HOW TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I like the core message of this post. (The whole post too :P )   It works really well for changing habits with kids too.  You pick ONE THING and work it until it improves.  Then move on to the next thing.  I found that my kids get really overwhelmed when trying to change a bunch of habits all at once.  And what make the small success really worth it is that it adds extra motivation for the next one.  So the outlook begins even more positively.

Thanks! Yeah, I really find the "pick one thing, doesn't matter which" approach to be really functional for anyone. As long as you're not immobilized, you're doing good.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Now, contrast that with the idea of "Take responsibility for your own actions, and when you fuck up, get back up and try again."

yeah.

I am 100% in favor of therapy and social support, whether that be a structured support group or just a few friends you can talk to. In my opinion, most of the time, when and for as much as 12-step programs work (almost everyone "relapses" and loses their "time" at least a couple times) it's because of the social support aspect.

The rest of the structure is the cult part. Do this or you FAIL. Listen to your Elders (those who "have more sobriety"). Call your sponsor every day. If you stay sober and move on with your life, if you quit "working the program", you become an outcast, a "dry drunk". 12-steppers are encouraged to have friends only within the group; outsiders tend to be regarded with suspicion, as potential bad influences. Doubly so if they're "drinkers".

At the end of meetings, everybody holds hands in a circle and says "KEEP COMING BACK, IT WORKS!"

IT'S A FUCKING CULT.

People who "relapse" are "out there". Even if they're in the SAME FUCKING HOUSE, they're out-in-the-cold motherfuckers.

And check out the 20 questions. According to this (and some of them are "HAVE YOU EVER -?" questions)

If you have answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic.

If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are an alcoholic.

If you answered YES to three or more, you are definitely an alcoholic.

(The test questions are used at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, MD, in deciding whether or not a patient is an alcoholic).

http://step12.com/alcoholic-20-questions.html

Therefore, everybody who hasn't always ABSOLUTELY HATED DRINKING is an ALCOHOLIC and NEEDS TO BE RECRUITED INTO THE CULT.

There are a lot of issues with the "alcoholism as a disease" model, socially, practically, and scientifically. The 12-step model adds layers upon layers of additional issues.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

However, to be honest, most of those questions definitely point to drinking being at a pretty problematic level; about the only one that I think should not be used as a diagnostic is "Do you drink alone?". Maybe if it were changed to "do you get drunk alone?", but still.

[P3nT4gR4m]

17. Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking?

erm ... this one time I didn't.     

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

The courts apparently don't really believe it's a disease, either. You don't cure disease by punishing people.

I thought some of the questions were kind of vague and tricky. Drinking because you're shy/to boost your self-confidence/etc. isn't the ideal solution, but doing it for that reason at parties occasionally would call for the same 'yes' answer as doing it every day, or doing it before a job interview.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The courts apparently don't really believe it's a disease, either. You don't cure disease by punishing people.

You make Ronald Reagan cry.   

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

The courts apparently don't really believe it's a disease, either. You don't cure disease by punishing people.

You make Ronald Reagan cry.   

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Self-replicating faith based meme like any other. The disease that's cured by religion, etc.

I've been in people's houses who really bought into the 12 step idea and the notion that they are broken, helpless machines that need to be cured and that AA has the answer for them, that they should be ashamed of enjoying something human beings have enjoyed for what? Centuries?

Anyway I've been in a few of their houses and it's kind of unnerving to be honest. Little trinkets and pamphlets and books all over the house bearing slogans of learned helplessness and submission. "THANKS TO A.A I NEVER HAVE ANY BAD FEELINGS... EVER..." - not a literal example, but you get the point. It's just sad.

Addendum: THE 12 STEP MAGIC CURE-ALL:

Step 1. SUBMIT OR DIE
Step 2: SUBMIT OR DIE
Step 3: SUBMIT OR DIE
...
Step 12: SUBMIT OR DIE

Yep. Cars, too:
"I'M A FRIEND OF BILL W"
"KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID"
"GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY.."
"BLOSSOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED"
Etc.

Plus a dangling keychain with ten pounds of AA merch.

AA makes TONS of money on merch.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And you have to buy the books, and you can only buy the books from them... and, you get social points for bringing more people into the fold. But if you go on a "dry drunk" (aka not attending meetings) then you lose social points.

For evidence that it's a cult, really, just the fact that they have the concept of "dry drunk" does it all.