What do people do in AA meetings mostly?
First there is a prayer, followed by readings from the sacred text which members refer to as the Big Book. Then there is some sort of discussion about alcoholism, typically revolving around how horrible things were while the members were drinking and how wonderful they are now. Then there are more readings and prayers, sometimes chanting. Whether this is beneficial is a matter of some dispute. Some people seem to believe it is helpful or even entirely responsible for allowing them to quit, but most studies that have been done do not bear this out. The overall consensus seems to be that people who join AA to quit drinking are about as successful as those who go it alone; the critical thing is the drinker’s motivation to quit as opposed to the method. As far as why people drink so much that they destroy their lives, the jury is still out. It seems to be a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors.
