I lost nearly everything in my life: my job, my apartment, my car, and very nearly my life from drugs and alcohol. I used for years with few consequences, but with the help of the dark net markets, got my hands on cheap and power drugs my body and mind could literally not handle. I came to a point in my life where I realized I had lost control over my ability to self-regulate consumption of intoxicating agents, and the consequences were dire.<p>I underwent a pretty radical change getting sober, moved to a different part of the city into a semi-supervised sober house, and started going to AA meetings. What I found there was a diverse group of people, with even more diverse problems (drugs, alcohol, violence, relationships) that had 1) accepted the problem was of their own making and 2) collectively decided that only through their own actions could they make themselves whole again. My AA group is a little unconventional in that we are extremely accepting of different types of addictions, and operate in an inner city area much different than my suburban upbringing. For me, AA is about living a stoic life, accepting what you can control, and disregarding what you cannot control. Seeing these same problems, across race, class, gender and geography was a pretty transcendental moment for me.<p>AA is just one part of what I'm doing to stay healthy: the other component, which in a lot of ways I trust more, is cognitive behavioral therapy, and group therapy. I think eventually more 'evidence based' group therapy systems will take over, but you just can't beat AA's model: people helping people via donated time and services.<p>When a new person walks into 'AA' with just a 'desire to stop drinking' their entire experience comes from the individuals, qualified only through their anecdotal experience in sobriety, that they meet. As a data scientist ready to defend AA, it used to be hard for me to rectify the fact that 1) AA is not effective as a prescribed intervention and 2) I'm in AA, and it works. How can I recommend a treatment when I know doing nothing in some cases is often better? Well, I don't know, and for me, AA is about staying sober, statistics be darned, I have something that works.<p>Finally, getting sober, for me, was a long, difficult, and extremely uncomfortable experience. If you are reading this, questioning if 'AA' is right for you, I would strongly implore you to attend a few different meetings in your area. Raise your hand, introduce yourself, and see what comes forth. AA will not save you, you will save you.