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a 12-Step program. AA has more than 2 million members worldwide in over 100,000 locally supported groups.
The debate over the efficacy of 12-step programs has been quietly bubbling for decades among addiction specialists. Keep reading to learn how to stay sober without AA or the other 12-step programs out there. One of the best parts of the 12-step program was that I felt welcomed into a community of people like me. I met people who knew the devastation of hardcore drinking, as well as the joys of living alcohol-free. I may not go to meetings anymore, but I still keep in touch with these kinds of people. Topamax is an anticonvulsant drug traditionally used to prevent seizures and migraine headaches.