Many people either skip AA meetings by trying to do things on their own and/or don't understand the long term effects and benefits that those meetings can offer.
"Researchers found that recovering alcoholics who helped others in the program had better outcomes in terms of time sober, consideration of others, and long-term meeting attendance." -PsychCentral.com
The chemical dependency counseling community has always supported AA meetings and Sober Living enviorments, but now after this study, it's an essential part of recovery.
"“Our study is the first to explore the 10-year course of engagement in programmatic 12-step activities and their simultaneous influence on long-term outcomes,” Pagano said.“The AAH findings suggest the importance of getting active in service, which can be in a committed 2-month AA service position or as simple as sharing one’s personal experience in recovery to another fellow sufferer.”" -PsychCentral.com
"This study also found that alcoholics engaged in AAH did more step-work and attended more meetings than those not helping others. In effect, AAH strengthens the commitment to the program that many newcomers have difficulty with in the beginning." -PsychCentral.com
Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/07/active-participation-in-aa-improves-l...
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