Sherbros in Recovery v.3!

I think that's the one. Sounds right. We can't possibly know that there isn't a scientific approach we could take to cure addiction yet though. We haven't been in the business of it long enough yet and AA has a vested interest in that not coming about.

AA is free, requires no money, no donations, nothing. How do they have a vested interest in stopping scientific research into addiction? I have no issues with a scientific approach, but some "spa resort" claiming they have it all figured out is a huge red flag.
 
AA is free, requires no money, no donations, nothing. How do they have a vested interest in stopping scientific research into addiction? I have no issues with a scientific approach, but some "spa resort" claiming they have it all figured out is a huge red flag.

We've encountered very different AA groups. In Connecticut you were pressured to donate anything you could give. Of course it didn't technically require money but the people their were pushy. It was often the only topic of discussion.
 
3 days....lets see how long I last. Trying not to die at 40 from liver failure.
 
I don't begrudge people for whom it actually works. Not at all. I had no issues staying sober then. It was truly easy. When I was on my own was when I started up partying again. As far as the relapse rate, I often have to remind family members that the whole point of their system is that they are sober for the day they're living.

I have seen commercials on tv for this place that claims they actually cure addiction. It seems like a marketing scheme to me of course but I simply think it's foolish to have that closed a mind, thinking AA is the only way, as a society. That said I have no idea what this other way of sobriety entails.
That guy on that commercial actually says "I used to be an addict, now I'm not."

The first thing you learn about yourself in a program is that you're always going to be an addict, even when you're sober, you are still an addict.
 
Hey all, bringing back this thread!

Just hit 4 months stone cold sober from booze. I actually lost track of the weeks, ( and the days a long time ago). Feelsgoodman.

I've put in a TON of mental work: hypnotherapy, incantations, focus exercises, reviewing and reworking my reasons for Mastering Sobriety multiple times a day, plus a lot of general brain training.

I've really committed to MASTERY on this one.

I'm VERY curious to know how the guys from the old threads are faring!
Feel free to join in.

Congratulations. Well done.
 
I did for a while, I was hitting NA meetings and also PA (pills). I was going on the regular. Now it's much less often.

Meetings helped a lot, and this is just an excuse, I know, but life gets in the way and work, so I stopped going as much.
I went to AA initially.. and for about the first three years. Amazing how much working the 12 helped me get my shit together. The key is living the principles day in and day out regardless if you can make it to meetings or not.

I haven't been to a meeting in almost ten years. 13.5 years sober here.
 
Hey all, bringing back this thread!

Just hit 4 months stone cold sober from booze. I actually lost track of the weeks, ( and the days a long time ago). Feelsgoodman.

I've put in a TON of mental work: hypnotherapy, incantations, focus exercises, reviewing and reworking my reasons for Mastering Sobriety multiple times a day, plus a lot of general brain training.

I've really committed to MASTERY on this one.

I'm VERY curious to know how the guys from the old threads are faring!
Feel free to join in.
Congrats on 4 months. You'll see as time goes on, it'll be like second nature to not even consider drinking. It's almost like living with an allergy.
 
Keep fighting the good fight guys. This thread is awesome, so much love in here and very inspirational
 
10237af109dd85328cd54c53021eccb552531292cb31a619bd3a94acb869287e.jpg
 
I went to AA and realized my urges came from sitting there an hour everyday and talking about drinking, booze, and consumption, it was the constant source of my urges. I decided to stop going and just kinda keep to myself and my family and I've hit 20 months this July, for what that's worth.
 
12 step meetings are shit. They do not work, that is a fact. Their success rate is the same as spontaneous remission in addicts, which is around 5%. If you felt like it helped you when you were getting sober, that's great. It doesn't change the fact that statistically, it does not work.

BJJ was what helped me early on in my sobriety, I was doing two a days 5-6x a week. I had a support system there, a sense of community with my teammates, it was healthy and I was getting that endorphin rush, I could talk to friends about my issues, etc. I would never suggest that BJJ is the best way to treat addiction though. That was just something that helped fill the void for me for a while.

The fact is that we're nowhere near figuring out how to treat this shit, we don't even know what makes people become addicts in the first place. We do not understand addiction, plain and simple. The fucking founder of AA was a proponent of LSD use in order to break down the ego but you'll never hear anyone who goes to meetings today talk about that. The place is a cult that preaches religious rhetoric to vulnerable people who don't know any better and actually end up believing this shit because they’re at such a low point in their lives that they’re willing to grasp onto anything. It’s the same as people in prison who find God. You’ll believe anything when you’re down and out looking to find some sort of salvation.

The last time I was in jail, I had someone in my holding cell who was in there for heroin telling me that the 12 steps were the only way to get clean. I asked him how he ended up in jail then if he was working the program. He came up with some bullshit answer to defend it. These people are brainwashed. They tell you that if you work the steps, you stay sober. Okay, that's great... it's easy to say that the program is perfect and thus any relapse is a failure on the part of the person. I could come up with a program right now where I say, "any time you feel like drinking, just post on Sherdog instead" and then the next time someone relapses, I could say it was their fault because they didn't work the program. No, if you're trying to do the program and end up boozing one day instead of calling your sponsor, the program didn't work.

The fact that when someone is struggling with substance abuse, the best answer most can come up with is to go to a meeting just shows how much we’re in the dark ages with this shit. It’s worse than that though. I’m not offering up a great alternative here, which is the correct attitude to have. There is no perfect approach as it stands now. People need to start admitting that instead of acting like AA figured it all out nearly a century ago when they stole most of their ideas directly from the Oxford Group, with the only real change being the idea that addiction is a disease that can never be cured. Maybe once people stop buying into that, more valid methods of treatment will be able to develop, though I’m not holding out hope.

