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Francis de Aguilar, 9 April
I am disappointed that this was the front page of the most
recent issue and was presented in such a way as to appear to
be the view of the magazine. Mr Peele represents a minority
view at best, and the 12-step fellowships are indubitably the
most widely used and most successful recovery resource
available worldwide.
The recovery movement is just begging to gain a foothold
in the UK and this is a good thing. Practitioners are finally
beginning to acknowledge that ‘peer support’ is a significant
factor and they are taking steps to facilitate this and support
it. To headline Mr Peele’s misguided efforts and rhetoric is, in
my view, irresponsible. By all means publish, but front page?
In this manner? For shame, DDN, for shame.
Mark BigTed Cullen, 9 April
Must admit I was quite aghast at Mr Peele’s views and
opinions. Surely any programme, therapy or institution that
helps people to recover should be celebrated not slated. The
fact that so many, 100s if not 1000s, models of recovery are
being rolled out suggests there is no definitive answer to
addiction. I’m tempted to suggest that I believe Mr Peele may
be suffering from a form of denial… but I won’t.
On the DDN website,
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Bob Gambell, 24 April
The article Mind the steps? is the most irresponsible piece of
writing that I have ever come across in the treatment field. I
was shocked to read such negative and judgmental words.
Surely any approach that results in recovery and a purposeful
life should be respected. The 12-steps have helped many
thousands of men and women of all races, creeds and colours
globally break the chains of addiction. Of course the 12-steps
are not for all and recovery is a personal experience, as active
addiction is a personal experience.
It is also frustrating when 12-step meetings are confused
with the programme. The programme is in the book Alcoholics
Anonymous, the meetings provide fellowship, ‘take what you
need and leave the rest.’ As far as statistics go, to even
attempt to talk about figures and statistics for anonymous
meetings has always seemed to me quite bizarre.
The 12-step programmes have, as far as I am concerned, a
100 per cent success rate, and this is because if everyone else
gets up and leaves and drinks or uses into tragedy as sadly
happened to Mr Hoffman, but I am still there, then surely it
follows that for a personal programme of recovery it has been
100 per cent successful with regard to myself.
Janet, 24 April
Absolutely upsetting article that tugged at my heart. The 12-
step fellowships save lives, instil hope and encourage
responsibility. There are thousands of meetings where
attendees help each other to stay away from their substance
of choice one day at a time and lead fulfilling lives. The writer
of this article does not understand the approach and I am
surprised you printed this on your front cover. I suggest he
does some research with his feet and attend at least three
conventions before he judges.
WHAT YOU’RE SAYING
On DDNMagazine Facebook page
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I have talked about my own experience,
but I have also seen others benefit greatly
from the programme and the support that
the fellowships give. I would not say that the
12 steps are the only way, but they are very
effective for some people.
Marc Meyer, by email
A FIRST STEP
One can agree with Stanton Peele that there
is much to criticise in the original concept of
the 12 steps, but how many of today’s
groups actually run on the 1935 model?
Observers report that practices vary
considerably from one group to another.
Because the majority of residential
rehabs do nothing to flush out of an addict’s
body the store of drug metabolites and toxic
residues built up by prolonged addiction,
leakage of these back into the blood stream
is the main cause of restimulation of desire
and return to usage. So it is at the time of
such an unfortunate relapse that the
fellowship of a 12-step group provides the
support a wavering member needs to stay
on the track towards full recovery.
The missing factors in most rehabilitation
procedures are an understanding of the real
reason why individuals become addicts – plus
trained knowledge of effective and decades-
proven addiction recovery techniques.
The beauty of such training is that, in
addition to allowing an addict to cure him or
herself of alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, crack,
heroin, methadone and other already known
addictions, it provides an immediate
response to the ‘legal highs’ increasingly
available and preferred because they avoid
legal penalties.
Kenneth Eckersley, CEO Addiction Recovery
Training Services (ARTS)
REAL EVIDENCE
I have read your magazine for many years,
but never felt the need to write until I read
the Stanton Peele article. Anyone can
produce stats to debunk anything – look at
how the tobacco industry claimed smoking
was good for you and buried the research
stating otherwise.
My evidence may be anecdotal, but I am
like an awful lot of other people who have
recovered, and am still recovering, from chronic
drug and alcohol use and live a good life far
beyond just stopping drinking and using.
For him to suggest that people should
just sit and wait to ‘grow out of addiction’
places a death sentence on the likes of me
and condemns my family to a living hell.
Twelve step is not for everyone, I know, but it
works for me when all his other suggested
methods failed.
Keith Loughran, director,
Xroads Recovery, Wirral
MISDIRECTED RESENTMENT
Reading ‘A Step Too Far?’, one can’t help
but notice the absence of any reference
regarding the value of 12-step fellowship
meetings, which are actually the core of the
12-step tradition, rather than 12-step
facilitation within a treatment context.
Literally millions of individuals worldwide
have saved their own lives and found
renewed meaning and purpose, as well as
restored self-esteem and confidence, by
attending fellowship meetings that are
mutually self-supportive, regardless of
personal awareness or understanding of the
mechanics of working the 12 steps.
It is not a requirement that individuals
become missionaries; rather, there is a
simple invitation to embrace abstinence and
apply a time-tested structure to their lives
that allows a person to recover from active
addiction through their own self-effort,
whether or not they actually work the steps.
Attendance at meetings is very often
sufficient for someone to at least arrest
active addiction and begin to recover by way
of meeting attendance and identification
with peers.
It sounds to me – reading between the
lines – that Mr Peele is in breach of the
universal medical ethic – ‘above all do no
harm’ – given that he is expressing his own
personal opinion, which might negatively
influence someone who would benefit from
embracing abstinence-based recovery within
the framework of the 12 steps.
There is a verse in the Bhagavad Gita:
‘The wise person does not disturb the mind
of the unwise... rather, they help them
accept their lot in life...’ The philosopher
Epictetus indicated that we are not
responsible for what life presents, although
we are responsible for how we react and we
therefore need to draw from within ourselves
the means to overcome contemporary
problems by way of personal self-discipline
within communal support.
Fellowship meetings provide the
framework for such support and will survive
far, far beyond the period when Mr Peele’s
personal opinion, misdirected resentment
and misunderstanding has faded into
nothingness.
John Graham, by email
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