I reached a point where I realized I needed help to quit drinking. I looked into AA and a coworker whom I knew had gone through the program gave me a little red book. It felt very dogmatic and turned me off to the program. I never attended a meeting.
Instead I read a different book that could be summarized as "There are lots of good reasons to stop drinking and lets go over them." I also used r/stopdrinking as a support group for daily check-ins.
I can't say whether Alcoholics Anonymous would have helped me had I gone to the meetings but the literature was really unattractive. My understanding of SMART is they don't let you refer to yourself as an "alcoholic" or "addict". I feel that framing was much better for me than what I read in the Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlet.
Instead I read a different book that could be summarized as "There are lots of good reasons to stop drinking and lets go over them." I also used r/stopdrinking as a support group for daily check-ins.
I can't say whether Alcoholics Anonymous would have helped me had I gone to the meetings but the literature was really unattractive. My understanding of SMART is they don't let you refer to yourself as an "alcoholic" or "addict". I feel that framing was much better for me than what I read in the Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlet.