Outside Issues: The Atlantic Magazine and Gabrielle Glaser

Oh, hold on to your hat and your folding chair in the church basement. We are tearing ourselves apart with the tussle over Gabrielle Glaser's article in the April 2015 Atlantic Magazine.

Glaser's article is called "The False Gospel of Alcoholics Anonymous", and she cleverly used the Affordable Care Act as a media/political hook to write about why AA may not work for everyone and to talk about other methods of treating alcohol addiction, including, moderation and medication.

Yes, I know that "we" collectively have some experience with moderation and with medication. But really, did we believe other people when they told us that abstinence was probably going to work better? No, we did not.

I don't think Glaser is a bad person and I don't think she is "abusing AA". She is asking questions. She just doesn't like it, didn't feel it was the right thing for her or other people she knew, so she wrote about that. And, because she is a journalist, she did her homework and dug deep to look at other methods of dealing with addiction. She writes about neurology, physiology, psychology and what other countries do.

I am really glad that she wrote about addiction and treatment, and yes even that she raises questions about what works and what doesn't. AA is not perfect. We know that. We admit it to ourselves and each other all the time. For years I have shared the rooms with people who have 25, 30 and 40 years of "recovery" and I don't want what they have. I want a whole lot more than abstinence form a substance. But that's my preference. Mine. Other folks are very happy to just not use. I want all the emotional and spiritual and personal growth that can come from our program and working the steps--and I include therapy and retreats and all kinds of other help in my program.

So why not let folks find what works for them?

Yes, I know the title of the article is dastardly provocative, "The False Gospel…" Well, that's what editors do to make us read newspapers and magazines. And does she say there's not a lot of science around AA? Uh huh. And is there  a lot of science around AA? Nope. So that's OK.

I love AA. I adore AA. And I'm beyond grateful that I found it and that it works for me. So I can only hope that other people in pain find what ever works for them, and that Glaser's article has kicked up the dust and the national conversation about addiction.

Here's a link to The Atlantic so you can read the whole article.
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/03/the-irrationality-of-alcoholics-anonymous/386255/

Is Abstinence the Only Way?

This is one of those questions that can be troublesome for those of us who love AA and who have benefitted from an "abstinence-only" approach to sobriety or recovery or changing our drinking. Even those words are phrases are fraught with implication --and sometimes ownership.

In today's New York Times there is a provocative article by Gabrielle Glaser, author of "Her Best Kept Secret--Why Women Drink". Glaser's book is an excellent account of women's drinking patterns and the increase in women's use and misuse of alcohol. She looks at lifestyle changes, marketing, and the humor and beliefs around alcohol use among women.

However she is shaking up the AA world by describing it's history: very male, and it's approaches: religious or spiritually based. None of that is new to us. But what's got recovering people twitching is her bold statement that AA is not the only way. And she is challenging the medical and psychiatric community to think about all of the possible interventions and methods including medication, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Moderation Management and others.

This is one of those places where you have a nice litmus test of your own recovery and your confidence in your recovery. Does the idea that other alcoholics can still drink bother you? Does the idea that other people can benefit from other approaches make you doubt your program? Does any criticism of AA or Twelve Step programs give you a giant resentment? Then think again.

One of the smart--though provocative--things that Glaser says at the very end of today's article is this: "We don't treat cancer, depression or asthma with the same tools we used in 1935. We need to get away from the one-size-fits-all approach to drinking problems."

I think she is right. AA is not the only way. We should learn all we can about addiction and methods of treatment. As for me, I'm grateful that AA recovery worked for me and that I have made this choice. I only wish for others who struggle with addiction that they can find whatever will work for them. And we can welcome them to sobriety and good health whichever route they take.

Here is the link to Glaser's article in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/opinion/cold-turkey-isnt-the-only-route.html?smid=pl-share

Her Best Kept Secret--Is AA the Only Way?

Is AA the only way for women to recover? Does recovery have to mean total abstinence? Are there aspects of AA that are harmful to women?

Those are some of the challenging questions in the new book by Gabrielle Glaser called: “Her Best-Kept Secret” and subtitled: “Why women drink and how they can regain control.”

Now maybe, like me, you immediately recognize that word “control” as a red flag. I went right to, “Whoa, wait a minute, recovery is not about getting control; its about giving up control.” And yes that’s some of the philosophy we have absorbed from participation in AA. But let’s remember that if we are active in AA we are, in fact, participating in a strict program that has a strong and specific philosophy.

This is a provocative and challenging book and I think, it’s a very good book. My caveat—though this would infuriate the author, is that I wouldn’t recommend this to a newcomer in AA—especially if they are starting to do well in the program. The book is to some degree anti-AA in that it discloses some of the flawed thinking inherent to the early program, some of our outrageously sexist history and some of our, “my way or you’ll die” single-mindedness.

If you are around and in recovery for along time you do come to meet enough people who have stopped drinking or eating or using drugs via methods and programs that are not twelve-step based. I am thrilled and grateful that twelve-step recovery worked for me and I always recommend it, but I no longer shame people who try other approaches or who change their addictions in other ways. I’m glad when people change their lives for the good whether they do it with AA, in their faith community, with the help of loving family and friends, or with direct medical assistance. That said, I am also an AA booster. A contradiction? Oh well.

The very good part of this book and why I do recommend this for folks in recovery is that Glaser has done her medical, historical and sociological homework. I was fascinated by how the wine industry moved table wine from a product few women would drink or serve at home in the 1940’s and 50’s to the drink that comes with socializing, cultish education and is the center piece of Mommy blogs. Ladies, we were targeted, shaped, persuaded and made into wine drinkers. Grab this book and read the chapters on wine and marketing to see again the power of Madison Avenue. Do you think learning about wine or having a taste for particular kinds of wine is all about you as an individual? Not so much. She also documents the increase in women’s drinking over the past two decades in all demographic categories. Alcohol consumption—addictive or not—is a women’s issue of great concern

Glaser is a good writer and a fierce fighter. As I read the book I had the sense that one too many friend tried to push her toward AA or she watched a friend disappear into what felt like our cultishness—and it can seem that way to someone outside our program. She’s pissed. But I strongly recommend this book to people in long-term recovery because we can stand to learn some of our own history and we can dissect the marketing and the romancing of early AA.

The best gift of a long recovery is the reclaiming of our own minds and intelligence and being able to tolerate feedback and criticism—whether directed at us or our beloved program.