SMART Recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous - A Comparison

[irishraver38]

@ well done md. so has SMART recovery been going since then ??? or where did you get your foundation for your recovery ?????.. im very interested to know ? i suppose im a bit of a sceptic. was it SMART recovery you got dry and clean in ? or did you get a leg up in the AA fellowship ?

[blamethenile]

@irishraver38 See our video "Spontaneous Remission" for my quit bio. Mike BD

[irishraver38]

@blamethe nile.. no all capitals do notindicate in angry ..lol. i find it very humourous that you fail to answer any question on here . i d believe howeverr that you my friend are in deed a fraud. ... angry little man who has serious resentments towards others that probably stem back to your child hood. yuo my friend need to do some in depth work on self .. how long you sober now ? 30 days ? 20 days ? please reply with answr .. :)) .. love from ireland ...

[blamethenile]

@irishraver38 Seventeen + years drug-and-alcohol free, seven years nicotine-free. Keep smilin', Mike BD

[irishraver38]

CMON MAN ... YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT DUDE ... IV ASKED YOU ON A FEW OCCASIONS WHY YOU CONSTANTLY SLATE OF THE AA FELLOWSHIP ? PLEASE ANSWER ME BLAMETHENILE.. ALL THIS PURE VILE SICK STUFF YOU POST ON HERE. NOT VERY SPIRITUAL DUDE. YOU HAVE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE I TAKE IT .. MAYBE DO A STEP 10 AND HAVE A LOOK AT THE PROBLEM DUDE !!! HEY DUDE, HOW LONG YOU BEEN SOBER ?

[blamethenile]

@irishraver38 Do all caps indicate you are getting frustrated? Mike BD

[irishraver38]

humanist's... anti-christ's... keep you opinions to yourselves... angry angry people yous are. lol. come on over to a real fellowship. AA has a proven track record, all you need to have is a willingness to look within. some people just dont have tat, so they butter up their hurts with another two bit recovery type of thing... lol

[blamethenile]

@irishraver38 Salesmanship isn't your strong suit. Mike BD

[irishraver38]

@ BLAMETHENILE. you say people have a choice to go where they want o go to get recovery.... so why do you and your angry friends bad mouth AA so often ?. i am a happy member of AA, it has saved my life. Im not religious nor am i part of any sect. i dont put money in any pot, nor have i been asked to ... ok SMART is great... dont bother coming to AA, SO JUST LEAVE IT ALONE AND BE QUIET.

[blamethenile]

@irishraver38 If you are so happy, why are you watching AA-critical videos? Mike BD

[hobeepee]

Choose life. God died a long time ago. The scientists killed him. I can't stop because I HAVE A DISEASE! Fuck off.

Get empowered. Stop bashing yourself. And stop reading that ancient, outdated, full of negativity, BIG BOOK (of fear and loathing, dogmatic bullshit, and "steps" to recovery. AA, and spirituality/religions are stupid. I like science. 

[jvrmusic]

Jackass

[rdowlin2]

What I find truly interesting is that everyone of these SMART videos wants to make any of the 12 steps programs look like those slack jaw that you see on the evening news who claimed to see a UFO or Bigfoot, what ever happen to the get recovery anywhere you can?

[blamethenile]

@rdowlin2 Did we mischaracterize anything in this video? Mike BD

[rdowlin2]

@blamethenile I only speak from my own experience, more so with the medication info, alot of the people I have met in 12 step programs are referred to as dual diagnosed, and most treatment centers recognize it, I feel people should go where their comfortable I don't think either is wrong, it's just two different approaches, people just get burned in a meeting and they judge it as a whole by the actions of a few...or one, then make ignorant comments on here and its hurts people rather than help

[ndrthrdr1]

AA failed. SMART Recovery worked. Just my experience.

[blamethenile]

@ndrthrdr1 Glad you found an approach you could achieve your goals with. Mike BD

[beautifulmind546]

I have really appreciated your vids until this one. I don't know much about SMART but if they are prescribing meds and doing psych diagnosis then really they are using a similar path to AA (by implying that the choice to drink is rooted in disease whether it be menal or physical). IMO both approaches are wrong unless SMART allows the recoverie to CHOOSE for themself if they need a psych diagnosis or to be medicated. A belief in psych is not to far off from a belief in a spiritual program.

[blamethenile]

@beautifulmind546 SMART neither diagnoses, or prescribes. Sorry about the confusion. Mike

[polkadot0tanktop]

Two big thank yous: First, for making the videos that you do. I've felt really unsettled since joining OA and have been doing some research on whether AA and groups based off it, like OA, are cults. All signs are pointing to "yes."

Second, thank you for recommending SMART. I used the SMART program to quit drinking about a year ago and now am planning to go back to address my maladaptive eating behaviors. It's simply a rational, logical program that gives you real tools to recover.

[ndrthrdr1]

@polkadot0tanktop Same here. Real techniques for dealing with real issues - that's what SMART Recovery's all about.

[Mr3DBert]

@ndrthrdr1 It sounds like a bunch of text book wankers with no life experience telling people to try and control their addiction. Why not just give them a gun!

[815Sox]

@Mr3DBert Well your perception is wrong. However, I would feel far more confident with text book suggestions based on fact when compared to a book written by a southern good ol boy who just transferred his addiction from alcohol onto women and gambling

[Jrunri]

You say that AA calls other forms of recovery "outside issues" but it does make reference to "half measures" and calls non-adherents "dishonest". And they make blanket statements about "trying everything else and failing". So I think they do offer an opinion on other approaches even if they do call them "outside issues".

