Question by ghost: Who is the Catholic Priest that is in all the Alcoholics Anonymous videos, and books?
I was made to watch the same Catholic Priest in rehab, and out patient classes for months. He has been dead for 10-15 years but he is in a lot of video’s, warning about the dangers of alcohol abuse. He tends to crack jokes every so often. Some of the jokes are good, some aren’t.

Oh, and if you know who he is could you give me a little history on him?

Thanks

I can’t remember his name. They called him Father something?
No I don’t believe it was Father Ed Dowling. I thought his name was Father Thomas, but I can’t find anything on a Father Thomas.
Right, Father Martin!

Best answer:

Answer by Eric (Rockin’ Rick)
Who cares, 12 stepping is complete bull anyway.
AA is a cult.

Father Ed Dowling?

What do you think? Answer below!

Question by Tom: I have a love/hate relationship with alcoholics anonymous. Anyone else feel this way?
I like the fact that its a place where I can meet others that understand and support, but that’s about it. As far as almost everything within the big book and most of the steps, i think their bunk and cult-like. Does anyone else feel this way?

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
Sure do, except for the love part.

I bounced in and out of the rooms for years, never able to stop drinking for more than a few months at a time. I had to turn my back on AA and take responsibility for my alcoholism and my recovery. I had to unlearn the powerless nonsense, forget that I’m supposed to have a lifelong disease that I can never recover from.

I never received any support from members because I’m an atheist. They loudly predicted that I would die drunk in a gutter for refusing to find their God. Don’t believe their claims that your “Higher Power” can be anything you want, by their definition, their Higher Power is a pretty specific god, and one that is not entirely compatible with the Christian God or the God of any mainstream religion that I’m aware of.

I felt that if I could get help for the depression that fueled my drinking, I’d be able to stay stopped, but for years I couldn’t find anyone who would help unless I had a chunk of sober time through AA. So I’d try, I’d go to AA, get treated like dirt while my clinical depression merged with the chemical depression of early sobriety and I’d be suicidal.

Next month will be 11 years sober for me. I co-own the Yahoo group “without_aa”:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/without_aa/
which is about deprogramming from AA, alternatives, and the general weirdness of the rooms.

AA does NOT improve on the rate of natural remission, people quitting on their own. The vast majority of people quit without ANY type of treatment.

The NIAAA’s 2001–2002 National Epidemiolo­gic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions interviewe­d over 43,000 people. Using the criteria for alcohol dependence found in the DSM-IV, they found:
“About 75 percent of persons who recover from alcohol dependence do so without seeking any kind of help, including specialty alcohol (rehab) programs and AA. Only 13 percent of people with alcohol dependence ever receive specialty alcohol treatment.­”
http://www.spectrum.niaaa.nih.gov/features/alcoholism.aspx

Anyone having doubts about AA should do some poking around at this site:
The Orange Papers
http://www.orange-papers.org/

What do you think? Answer below!

Question by msbrook3: Why is it called alcoholics anonymous when the first thing you do is stand up and say “Hi my name is Bob & I’m
an alcoholic”?

Best answer:

Answer by Jo
now thats a good question!!!

What do you think? Answer below!

AlcoholAbuseDetox.org Website Launches to Help Alcoholics Safely Detox and …
AlcoholAbuseDetox.org Website Launches to Help Alcoholics Safely Detox and Recover from Alcoholism. AlcoholAbuseDetox.org recently was launched with the goal to help raise awareness of alcoholism, and help people get on a safe path to recovery.
Read more on PR Web (press release)

AA knows the sobering truth about alcoholism
It is important to stress alcoholism is a health problem, not a moral one. Alcoholics are not bad people who need to be good but people suffering from an illness who can recover if they learn to totally abstain, one day at a time. Digital Pass $ 1 for …
Read more on The Australian

The calendar
Alcoholics Anonymous – Early Bird meeting, 7-8 a.m., First United Methodist Church, Marquette. Handicapped accessible. Call AA Hotline at 249-4430. For a complete AA meetings list visit www.aa-marquettecounty.org. 12-Step Recovery Groups – offered …
Read more on Marquette Mining Journal

St. Lucie County support groups: Updated June 18, 2013
Alcoholics Anonymous: For meeting info on the Treasure Coast call 772-562-1114 or visit indianriveraa.org. Narcotics Anonymous: For a complete list of meetings on the Treasure Coast call 772-343-8373. Step-Free SMART Recovery: For meetings on the …
Read more on TCPalm

Former Hollyoaks actor to open Norwich festival celebrating those who have …
It will show how people can turn around their lives after drug and alcohol problems and highlight groups which can help with recovery. There will be the chance to attend drop in meetings with Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and the SMART …
Read more on Norfolk Eastern Daily Press

Growing Older June 21
Support groups: 204-940-2114, diabetes, first Tuesday 10-11 a.m.; caregivers, last Thursday, 1590 Henderson Hwy., register; visually impaired, second Friday, 1:30-2:30 p.m., 1590 Henderson Hwy.; Parkinson's, last Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., 200 McIvor Ave …
Read more on Winnipeg Free Press

Speedway: Stoke Easy Rider Potters look to bounce back
STOKE Easy Rider Potters captain Luke Priest has called on his riders to show their recovery powers following their midweek mauling. The Potters entertain Coventry Storm in the National League at … Potters reserve Shaun Tedham says he is beginning to …
Read more on This is Staffordshire

Question by almintaka: How well do alcohol recovery programs actually work?
Hi Everyone,
Alcoholics Anonymous (“AA”, spiritual), Rational Recovery (“RR”, cognitive), SMART (cognitive), Save Ourselves (“SOS”, cognitive) and other alcohol recovery programs all claim varying levels of success in helping alcoholics on the road to recovery. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding their claims, as even a quick search on the internet will reveal. Viewing this chaos of opinions from “outside the box”, it certainly seems as though they’re all blowing smoke. Anecdotal arguments are used, tabloid-style quotations are touted as being authentic, and “my way or the highway” rationalizing is often used. One thing they all have in common is that apparently none of them has a handle on real statistics (though I could be wrong here; I just haven’t found any). In addition, independent studies (NIAA, Dawson) have shown that these programs are no more successful than no program at all. What’s your opion? Do one or more of these programs work better than nothing?

Best answer:

Answer by Rachel
I think any recovery program works only as well as the time & persistance the addict puts into staying clean.

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