 
12 step meetings are shit. They do not work, that is a fact. Their success rate is the same as spontaneous remission in addicts, which is around 5%. If you felt like it helped you when you were getting sober, that's great. It doesn't change the fact that statistically, it does not work.

You have made a really negative post here... AA certainly isn't the answer for everybody and it wasn't for me, but it was a place to start. I was forced to go to a few meetings because I got a DUI when I was enlisted in the USMC, and as part of your "treatment" you have to attend a few meetings. It wasn't bad... apparently the quality and content of meetings varies drastically between different groups, but my groups weren't bad. It was lots of old veterans who had spent their entire career being hardcore boozers and who had wanted to make some changes.

Lots of the stuff my group used to do was on weekends, which is great because lots of alcoholics don't know what to do with themselves or how to have fun if they're not drinking. So the group used to have lots of picnics, they would organize baseball/soccer games, and it was a good way to show people that you can have fun without getting sauced. You said BJJ helped you, and that's great, and I certainly believe that getting out there and exercising while sober really plays a strong mental part in going sober. Lots of that is because you're able to see how much further you can push yourself while sober and that's a huge deal.

I agree that we don't know how to cure addiction... perhaps there is no "cure" other than abstinence, but some people need a "jumping off point" to begin to change their lives. If that point is AA, then why do you feel the need to so aggressively declare AA to be a waste? Anyways, I just think these threads do better with a positive message rather than a negative message.
 
I went to AA and realized my urges came from sitting there an hour everyday and talking about drinking, booze, and consumption, it was the constant source of my urges. I decided to stop going and just kinda keep to myself and my family and I've hit 20 months this July, for what that's worth.

Right on man... family certainly helps when you're trying to make those life changes. Looks like you and I went sober at about the same time... I will hit 20 months exactly on Aug 1. I've gotten to the point that I rarely even think about booze anymore... though I do still have dreams where I'm boozing and I wake up thinking I'm going to be hungover... kind of puts things into perspective.
 
Right on man... family certainly helps when you're trying to make those life changes. Looks like you and I went sober at about the same time... I will hit 20 months exactly on Aug 1. I've gotten to the point that I rarely even think about booze anymore... though I do still have dreams where I'm boozing and I wake up thinking I'm going to be hungover... kind of puts things into perspective.
The night before thanksgiving day 2014 was my last night of drinking, we went to a friends, followed by going out and overdoing it stating too late. I had to cook Thanksgiving dinner the next day, I was so hungover I just came to the conclusion that I no longer want to wake up feeling like complete shit and lose days of work around the house or in the yard to being hungover. Funny it took me 24 years to realize I no longer enjoyed drinking anymore.
 
The night before thanksgiving day 2014 was my last night of drinking, we went to a friends, followed by going out and overdoing it stating too late. I had to cook Thanksgiving dinner the next day, I was so hungover I just came to the conclusion that I no longer want to wake up feeling like complete shit and lose days of work around the house or in the yard to being hungover. Funny it took me 24 years to realize I no longer enjoyed drinking anymore.

That's funny man, very similar story actually. I was at college, penultimate semester, and it was Thanksgiving vacation. I lived about 2 hours from the college, so during the week I had a little apartment right next to the campus, and I would go home on weekends. My wife ended up getting quite sick, and this was right before finals, so I decided to just stay at school and study. I ended up just getting absolutely wasted every single day, like 6 or 7 days in a row. On the last day of Nov, my entire body just ached... and my upper back on both sides was throbbing. It was the first time in my life where I could physically feel the effects of my drinking, and it was just a sign to me that if I didn't stop immediately, then my health would be in jeopardy. I kind of just figured I wouldn't drink anymore until after finals, but after a few weeks, I just felt better and more positive. I didn't even drink during christmas, new years, and by then it was over a month... it was finally the right time in my life to just stop being an idiot.

You made a really good point about "not enjoying drinking anymore." I had finally come to the same realization as well. Good shit buddy!
 
That's funny man, very similar story actually. I was at college, penultimate semester, and it was Thanksgiving vacation. I lived about 2 hours from the college, so during the week I had a little apartment right next to the campus, and I would go home on weekends. My wife ended up getting quite sick, and this was right before finals, so I decided to just stay at school and study. I ended up just getting absolutely wasted every single day, like 6 or 7 days in a row. On the last day of Nov, my entire body just ached... and my upper back on both sides was throbbing. It was the first time in my life where I could physically feel the effects of my drinking, and it was just a sign to me that if I didn't stop immediately, then my health would be in jeopardy. I kind of just figured I wouldn't drink anymore until after finals, but after a few weeks, I just felt better and more positive. I didn't even drink during christmas, new years, and by then it was over a month... it was finally the right time in my life to just stop being an idiot.

You made a really good point about "not enjoying drinking anymore." I had finally come to the same realization as well. Good shit buddy!
Yep, when your drinking just to drink and realize the socialization, fun, and enjoyment is no longer a condition it's time to move on... Besides I have young kids that I didn't want to explain my consumption to, drinking isn't an activity that you can be discreet with, unless your a closet drinker.
 
I need a break soon. I don't crave it daily but I love to get smashed on the weekends. Im gonna do a 30 day break soon to see how I do.
 
Still struggling but it's really cool to hear so many different success stories. I feel like I am almost strong enough to be completely sober, just idk keep fuckkng up.
 
After I run out of this last bag of weed, imma do a test sober session for a week or two until I go to this concert in mid-August. Wish me luck lol I be getting mad as shit when I'm sober.
 
Back
Top