For a long time, it was a challenge to search for the right facility and proper counsel for substance and abuse recovery. There are several sites on the internet, but most portals that look unprejudiced are in fact business minded with the sole aim of getting you admitted into their rehab center.
As luck would have it, there are resources that you can depend on. You can find directories that help in AA Meeting Locator so that patients can address drug or alcohol dependence by receiving all the support, compassion and help for overcoming addictions.
Such directories help in finding ‘AA meetings near me’ in an easy and straightforward manner.
In most of such portals all you need to do is enter the zip code to your location in the AA Meeting Directory at the space provided and click search.
But first let us try to understand what AA is.
AA is an abbreviation for Alcoholics Anonymous, a global organization created to help former alcoholics support each other on their ongoing recovery from alcoholism.
Those who attend AA groups are committed to kick the alcohol habit and remain sober.
But is the AA meetings in Texas approach more effective than other methods that treat people for alcohol disorder?
Even medical researchers were unsure. This is because a review done in 2006 concluded that there was no evidence that Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12 steps of AA are superior to any other intervention.
But now the perception has changed. An updated review done in March 2020 concludes that Alcoholics Anonymous and 12 -step facilitation is vastly superior to other well-established treatments when it comes to establishing prolonged sobriety.
Here is an important thing to note.
Alcoholics Anonymous is often paired with other approaches for best results.
People gauge their progress through a sobriety calculator which helps them know for how long they have been sober.
For addicts already undergoing a treatment plan, adding AA to it delivers superior outcomes than without it. Interestingly AA meetings have proved to be helpful in delivering higher rates of abstinence and remission.
A key feature of any AA meeting in Texas is it is global and frequent – and you do not need any appointment. The shared burden of addiction creates bonds, which build trust and confidence in groups – a vital ingredient that persuades addicts to stay on the path to recovery.
It is sobering statistics that alcohol misuse and dependence is causing 3.3 million deaths per year. This figure is 10 times more than the number of deaths from all unlawful drugs combined.
Here are other facts worth noting
- Alcoholism resulted in lost productivity and health care costs amounting to nearly $250 billion per year
- American deaths related to alcohol doubled between 1999 and 2017.
Are we ignoring the importance of reducing the human and financial burden of alcohol abuse as a major public health priority?
We must give credit to AA meetings that they are doing their bit.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic local AA meetings were taking place discreetly in cafes, churches and wherever spare rooms were available. But the pandemic shut the doors for such in-person meetings.
The good news however is that the zeal did not die. AA meetings moved online. Today scores of AA Meetings are taking place on Zoom or on similar video conferencing platforms.
