Comments on: What is Addiction?

by: Recovering Addict

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:42:03 +0000

Any who actually follow and practice the 12 steps of those said programs do not fail. It is when you let go of them that they do. If you can put it down and never pick it up again without help… then maybe you are not truly an addict. It is what goes on between my two ears that is my disease, not my use of any substance. Substances are not the only things that are the expression of my disease. An addict must change their thought processes and behaviors in order to truly recover… and again… those who have truly practiced and applied the 12 steps do not fail.

by: Thomas M. Medero

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:34:16 +0000

Just like everything else in life, if you want something Done Right, you’ve got to DO IT YOURSELF!

by: Robert Nelson

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 01:26:02 +0000

I would like to start by saying I am glad I found this website. I have been in and out of AA for years and I always went back to my poison of choice — alcohol. I found out about AVRT about 8 months ago and haven’t touched a drop since. 12-step programs do nothing to help the addicted person to abstain from drinking. 12-step programs in my opinion are dangerous to the person who is addicted because they perpetuate the addiction. To anyone who may read this: if you are in a 12 step program I encourage you get out now and try something that will work — AVRT. Trust me; it works. I am free of addiction and I never have to attend another freakin AA meeting again for the rest of my life.

by: curt craig

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:30:45 +0000

One of the things that is o frustrating about opposing AA, and the like, is the way so many in the 12-step fellowships are so indifferent to the people that have been harmed by the program. I read story after story of 12-step abuse, and the response always ignores the emotional pain and frustration hidden between the lines. Also, a lot of people just don’t or won’t understand that a persons religious beliefs are very sacred. This is even more so during times of difficulties. People who have decided to quit drug and alcohol abuse are entilted to know every available option to them. It is unfathomable to me that people in the health care profession are actually deliberately withhold the fact that they have a vested emotional issue in promoting the 12-step program, still falsely misleading clients with eroneous statements that the 12-steps is a “spiritual not religous” program, and with hold crucial information about alternative recovery options.

by: CTMS

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 18:20:34 +0000

The disease model came about basically because the professionals and addicts threw up their hands and said, “I don’t know how to fix this. It’s a forever disease and only God can cure it.” When people do cure themselves and never touch a drink from that day forward and remain 100% confident they’ll never drink again, mainstream thinking is these people are” ignorant” and “insane”.. Such thinking is an odd phenomenon indeed.

Simple common sense makes it clear to me who has more expertise in the area. Since I have a choice, I prefer to learn how to cure myself from people who have cured themselves.

CTMS

by: Jack Trimpey

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 07:30:34 +0000

“Recovering” isn’t good enough for me, for my family, for all. I recovered from a serious alcohol addiction in spite of years of AA. I will never drink again because, for me, self-intoxication is immoral conduct. It feels great to know I am free of addiction. The real experts are the ones who actually recover, independently. Yes, I am one of those real experts.

Kwame, you failed to mention your connection to AA! I’m sorry you’re stuck “in recovery.” What can you know of recovery if you’re still in recovery?

by: kwame Osei Moyo

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:45:51 +0000

I’m not sure whether Jack Trimpey is a recovering addict or not, I am sure however that he’s feeding a bunch of horseshit to whomever accepts it. If you’ve never been addicted Jack your credentials are the same as a racoon performing a lobotomy. If you are addicted it seems that the name of the game is sensationalism in order to keep your job. This topic is controversial enough with a large majority of the public, clergy and law enforcement still of the Neaderthal line of thinking that this is a moral dilemma. People such as yourself feed this ignorance to those who find it easier to subscribe to this pre historic and insane logic rather than educate themselves by researching what the experts say and this of course totally excludes you.

by: jen

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:51:26 +0000

This is a great post. You wrote that many have said, “When I learned I have a disease, it was as if a great burden had been lifted from my shoulders.” I don’t see how people can feel relieved in believing it’s a disease. When I quit drinking it was very, very empowering for me to recognize that I did it all on my own and that I wasn’t powerless over it. I think it’s dangerous to tell people that. –To make them think they’ll never be able to conquer their problems. When I was younger, I had an aunt whom I was very, very close with who was an alcoholic. She had gone to many treatment centers and attended AA, but continued to drink, literally, until the day she died. I can’t help but wonder that if she had discovered the AVRT kind of thing (either through RR or on her own) that maybe she’d still be alive today.