While AA helped me initially, I was in a cycle of relapse until I went to rehab. It was the 3 months isolated that broke my patterns of behaviour and I was able to jumpstart the healing process. Counselling, therapy and CBT were the tools required to get better. Addiction is a social symptom of trauma. Deal with the route trauma and the symtoms improve. If AA is all it takes for some then power to them! I found that in my case full intervention was required.
I found that AA made me realise I wasn't alone in my addiction. I was suffering for a long time form a bad case of the 'poor me's' and 'nobody understands what I've been through.'
But honestly, some of the stories about peoples lives I have heard in the last 2 and a bit years are scary. In fact, I'm amazed some people survived to get to where they were.
My main issues stemmed from that fact that I was bullied mercilessly for around 10 years up until the age of 15. After that I grew up a lot and was able to fight back, but then laterally, the boss I ultimately worked for was that bully, and I found as a 55year old, that he engendered in me the same feelings of inadequacy that the earlier bullies had done.
Despite being told by them for years that I was stupid, useless and would amount to nothing (plus the physical pain,) I was resilient enough to fight my way through it and get myself a Professional qualification, a Masters Degree, become successful at what I was doing and run a business in my spare time. And then this one individual, whose main role in life was to fight and belittle someone on a daily basis, brought it all back and I began drinking to mask the pain.
So yes, it might not work for everyone, but at least give it a try.
