Coronation Street

Peter Barlow took the well being of his son Simon as meaning less than going to meetings, which unfortunately is what happens in the AA social manipulation scale. AA is advertized as a way to fix family problems, but most people don't realize that is not what it is all about. AA is about disassociation, calling everyone in the family co-dependant, going to meetings and prospect hunting, not rebuilding your family.

Is there a way to perhaps highlight this on blogs talking about the episode? If enough people speak up and say that this is what happens in AA, people will be wary of the program. Perhaps mentioning on these blogs that the well being of his son and family are being put second to AA meetings, then explain that the ritual chanting and praying to some imaginary made up god have nothing to do with building up of the family unit and only the tearing of it down to build demand for AA and Hazelden literature and services.

The number of times I was told, 'Sobriety has to come first, even before your family: because without your sobriety, you have no family.' I'd anxiously rush to help the children with their homework, rush to get dinner cooked, become increasingly anxious if my husband wasn't going to get home from work in time - just to get to a meeting! I was creating a stressful home environment - to get to a meeting. Since slowly cutting down on meetings, to the point where I attended my last one a few days ago I feel so much calmer, and no longer feel the guilt associated with not giving enough time to my family.

WOW thats fucked up. Sounds like US TV!!!!

I liked the British soaps much better than the American ones, as they were much more down to earth. At least what I saw of them. Anyway, I'm surprised the UK is going for this AA crap. As members of the World Health Organization they should know better. A report on cost effective ways to combat alcoholism spelled it out in no uncertain terms.

"the mesa-grand study found evidence of ineffectiveness of 12-step facilitation from 6 studies and of
ineffectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous from 7 studies (109). An additional
systematic review of 8 studies found no studies that unequivocally
demonstrated the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous or 12-step facilitation
approaches for reducing alcohol dependence or alcohol-related problems (133)."

http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/43319/E92823.pdf

This report has loads of info on other ways. Unfortunately it does mention Project Match. Personally I think Match was a badly botched study. I'm betting my left foot the CBT was administered by steppers. I mean, where are you going to find that many addictions professionals that weren't steppers? Nowhere, and that would be hugely confusing to the participants. "You're powerless" then "you have the power" etc and whatnot. There was another study that compared steppism with CBT and there was aninside doc that complained of exactly this sort of contamination that I found in the letters of the Orange Papers.

http://orange-papers.org/orange-letters247.html#Clark_M

I'm betting Project Match was a completely worthless, albeit expensive study.