Atheism

That’s true. My wife has been sober for more than a year now. She went to AA meetings and did therapy. We are both atheist, and she really hated the religious part of the AA program, but talking with people that went through similar experiences really helped her.

in the US religion, specifically Christians, have a corner on "healing".

want to talk to a therapist? they'll always bring up God or a higher power.

want to talk to a doctor? they work at a facility that's affiliated with a religious doctrine.

need to have surgery? it's a a faith based hospital.

want to get sober? enjoy the calming sounds of the Bible being thumped over your head.

now, there are exceptions to this, but the majority stands that religious belief is a cornerstone to all health and medical facilities in America.

it's really fucked up when you think about it. Imagine going in for surgery and someone comes in to start praying for a successful operation. like...that doesn't give me the highest vote of confidence in the knowledge and talents of the staff that's literally going to cut me open from belly to sternum and peak around at what even I have never seen.

Addiction is mostly away to avoid thinking or feeling about something. “Getting better” is a combination of resolving current situations, tolerating the internal distress, and learning new, healthy ways to deal.

I'm not a fan of bundling this under “medicine” since I think it has as much more to do with philosophy, spirituality, and psycology than biochemistry, but adding medicine to control physical cravings certainly helps.

What you have heard about AA is true, I just want to make a couple clarifications. The first, or one of the first, steps of the alcoholics anonymous famous 12 step program is to submit yourself to a higher power. , but nowadays when it comes up they are quick to emphasize that this does not have to be God. It can be a rock or a pet or object, but their system is built off of that. That you must make yourself accountable to something and let it take over some of the decision making responsibilities. I've never been able to see this as anything other than religious thinking and feel it is a distinction without meaning, but if you end up discussing this with proponents of the system be ready for that curve ball. Secondly, to call it the USA system is not correct. It is just one addiction treatment option, though given US religiousity it is the biggest and most will known. Many others are also essentially the same process but a different organization. Where things get tricky is that people that are charged with crimes involving drugs or alcohol are offered leniency in sentencing on condition that they go through an approved addiction program, especially in remote areas AA is sometimes the only option. This has been challenged by atheists and I believe that the courts always end up allowing for them to use a non religious program, but that will only be the people that can afford to make another legal case based on their principals and are able to find an alternative addiction program to enroll in in their area.

Fun fact: you can get the same belief effect AA uses to fight addiction by giving someone LSD.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_Dreams_(book)

for some people it is simply easier to deal with hard things when there is a higher power as external authority to lean against. this can be misused for bad but also used creatively for good. mind has its ways of shaping itself. you can delude yourself into depression (or addiction) or out of it. when there is nothing inherently good or bad in the world the world can become quite meaningless, don't you think?