[jmacusa]

There's no such thing as a ‘’wagon’’. You get sober by being rigorously honest with yourself, admit that you are powerless over alcohol and that your life has become unmanageable and that you cannot get sober alone. Alcoholics Anonymous is the single most successful alcoholic recovery group on Earth. There is none better. It saved my ass from myself and it does so free of charge. All it asks is just to listen to the stories it's members tell,try and identify with what you hear as it may relate to you , and try to work the 12 Steps as suggested. If you feel it's not for you you're free to refund your misery at the door. Robin Williams was either unable or unwilling to to do what was suggested.If he was unable, well, it might be that he was just born that way. If he was unwilling then his pride got in the way. Pride goeth before a fall.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Once I learned that Williams was drinking again, it didn’t surprise me that he committed suicide. Active alcoholics die ugly deaths. To me, Williams’ situation shows the tragedy of taking something as critical (to an alcoholic) as sobriety for granted after 20 years of sobriety. You don’t get sober and then everything is OK. You have to work at it year after year. But once you stop working at it, its easy to go back, with ugly results.

[Graybeard58]

34 years sober and still respect the power alcohol could have over me, if I allowed it back in my life.

[InterceptPoint]

Alcoholics Anonymous is the single most successful alcoholic recovery group on Earth.

I believe you are correct.

But, according to my (ex) Son-in-law, who is recovered and clean for at least 10 years and who is very, very active in AA, the success rate is only 5 to 10 percent. That seems very low and, if true, very sad.

What is your experience? What percentage would you quote for an AA "success rate"?

[ThomasMore]

AMEN to all that.

I’m a friend of Bill W. I found AA meetings and living the 12 steps better than “AL anon” for me so that’s where I went every Friday for many many years. It was also helpful and supportive for my brother who is an alcoholic.

There is nothing better than AA. And it is typically PRIDE that keeps someone away.

[Wuli]

“alcoholism” or drug addiction is escapism from life circumstances someone is unhappy with, cannot see how to change, has trouble adjusting to, has ill feelings about the whole thing such that they want to drown the feelings in the escape into the effects of drugs or alcohol

what comes first is a set of life circumstances, not a drug or alcohol

what has to still be resolved even if/when the drug/alcohol can be kicked is the inability to cope that started it all

many people have and end with the same root problem without ever giving in to alcohol or drugs; they are no happier than the alcoholic or the drug addict, they just did not add that problem to their life’s issues

[CodeToad]

“{Alcoholics Anonymous is the single most successful alcoholic recovery group on Earth. “

You are an alcoholic if you still need to go to support groups to be talked out of drinking.