Is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) a Cult? | Andrew Huberman - Anna Lembke, M.D.

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All tribal behavior is a form of a cult. The way I quit drinking was to stop feeling like a victim and blaming society, childhood trauma, etc… I accepted that I made the decision to waste so much time and money poisoning myself while telling myself that at least I ate healthy and exercised. No more poison, whining, victim hood b.s. Now I’m happy sleeping well, eating well and enjoying what I truly enjoy.

I stopped drinking in 2001 going to AA met some nice people but soon found out after several years I couldn’t take the gossip and the hangups. People trading one addiction for another, I did the same like getting tattoos and falling for a man I shouldn’t have and getting hurt. I ended up marrying him only to find out he was a womanizer. We broke up and he died of a heart attack a year later.

I once went out to the parking lot and saw something doing pushups in the parking lot. I walked over and said "Hey, are you my disease" and he said, No, I'm fucking Tony, what's wrong with you"

The meetings are addictive! It’s strong dopamine. It’s better than being home in my own mind. Fuck it. I’m with it

to the people whoTHINK AA is a form of brainwashing, their brains need a massive washing.

I've been attending meetings for nearly two years and I just dont agree with a lot of the teachings/thinking. I enjoy the way meetings distract me/keeo me busy but I cant stand being told I'm self centered, powerless, a liar etc and being treated like one whenever I talk about my personal issues or try to raise concern about predatory behaviour in the community. The men in AA get away with so much bad behaviour, and the fellowship sticks up for them/sweeps it under the rug and tells you to pray for them and let go of resentment. They also try to meddle in your relationships and break you up with your partner. Its a cult if you get too deep in it.

I know I can always rely on my friend Jesus Christ. No matter how many times I fall of the wagon he will always be there to pick me back up. I've collected over a hundred 1-month chips over the years and it's all because of Jesus. He will always be there for me when I fall down again. Christ is lord! He's the king!

close to it. My older family members getting fing weird these days

I spent the day with another AA member playing pool, AA was never mention once. Happy I made it the last 28 years enjoying life without alcohol.

AA is a social club with a certain hierarchy. If you’re not part of the club, you’re an outsider and will always stay an outsider.

I work in a Rco yes greed egos ruins it I've been there almost 5 years I'm ready to resign

There's a very dark side to these non-profit Rco including predators egos and greed

AA is not a social club.

yes it is a very big cult

My husband went on an A.A. camping trip, he and others were basically tortured they deprived him of sleep,food and no shower for 3 days in the woods they made him make amends when he was not ready by the way doing this to someone who is 3 weeks sober is not good mentally and physically. This is a cult trauma bond tactic.

There fellowship was hijacked by the courts. People who don't want to be there are the ones that destroyed AA

AA is not a cult. Certain assholes that aren’t there for long make it seem that way.

Conventional therapy was useless. I was partnered with therapists who thought you could learn to control your drinking.
They knew nothing about addiction. The group therapy sessions brought a group of people with many different sobriety goals. Frankly I have nothing in common with a woman whose goal was to not get sloppy drunk on her next cruise. Several times I was the only one to show up to group. I sat there feeling stupid, the therapist asking ME if she should continue the session.
WTF. There was no commitment.
AA isn’t a cult. You need a leader to be a cult. I don’t know what other people’s experiences have been, but my group rotates who leads the group. AA provides a framework, but we decide how to run the meeting. No one is forced to participate. One thing you get seem to get wrong is that all groups are the same, only our goal of sobriety is the same. We have traditional and atheists group, straight and gay groups, men and women and groups, etc. You can’t generalize AA, this isn’t 1935.

I am going to keep it simple. AA is a good way to live.

AA’s main purpose is to get you sober and so you can help another person get sober. The 12 steps aren’t about Christianity. All it requires is for you to admit theres a power greater than yourself. That youre not god. And teaches you to grow a relationship with whatever that higher power is (which is entirely your own no one will tell you what your higher power is) AND THIS INCLUDES THE GROUP ITSELF. Not to say the group is more powerful than you, but just admitting that you did not create the group you did not create the people in the group, its basically for people who have been through psychosis and who think they’re god to admit they’re not god. It’s not a cult, you can go to a meeting once a month and you’re still considered part of the program, the meetings are there for you to go to instead of going out and relapsing. Alcoholism is an obsession, once you have the obsession like any other addict it’s almost impossible to completely get rid of it. In AA you sponsor and help other people as a means to keep yourself sober, and to help the other person stay sober. I’ve never payed ONCE for AA membership. Every group is a self supporting group through the contributions of others attending. It’s for people who need structure and to feel part of something, people who have been so defeated by life and society and outcasted as a drunk or an addict to meet people who are just like them and turned their entire lives around. That’s why I attend AA. To talk to older guys who have been sober for 20 years and listen to their story so I can hopefully stay sober. If not my alcoholism will probably kill me.

Iv'e been to AA meetings, I thought they were boring as hell. The people were really weird. Arrogant egomaniacs for the most part.

100-% yes! I was in it for 2 years. Shocking level of ego, unchecked sexualised behaviours. No counsellors, no professionals. Just one ego broken person leading another and another. I have been sober for the longest time OUTSIDE of the programme. I’m pretty convinced the programme was making me constantly relapse

At the Woodland Online Group there’s an old timer named Max who has a newcomers group he announces during the AA meetings. Women join that meeting and he sponsors those women. He tells the women eventually he has crushes on them. Everyone in the group knows this happens and no one says anything. So disgusting.

The local groups are full of 13th stepping old timers . One who has been stalking women was brought up in group conscience and they refused a vote to ban him.

AA is far too large for people to decide it's a cult broad spectrum. I have been to some meetings and met some characters I would steer clear from, and been in some environments I wouldn't go back to, but equally been to some absolutely beautiful meetings with a real family environment that Ive met people I call friends to this day. It really depends on where you go. It would be the same thing as saying every priest is a pedophile after the Catholic scandal.

It's not recovery they use psychological abuse, black mail, and staking as a tactic

Whatever it takes to not drink. Better talking then drinking what will kill you.

So many people in this thread seem so happy joyous and free lol

I’m a member it’s not a cult. It’s a spiritual program to find god. That’s all it is, it works for some not many. The rooms are full of alcoholics and addicts that are sick people, I don’t know what people expect to find. It’s a last resort before jail, institution, or death. God can cure you, pick your own god, you can leave at anytime and doesn’t cost any money.

This is my experience with acquaintances who are in AA. The constant recitation of AA tropes, long-winded unsolicited explanations about the details of their recovery, and a leaning towards toxic positivity were all tiresome for me. I'm glad that AA helps people stop their destructive addictions, but it is definitely a cult.

Fancy words to explain simplicity.

They talk as if AA is the only program. There are much better ones to be addicted to. There's SMART, Lifering , Dharma, etc.

Once my baby mama started going to aa meetings she quit doing g drugs but it felt like she wanted aa meetings and her aa friends more than she wants to be with me wich is shitty because I was here for her everytime she fucked up but now she feels like she is growing in a way that im not good enough anymore