[andreasheinz]

Exellent first song for your creepy video edditing.

Very good songs on other vids, doesn't fit tho.

BTW best vid.

[kizzume]

I appreciate this video very much. It states more bluntly the problems with 12 step programs. I consider myself an agnostic atheist, and 12 step programs just don't work for me. I think self-determination is important. If I start to struggle again with my addiction, I'm going to turn to SMART recovery. Thanks.

[blamethenile]

@kizzume Thanks for weighing in. Good luck, and let us know how it goes. Mike

[stockybob]

More 4th step refugees....

[blamethenile]

@stockybob Things kind of slow at the Wednesday Nite Step Study Group? Mike

[innerspace55]

I used to visit a discussion forum for addicts where a lot of the loudest mouths were the people who constantly talked their AA talk. I quit going months ago because I just got tired of trying to please them. If you said anything they didn't agree with, they would all jump down your throat at once.

[blamethenile]

@innerspace55 That has been my experience as well, although I must add that I have also witnessed that happening on certain boards that specialise in criticising the program. Thanks for the comment and I hope you are well. B l A m E

[chaba49]

whats that song

[blamethenile]

@chaba49 The Passenger, by Iggy Pop.

[chaba49]

hey

[kyd1967]

LOL. See this for what it. Anti God. It trades the real God for a "prescribed medications and psychological treatments". These things may very well work. They are temporary and just as self serving as Bill W. (who might have been a jerk. You do not place your faith in Bill) If you're in any part of recovery, consider Romans 12:1 - no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. You are not required to feel bad about yourself.. that is a lie fed to you by people who put themselves higher than God.

[blamethenile]

@kyd1967 AA trades the "real God" for the one of Frank Buchman and Bill Wilson, the God of ouija boards and daily reprieves. If you are going to get biblical, check out our vid "the heresy of alcoholics anonymous". As for SMART, they render no opinion on God, thinking it best left to the individual. Mike

[dix345]

Good video. SMART Recovery did me a lot of good.  It helped me get back to normal.

[mrsfoggy]

Great piece. SMART Recovery helped me save my own life.... such a different perspective than that of AA.

[blamethenile]

@mrsfoggy Different, indeed. Glad you found it helpful, and thanks for letting us know. Mike

[OldeFarquer]

Nice video!

Thanks!

[blamethenile]

@OldeFarquer Thanks for the thanks. Mike

[dix345]

Good video. An accurate description of SMART Recovery.

pay no attention to the lunatic fringe from AA. They are barking mad.

[blamethenile]

@dix345 Thanks, Dix. Good to see you still around. Mike

[lighwave]

Excellent video - Secular is the only way to go, I believe that Freedom FROM Religion is one of our most valuable rights.

[blamethenile]

@festerfestus Glad to hear it worked out for you. Thanks for the post. Mike

[ryanm5440]

my message should read i hope you don't kill anybody with your poison

[ryanm5440]

you now that millions upon millions of hopeless drunks like i was are alive because of A,A and that 10s of millions of people are not killed by drunks on the road or stalking their ex mates or beating people up in bars or at home all because a new way to live,the peple that stay sober are the people that cant do it any other way, you might still have hope, great why wast your second chance at life this way? i hope your mesge about smart helps sombody but i hope you kill anybody with the poison

[blamethenile]

@ryanm5440 Your numerical claims are subjective at best, and your rhetoric, typical. Mike

[raysny]

@ryanm5440

I think your Freudian slip is showing. True believers like yourself hope to see people who have not embraced AA fail, as if it somehow proves that AA works. Less than 15% of all people who meet the criteria for alcohol dependence set in the DSM-IV and manage to achieve sobriety ever received any type of alcohol treatment, including AA. According to your dogma, this is impossible, how do you handle the reality over your beliefs?

[stockybob]

@raysny Actually Ray, it's much higher (more like 40%) but there are different disease cohorts within this population. AA concedes it is one of many paths people take and that it has no monopoly. Anyone in a meeting who says different is going against official AA policy.

[raysny]

@stockybob

Not according to the NIAAA’s 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions:

"About 75 percent of persons who recover from alcohol dependence do so without seeking any kind of help, including specialty alcohol (rehab) programs and AA. Only 13 percent of people with alcohol dependence ever receive specialty alcohol treatment."

[Soberkin]

brilliant - thanks blamethenile

[blamethenile]

@Soberkin Thank you. Mike

[notspeedy0314]

oh yeah ... OUTSTANDING background music!

[notspeedy0314]

in theory, SMART's a great program. my experience on the ground is that -- more often than not -- it's AA without the drama, drunkalogues, date-rape, & coffee.

you attend meetings long enough to come to the conclusion, "why the hell am i attending these meetings?" not a bad thing at all - especially when one considers that AA does everything it can to blind you from that realization.

[blamethenile]

@notspeedy0314 AA without all the above would likely have been a good thing, or at least not so toxic. The exit strategy of SMART is one of the qualities I found appealing. Thanks for weighing in. Mike

[Hwood1959]

Good job again blame!!

[blamethenile]

@Hwood1959 Thanks, Mike

[isegoria1]

Featured on my channel - Brilliant as always

[blamethenile]

@isegoria1 Glad you liked it. Thanks for the plug. Mike

[blamethenile]

@ndrthrdr1 I forwarded your post here to isegoria. Mike BD

[ndrthrdr1]

@blamethenile Thanks. :)

[liox]

Visit .... ? I certainly will. I am a regular reader of the Orange Papers already.