Should courts be able to force people into AA? - Page 8

PureX · #71 11-10-2006, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

That's fine, but it still doesn't change the fact that the treatment AA offers is based and relys on spiritual ideas.

I really think that AA relies on practical ideas that various spiritual paths have also found practical.

1. Recognize that there is a problem.
2. Recognize the inability to solve problem one's self.
3. Seek and rely on the help of others in solving the problem.
4. Disect the problem and it's history.
5. Publicly accept responsibility for this problem.
6. Consciously choose/desire to be changed.
7. Seek those changes.
8. Identify exactly how our problem has harmed those around us.
9. Correct that harm through the act of making restitution.
10. Continue identifying any instance where our problems are harming others, and immediately correct this by making restitution.
11. Seek a new way of living that does not cause others harm.
12. Help others who seek this same change in themselves.

This is a practical step-by-step guide for recognizing one's own destructive ideas and behaviors, and for changing them, permanently. The fact that they are presented in AA using spiritual terms is as much due to AA history as anything else, but they work for anyone because at their root, they're more practical than they are ideological.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

I have a problem with people who believe that AA is the only solution to alcoholism, and the courts that make it thier business to infer such by not giving other options.

I agree. Not even AA thinks it's the only solution to the problem of alcoholism. Nor do they recommend using only AA as a course of recovery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

Courts should be able to force people to undergo treatment, but they don't have the right to decide which treatment that person will choose. If someone is so addicted they're incapable of making that decision, then send them to a therapist or someone else to help them make an informed decision.

The sad fact is that most addict don't want to be helped, and so no treatment forced on them will work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

If we really think that this is such a terrible problem, then we should all do more to make other treatment options more viable and well known, so treatment can reach everyone, including those who simply don't want to be in AA.

It is a terrible problem, and we should be seeking more and better treatments for drug and alcohol addictions.