Re: RIP Sweet Angel

Posted by Witness on June 04, 2015 at 15:08:23

In Reply to: Re: RIP Sweet Angel posted by humanist on April 23, 2015 at 16:48:39:

I agree with much of what you say, especially about NA and AA triggering people with a cult background. You can read about Abigail's thoughts on the subject here:

I'd like to put the abstinence concept in context. Alcohol is a poison. In small doses, it is harmless and pleasurable. When someone has completely lost a capacity for controlled drinking, the individual will either find a way to become abstinent or drink themselves to death. IF a critical mass of neurotransmitters are compromised by chronic alcohol abuse, there's no learning to drink socially.

Every AA/NA who smokes and drinks coffee is practicing a form of harm reduction, and certainly does not meet criteria for "absolute abstinence."

With recovery, everything depends on how you define success. If it is defined as long-term sobriety (which is not the same as absolute abstinence), current research indicates there are four major paths or components. Google the wiki on The Natural History of Alcoholism Revisited (1995) by George E. Vaillant.

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