The
first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting I attended was a rather solemn one. The
first speaker mentioned that it was the six-month anniversary of his son’s
death. His son was an active participant in the AA group I had attended.
According to his father, he had been sober for nine months, but someone had
offered him some sort of drug laced with three milligrams of fentanyl and died at
the age of 19. The speaker noted that he was surprised that this did not cause
him to drink but, rather, inspired him to not take another drink or drug. One
thing that surprised me in both the meetings I attended was the religious themes,
undertones and overtones of, namely, Christianity or vague spirituality. This
is seen even in the twelve AA traditions and steps with mentions of a higher
power.
In the two meetings I attended, most speakers would
mention how “no human power” can relieve them from their alcoholism. This was a
common theme in the meetings along with being unable to fully control
themselves after having one drink. In the first meeting, another theme was the
concept of being flammable. One can try their best to not drink or do drugs but
if they find themselves in a certain situation, then they are lit on fire. That
is, they partake in a drink or drug like the first speaker’s son had done. However,
there was no mention of attempting to remove themselves from such situations. Another
theme in the stories people were telling were that they arrived at AA and or
attempted to stop their alcohol addiction after reaching a low point in their
lives. Although low points in someone’s life can be some minor occurrence, many
of the people who spoke of their experiences had life-threatening occurrences
happen to them. One woman attempted to end her life, another three or so said
they were in comas a few times before reaching out for help. For some, it required
the death of a loved one before coming to AA meetings. As for the demographic
make-up of the meetings I attended, the majority of the attendees were white,
male, and about 50 or older. For every four males, there was a female.
The way AA meetings work is a lot less organized than I
would have expected. The hour meetings are completely dependent on how many
people want to talk about their alcohol or alcohol related experiences. In one
case, one of the meetings ended 15 minutes early because not enough people were
willing to share. On the bright side, AA does offer a sort of system for those
truly willing to combat their alcoholism with the patron system and other
resources. This is one positive aspect to AA. The voluntary nature of AA should
lead towards more favorable outcomes as those who volunteer tend to be less
pathological than those who do not volunteer for help (Grilly & Salamore,
2012). While this excludes people, who attend AA meetings involuntarily (as a
part of a court or employer order), it seems, to me, better to allow those who
want to achieve control over their alcoholism than those who do not. From what
I could gather, some of the AA attendees in the meetings I attended were there
both voluntarily and involuntarily, but one person from the involuntary group
seemed quite willing to overcome her alcoholism. So, by having involuntary
attendees, there can be a few among them that eventually voluntarily want to
attend AA for the sake of their own health. The first negative aspect is its
voluntary nature. Although I listed it as a positive aspect earlier, it is also
a negative for those who attend the meeting voluntarily but are reluctant (for
whatever reason) to participate in the meetings or what else AA offers.
Not
everyone is willing to participate in AA meetings whether they are there
voluntarily or involuntarily. In the meetings I attended, there were a few
people on their phones despite the head speaker stating that cell phones should
be put away during the meeting. Another five or so I could see or hear sleeping
during the meeting. Unlike in a more formal setting, the patrons and head
speaker are not going to attempt to catch their attention. Or more
pragmatically, in a formal setting that one would likely have to pay to partake
in, one would likely be less willing to sleep through their session as they are
the ones paying for the service and it would be money wasted. Further, for
those who may be shyer than average, it seems difficult for them to reach out
for additional aid in combatting their alcoholism in the AA setting. The
meetings are more suitable for those extroverted enough to talk about their
experiences. At best, one can listen to someone else’s story and empathize to
where the story further encourages them to overcome their alcoholism. Further,
the first step of the 12 steps of AA is the second negative aspect to AA. How effective
AA is in treating alcoholism is difficult to determine due to its anonymous nature.
Formal treatments, however, have a success rate of 33 to 66 per cent success
(Grilly & Salamore, 2012). This leads to the second negative aspect of AA:
its informality.
As
alcoholism is perceived as a disease among the AA community, then it should be
treated as one. Instead however, professionals are not involved with treating
the alcoholics that attend AA. The eighth tradition of AA states that AA should
remain unprofessional. The head speaker and patrons are all voluntary positions
that do not require formal education in order to apply. The meetings revolve around
talking about experiences that led attendees to presumably attempt sobriety at
best. This serves as a foundation for one to gain encouragement to attempt sobriety
but not much else. Formal treatments have so far established a good (33 to 66
per cent) success rate. AA does not have an established success rate. Formal
treatment or medication may be a better method for reaching sobriety or
controlled drinking for those who attend AA meetings and are struggling to
reach their goal. Generally, in treating diseases, those trained in the medical
profession are called to give aid, but this is not the case with alcoholism and
AA.
Accepting
complete powerlessness over alcohol is problematic and the third negative
aspect. It would be easy to use what the first step says in order to give up on
attaining sobriety or combatting alcoholism. One can reach out for help with
their alcoholism at some point in their lives if they are aware enough and in a
position in which they can access helpful resources. Unfortunately, many alcoholics
do not realize that their alcoholism is at a point where it is problematic
until they reach a low point in their lives or are required to attend an AA
meeting. However, there are choices one can make to attempt to combat their
alcoholism. Further, while the rest of the 12 steps are better than the first, most
require a leap of faith into spirituality. Without getting into the arguments
of theism and atheism, it seems clear that atheists (or non-believers in a
higher or spiritual power) are barred from enacting the majority of the 12
steps. The fourth negative aspect is the attitude of AA aiming towards complete
sobriety instead of controlled drinking.
Controlled
drinking may be a viable option for those recovering from alcoholism to
consider (Grilly & Salamore, 2012). While studies have not yet come to a
success rate associated with controlled drinking treatments, alcoholics that
eventually overcome their alcoholism tend to partake in what is considered
moderate or controlled drinking. So, if sobriety is rarely practiced among recovering
(or recovered) alcoholics, then should not controlled drinking be what is aimed
for? For the alcoholics in areas where only sobriety is sought for, then there
is possibility that they will not seek treatment because they would prefer to
aim for controlled drinking instead of complete sobriety like AA aims for.
While
I personally enjoyed attending the AA meetings, I do not find it very objectively
effective in its intentions. It was easier to find more flaws than positives in
how the organization is structured. Anonymity is nice but with anonymity comes
the trouble with identifying its success rate and that is a major issue. From
an objective perspective, it becomes difficult to recommend an alcoholic to
participate in AA when there is the chance that it does not have a moderate
success rate. Given the research into success rates associated with medication
and formal treatment, I would be more likely to recommend an alcoholic try both.
Based on my experience at the meetings as well, it does not seem as if AA does
much else but talk about their bad experiences with alcohol when they could
instead teach the attendees how to control their drinking or how to manage
lifestyle changes to where they are removed from the easy access of alcohol.
There are many other strategies that could be taught to the attendees while
still also keeping the current format of talking about experiences, the 12
steps, and 12 traditions. At the least, AA could incorporate some formality
within their structure so trained professionals can attempt to aid in counseling
and so forth.
Grilly, D.
M., & Salamone, J. D. (2012). Drugs,
brain, and behavior (6th
ed.). Boston: Pearson.
No comments:
Post a Comment