Anyone Here Have Success w/ AA?

I drink a considerable amount, but my cousin is completely out of control.  It's scary that he blacks out at times and doesn't remember making an @ss out of himself.

I don't have experience with AA... but I also once drank way too much.

This is a gamble... but we all here are gamblers.  You might want to tell him how you feel.  Tell him you love him but you cannot continue to be his friend if he does not make a change.

Well the last 3 times I played pocket aces, I was cracked by suited connectors, a running flush and a gutshot straight draw. 

Thanks for your input fellas.  I kind of figured that if he's the only one that could help himself.  It doesn't sound like he's ready to quit.

The whole rehab process statistically has a 5% rate of success. You really have to want to stop and that doesn't sound like the case.

That statistic is disconcerting.  Addiction is a monster

You are so hard to like.

I wish there was a short answer.

There isn't.

Everybody is different.

If your cousin doesn't want to go, you cannot make that happen.

BUT, you CAN convince him NOT to drive and endanger other lives.

That, my friend, is where you should start.

Thanks Goose 

 I went to AA for about 2 years to try to save a marriage. Both my ex & myself were drinking excessively........ AA didn't save our marriage, but I was sober for 1005 days & she has been sober for over 12 years (yes, an AA success story).
 What others have said is true...........if you WANT to get sober then AA can help. But they can't do it for you. I learned a lot in those 2 years, & a lot of it applies to your general demeanor in every day life. I went back to drinking but I'm nothing like I was before.
 Every drunk thinks their story is unique, & that no one could possibly understand what they're going through.

Your cousin will have to hit a rock bottom to open his eyes.

Project Zero I've heard very good things about. AA I understand requires you to declare yourself totally helpless and over powered. Essentially stripping all dignity away from people. Personally I'm not cool with their methods and maybe your cousin isn't either.

You def have to want to quit to quit. That's the best advice. Everyone is different I have a friend who was a complete train wreck duis, lost his job, his gf, depression etc and he embraced the meetings and is over 2 years sober. I have other friends who just quit on their own conversely I had friends and family who drank themselves to death even when they knew if they kept goin they'd die. It's really a personal decision when is too much too much? When does someone get sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? That threshold is diff for everyone. I've done my fair share of partying but could always stop when I needed/wanted to. Having a sense of purpose in life and healthy outlets to manage stress definitely helps I think.

For years I wanted to quit but never understood how I would be able to.  It was a consistent cycle of spinning my wheels.  At best I could maybe go a week.  A friend of mine who was going through AA at the time gave me the Big Book.  I didn't agree with all that was written in there but I did find a lot of relatable material.  i also found a AA website that I used to read constantly.  I never went to an AA meeting, but there were certain things that just started to click in my head and made sense.  One of the major points was that I can't drink like a normal person.  My body and brain does not have the mechanism anymore to say you need to stop.  I may have had that at one time, but it became later that I would only stop when I passed out or ran out of booze and the stores were closed.  

Yes, I think as other posters have mentioned a very important point ; 

 a person has to ""acknowledge""  that he/she has a problem , before that problem can be fixed..  You cannot fix a person that does not acknowledge their problem.

 

 

 

After successfully completing your AA program you are given a token ...
Kind of like a graduation certificate. Congrats



There is a bar within one mile of that institution that offers you a free drink in exchange for that same token.There are countless tokens on the wall behind that bar.

 

Actually it's not that shocking. Any poker player who hears "AA" instantly thinks pocket aces.

So it's a tongue-in-cheek joke that is hardly disrespectful to the OP and for poker players only, and anyone outside that circle apparently is offended. Not surprising.

It's really not meant to be all that funny either. It's just a wink and a nod to poker because he used an abbreviation in the title. Much like a lot of the stuff Hawk writes. It's not meant to be laugh out loud funny but more observational with a twist.

Anyhow, I don't drink so I have nothing to offer the OP.