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Recovery is No Longer Synonymous with AA
As National Recovery Month comes to a close, there is no better time to challenge a long-held and systemic belief about recovery: that recovery is synonymous with AA. Yet, the ideological lens through which we, as a society and institutionally, view recovery — our medical profession, judicial system, and medical boards — is that the doctrine of AA is the only solution to substance use disorders. However, it is an option that doesn’t meet the needs of those disproportionately affected by substance use disorders.
Our drug courts direct people to a 12-step program as an alternative to jail. Doctors and nurses refer people to AA for help, and professional regulators can stipulate that a recovering medical professional can keep their license but it is contingent upon their attendance at a 12-step program.
I’m not suggesting that we overlook the historical contribution of AA for people with substance use disorders. AA developed a solution for people with desperate alcohol use disorders that had never been available, and it has helped millions of people recover. However, we’ve come a long way from 1939, substance use disorder is increasingly seen as cutting across many socio-cultural demographics — race, gender, sexual orientation, and class — and there is now a plethora of recovery options available. Just as people carry Narcan, we can also educate ourselves in the range of recovery pathways available and acknowledge the realities and complexities of how people recover.
I’m not anti-AA. I believe that, like many other programs, it is a valid pathway of recovery. What I oppose is the institutionalized attitude that if you’re not in AA, you’re not really in long-term recovery. I suggest that societally, we stop believing that recovery is synonymous with AA and instead open our eyes to just how patriarchal and heteronormative “the rooms” are and that they are unsafe for many marginalized groups, like LGBTQIA+ folx and BIPOC.
In my experience, of attending AA and NA for five years in the UK, US, and Europe, I have consistently seen cis-gendered, straight white men dominating the rooms, not only in terms of male members but also in terms of speaking first. Even in queer meetings, then men spoke first and most often.
