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I'm 6 years sober and I want to quit going to alcoholics anonymous.

I have been fighting this feeling for 3 years now. I've done everything meeting, sponsor, sponsee, prayer, meditation. when youre struggling: Do more AA right? I feel like I've been brain washed. I'm constantly feeling guilty and terrified I'm not doing enough. surely I will die without it right? Is a lot of AA power of suggestion? Will I really die/relapse if I quit AA? Even if I'm taking care of myself in therapy, confiding in my network and keeping myself held accountable? Anyone else feel this way? Suggestions!

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Since writing this post Anonymous may have helped people, but has not within the last four (4) days.
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aeolian
last online: 10/10, 23:38
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I dont need someone outside of myself to keep me from drinking. When I decided to stop drinking 24 beers a day habit i simply stopped. I went through the withdrawals which lasted about 6 weeks and never went back to it. I totally believe any addiction can be beat. Im not the best person to ask about aa because I never needed outside help. But if you do feel outside help is keeping you from drinking than stick with it as if your life depends on it and it does

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Max
last online: 07/27, 11:05
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Feeling guilty?
Do you have a group member in your head?
Relapse is true, but the thing is making you feel this way may add stress.
Explain more please.

Electric
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last online: 01/25, 20:20
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I've never had a drinking problem but addictions are usually a result of an engrained pattern of behavior.

The accountability you hold is to yourself - ultimately to God in the end, but if He's not going to get in your way, there is nothing AA can do to prevent anyone from drinking.
I'm not going to knock AA, but I liken them to Dumbo's Feather - Dumbo already had the ears to fly, he didn't need the feather.
I also liken AA to pharmacological placebos wherein the belief of the pill itself brings the cure.
As I see it, AA is a necessary placebo program to help fortify a person's accountability for their actions. Through the implementation of spiritual and psychological stratigum, they provide an internal balance of self-control.
So. It's been six years. You need to be sure of yourself and KNOW you have what it takes, X 1,000 to leave the program.
Otherwise....

1581744157174 1581744149313 miss bot
soco
last online: 03/19, 3:49
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I would continue to go. Habits are very hard to break and AA will continue to benefit you. Talk it out, your struggles that is. AA is about the support it gives. You need them to rally behind you.

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We have another hurricane coming this way.

Helpcomanimatedyetiwithdot256
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last online: 06/22, 14:37
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I concur with al; additionally, would like to point out two things which may be worth reflection:
How your family and friends (outside the group) would react to the change, in turn impacting your adjustment.
Whether beyond the routines involved, you feel your companions understand, or merely abide by norms.
Notwithstanding the value of solace, it might be corrupted over time when clung for fear of the unknown.

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[quote]Test.[/quote]

Sherlock by olga tereshenko d9qdidc
Sherlock
last online: 07/08, 10:43
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The problem is that after 6 years of sobriety, if you were to fall off the wagon it would be the same as if you had been drinking all those 6 years.

You have won a great victory--preserve it!

And be there for others who need help!

Dr. ralph club zps9ornptsl
DocteurRalph
last online: 10/23, 23:49
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I've often thought that the people I know that quit drinking to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings were just trading one addiction for another. I mean I had a roommate who went to two or three meetings a day, it was all he ever talked about.. to be perfectly honest he was easier to live with when he drank.

With that being said I'm sure that going to AA meetings isn't as bad for you as getting drunk every day, especially if you like to drive when you are drunk and have 5 or 6 DUI's like my friend. But yee gads man, you haven't had a drink in 6 years and you still go? I would have thought that after a year or so you would just kind of realize you didn't want to drink any more and go on with your life. Do you want to drink? Do you think that without the meetings you will be bored and start drinking? Maybe you need a hobby... yeah that's the trick. You could just get addicted to hanging out on the computer all the time like me... of course for some reason that doesn't make me want to quit any of my other addictions. Maybe it will work for you though.

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I need help.

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Aria
last online: 03/16, 22:34
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I'm just over a year in recovery after an opioid relapse in 2015. I was 9.5 years clean then, just missing the 10 year mark.

The first time I got clean, I did it without the help of services. I just had friends to watch out for me. I relapsed after I miscarried in early 2015 - a pregnancy that I had been planning and working toward for 5 years. By September 2016, I was taking around 70 pills every two days. On September 10th, within 24 hours, I'd taken 40 pills. For the next three days, I could barely leave my bed, I could barely speak, and was not holding anything down. Not even water.

By the Tuesday morning, my parents can and took me straight to the emergency room where I didn't have to wait longer than 2 minutes. I couldn't stand to even give my details at the desk and I was transported in a wheelchair when I stopped being able to walk. I was hooked to a heart monitor and an IV for the next week with severe liver damage. The doctors and specialists were even surprised I was still alive. I should have been dead.

When I got out, the first thing I did was look for an NA meeting. If I relapse again, the chances are very likely that I won't be as lucky next time.

If I hadn't relapsed after 9.5 years, perhaps I might have given you different advice, but I think even in another 5 years, I'll still be going. Not just to keep me strong on the bad days, but also because you can benefit from it by helping others with your journey. I was warned several times when I was in my worst place - even terrifying a close friend when he saw I was mixing alcohol with them over my 30th birthday when he flew in internationally for a visit (he himself is a recovering addict) and said that he didn't realize I was that bad.

So my suggestion? Perhaps you don't need to attend every meeting like clockwork, but still have them in your back corner for the times when you might not be coping or if you're extra stressed and are actively thinking about drinking - then get to a meeting then.

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Max
last online: 07/27, 11:05
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Well said..thank you for sharing.

Electric
BA1
last online: 01/25, 20:20
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Max wrote:
Well said..thank you for sharing.

Likewise.

A
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