Mutual-support groups provide peer support for stopping or reducing drinking. Group meetings are available in most communities at low or no cost, and at convenient times and locations—including an increasing presence online. This means they can be especially helpful to individuals at risk for relapse https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/diabetes-and-alcohol-can-diabetics-get-drunk/ to drinking. Combined with medications and behavioral treatment provided by health care professionals, mutual-support groups can offer a valuable added layer of support. AA assists individuals struggling with alcoholism through mutual support, regular meetings, and adherence to the 12-step program.
Alcohol Support Options
At first glance, it may seem as though your choice between AA and NA should be an obvious one. However, as you dig deeper, you’ll realize that’s not the case at all. While there are some similarities between the two groups, there are also some slight differences. You might be an alcoholic who is more comfortable with healing your addiction than blaming alcohol.
Learn More About Treatment and Other 12-Step Support Groups
Submit your number to receive a call today from a treatment provider. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Is an enduring program of recovery based on one alcoholic sharing their experience, strength what does aa stand for alcohol and hope with another. To find Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings near you, you have options. You can start by visiting the official AA website, which includes local listings. You can also contact local community centers, churches, or healthcare facilities for more information on AA and other 12-Step meetings near you.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
To learn more about alcohol treatment options and search for quality care near you, please visit the NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator. Meetings are available online as well as in-person and can be found via online search. Enter your phone number below to receive a free and confidential call from a treatment provider. With the availability of the Big Book, AA grew and developed exponentially. AA was started in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, by Bill Wilson, a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob Smith, an Akron surgeon, who were both alcoholics.
- While each of these men had their own journey of recovery, it wasn’t until they met face to face that they realized the power of speaking with a « fellow sufferer » for achieving complete sobriety.
- Others will involve discussions or reading from a chosen textbook.
- Also known as AA, this group has helped countless people achieve and maintain sobriety from alcohol use disorder (AUD).
- Today, AA groups can be found in cities across the United States and around the world.
- Joining AA is as simple as acknowledging that you have a drinking problem and deciding that you want to be a member.
- In 2014, Alcoholics Anonymous conducted a study regarding its success rate with over 6,000 members.
What Is The Most Popular Program For Recovering Alcoholics?
AA’s 12-Step approach follows a set of guidelines designed as “steps” toward recovery, and members can revisit these steps at any time. Meetings aren’t based on a specific religion, they do include spiritual aspects. For some, these aspects of the program can be a stumbling block. There are no other requirements to join this fellowship and attend a meeting. Because denial is common, you may feel like you don’t have a problem with drinking.
Need help with a drinking problem?
This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. Typically, both NA and AA meetings begin with reading the 12 Steps.
- Everyone’s experience with AA is different, and it’s important that one evaluates its effectiveness.
- Or, you might decide that you need to focus on your addiction (to alcohol or to another substance) as a whole and concentrate on yourself as an individual first.
- Do they truly help attendees achieve and maintain sobriety?
- If you or a loved one are battling alcohol abuse or drug addiction, you don’t have to endure it alone.
You might not recognize how much you drink or how many problems in your life are related to alcohol use. Listen to relatives, friends or co-workers when they ask you to examine your drinking habits or to seek help. Consider talking with someone who has had a problem with drinking but has stopped. Research tells us that about 40% of AA members who reach one year of sobriety will remain sober. This statistic increases the longer a member is sober.
- However, there are some differences between these two groups too, and they include more than just the addict’s chosen substance.
- The speaker is invariably somebody with a few years or even decades sober.
- For some, these aspects of the program can be a stumbling block.
- Alcoholics Anonymous is the largest and oldest alcohol support group in the world.
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