Alcoholics Anonymous, for decades, is helping alcoholics quit drinking and embrace lifetime sobriety. The fact that AA is still alive and kicking show that it is successful. Yet, there are people who drop meetings.
Why is that so?
Here are the top 5 reasons people stop attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
- They become completely sober
You need not attend meetings for life. Once you are recovered and become confident you can stay sober no matter what, you can stop attending meetings. It is an achievement. Meetings serve as anchors to people who are trying to become sober. Once they become sober, they need no anchor.
The meetings are known to have transformed the lives of individuals. The 12-step program is especially famous for creating mind-blowing changes in the life of an alcoholic. It is seen that people who perform the 12 steps properly recover faster and stronger.
Once you drop out from meetings does not mean you cannot attend them again. If ever in life you feel your sobriety shaking, you can attend one of the local AA meetings near you and strengthen your sobriety again.
- They are too busy to attend meetings
This usually happens with high-functional alcoholics. They may have attended a few meetings because their friends or family may have urged them to. Then, they drop off. One of the problems with alcoholics of this kind is that they think they are not alcoholics! It is a challenge to change them.
People who admit they are alcoholics, yet are too busy to attend meetings, can do so weekly or fortnightly. You can continue with the 12 steps. The steps have no deadline. You can complete them at your own pace. Your recovery may be slow in this case, but you will recover. Also, know about the 12 traditions of AA.
Don’t stop on your sobriety track. Keep moving.
- They harbor doubts about the meeting
Many people look down on AA with a skeptical eye. Some think it is a cult. Some may think they are trying to impose upon the idea of one particular religion or forcing people to believe in God. Some think it is hogwash. All these wrong beliefs hold people in attending the meetings.
- “What will people say?”
Many alcoholics are reluctant to continue with a meeting simply because they fear their peers would know about this. Unfortunately, these are people with a weak resolve. If you are strongly determined to quit drinking, you wouldn’t care what the world says, especially your “alcoholic friends.” In fact, once you search for “AA meetings near me,” you must be ready to drop such friends and make new ones, who are sober.
- They don’t want to quit drinking
Somebody may have attended a meeting. Then they found that one must put in effort and determination to cope with cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and the triggers. This is too much hard work. So, they stop attending meetings. They change their mind and now don’t want to quit drinking.
Nothing big is achieved without hard work and sacrifice. Attaining sobriety after years of drinking is a big feat. That’s why an AA meeting in Florida and other places welcomes only those who strongly desire to quit drinking.
