Reasons for AA

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international organization, which may seem to be shrouded in secrecy--an inevitable part of the anonymity principle, which is fundamental to AA. According to the AA website, there are about two million successfully recovering alcoholics in 180 counties who have been helped or are still being helped by AA.

Self-Help

• Members of AA are only known by their first names.

  The self-help principle is central to the whole concept of AA. It is not run by professionals, but by alcoholics. A person with an alcohol addiction attending the meetings can listen to people who have already been through a similar experience. Sponsorship is key to how AA operates. An AA member who has been sober for a while takes a new member under his wing and helps her through her recovery, particularly during the early stages.

Spiritual Element

• AA is not for everybody. It is run on quite specific principles which may not work for every person with a drinking problem. One principle is that an alcoholic must embrace total sobriety forever. Another key element is that AA believes in a spiritual dimension. This is not specifically denominational. AA, as an organization, believes that relinquishing control of one's own life is necessary for the alcoholic's recovery. This is part of the alcoholic's acceptance that his life has become out of control.

Anonymity

• AA does engage with professionals, but there is a limit to this engagement because of the anonymity principle. This reinforces the air of secrecy that may seem to surround AA. But this is also very important for some members. An alcoholic may not want to go public about her condition, or she may want to do this in her own time, and in her own way. The anonymity of the organization may be the very reason that an alcoholic feels he can go to a meeting, even when he is at his most vulnerable and scared.