Is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) a Cult? | Andrew Huberman - Anna Lembke, M.D. 

Andrew Huberman asks Dr. Anna Lembke some burning questions about whether or not Alcoholics Anonymous and the Recovery Community can be addictive. Dr. Lembke responds with deep wisdom and compassion and the two have a brilliant chat.

I attended AA and found people with huge egos, sexual predators and gossipers. I’m still sober and sane without the rooms and God keeps me on the straight and narrow.

I have never attended a single AA meeting. 2 years sober now thanks in large part to Fit Recovery.

After trying AA and NA for years it left me very damaged 💔, I have now turned my life over to Jesus as he is the only one can save me. There are good people in the meetings but there is alot of sick people as well that can be very hurtful. I hope they come to see the truth sometime. God bless them and all of you❤❤❤

After 20 years in AA, I decided that it was time for me to move on. Yes, AA helped me to rid alcohol from my life but I saw that many people were being prevented from achieving their full potential by substituting one addictive behavior for another. Is AA helpful? Yes, but as with so many things, there is definitely a point of diminishing returns.

I never heard of a cult that tells you to do whatever you want and they'll love you anyway. Of course people want to be around others who understand them. I tried to do it on my own for a long time, lots of times. AA is about love and service. Alcoholics need each other. I have never felt so good in my whole life. I have never been so happy

Yes I was treated badly I was treated v v badly after sharing the story of how things are going in my life, I will no longer expose myself to this Call it a 'resentment' if you wish however I now respect myself to not be demeaned and used from now on.

Yes. I have no doubt about it. My husband is a 30 year member and loves going to meetings every day. He was never home for dinner with the kids and I. He eats in front of the television when he gets home. He finds meetings even on vacation. He is highly esteemed in the group because he has 30 years of sobriety and has never relapsed once. We have been married for 20 years and have completely different friendship circles. All of his friends are in the program. I maintain my long term friends but we are “normies” and he doesn’t like to be around them because they do occasionally drink (bbq, football games, etc). He only attends AA functions and I don’t. Our marriage is coming to an end soon as our kids are almost 18. I can tell you this, I will NEVER date anyone who is in AA again!

I was in AA for over 25 years with 22 continuous sobriety. I was VERY young when I joined - I was SA’d by an “old timer” and when I spoke of it they said I wouldn’t have gone to his house if I didn’t want anything more! I was 20 he was 50 - I thought he was going to tell me the key to recovery! I left after 2 friends committed suicide and then were blamed for it and my sponsee had a mug of hot coffee thrown over her by a woman who had in the past punched me in the face - when she told me I said “oh she’s mental she punched me 5 years ago” and my sponsee said “why didn’t you tell me she was dangerous?”…… I realised I couldn’t say to new comers come here you will be safe -

I had an AA sponsor that committed suicide after relapsing. I'm not sure if being a pillar of AA had something to do with it. However, I'm not convinced that it didn't.

AA helped get me sober, but if i stayed, i would have relapsed. There's a lot of manipulation behind the scenes in some AA groups, and people are encouraged to stop taking medication like Anti Depressants and ADHD meds, etc. All of these have nothing to do with giving up Alcahol but everything to do with a sponsors ego and control. There are a lot of good people in AA, but it's far from perfect. I maintain a few friends i made while i was in the rooms, but when i stopped going to the meetings, i was ghosted by a lot of so called friend's. Have been out of AA for 18 months and am still happily sober but it took quite some time to feel comfortable about leaving the rooms such is the element of control behind it.

The combined wisdom in the rooms and the moral boost I got from seeing people recover was a gift when I entered AA. The only danger of AA is becoming addicted to AA!!! I attend two meetings a week and have never attended more than two, even during "early recovery" I go back to shine a little light on the misery that is addiction. I do not depend on meetings to stay sober, or my sponsor and I have a healthy life outside the rooms, this is key to avoid becoming dependent on AA

I am not an addict. I DO have power over the fact that I used to use meth heavily, and that I USED TO BE addicted. I am not powerless over the former addiction I had.

I made a huge mistake a few years back and was forced to attend AA as part of my sentencing from an alcohol related criminal case. It was the absolute worst most depressing experience ever. I think it keeps people alcoholics.

AA wasn't designed to be at AA meetings every day. Recovery helps people be part of the productive society that many seem to have rejected. I go to an AA meeting now and then and find them relaxing and informative. Not regular but did when I was fighting the bottle. It worked for me but not all. I haven't needed a drink for 38 years now.

The few AA meetings I tried I went straight to the liquor store afterwards since all we had talked about for 90 minutes in those meetings was booze. Nevermind the akward hand holding and chant at the end. 14 months sober using supplements to reduce PAWS, youtube videos as inspiration, and replacing booze with healthier outlets (weight lifting, hiking, reading, etc.)

When your life is on the line…you take whatever works that relieves the craving and obsession. When you find that you’re saved.

Not a positive addiction, at all. AA contributed to the fact that i stayed stuck in a relapse cycle and get “clean” for ten years. Because they are convinced they’re “sick and powerless” so i also became sick and powerless. Once i left AA is when i truly began to heal my wounds and patterns between god and i. Not some weird old men sitting in a room crying everyday lol. 😆 i understand the need for community, but bringing a bunch of people together who are convinced the only thing wrong with them is their patterns, not their actual character flaws is a recipe for destruction, and low standards. I knew more people inside AA that have died from OD than outside. Anyways im making a video about it ~ i have too much to say.

I became sober and stayed sober inspite of everyone forcing AA on me as an atheist!! It did a lot of mental harm and couldn’t focus on my recovery until I left it for good ❤

Don’t over intellectualize things. It’s very simple. And it works.

I wanted and needed AA when I first got sober. I needed to discuss and listen to other people who had walked through the same process. It also helped to know other people had a sense of calm and peace in their lives. I do not buy into the statement "never have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path"... those who do not or cannot are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves". I am 25 years sober and never "followed that path". Guess that's why i never fit in.. lol.

This isn't a new idea, I heard this when i was in grad school. But AA is very effective. It's also a community, which is what a lot of people need.

This is how I realized I'm not really an addict. I hate intense highs and lows. For me, drinking was a way to cope with depression and I became very addicted to it physically. I could never get sober in AA. I never got the high others got there. I finally went to rehab and finally found out I was bipolar. After being on the right medications I have no desire to drink or get drunk. Meetings still don't give me a high like they do others. I really grateful to know finally what was going on. I still have friends who are in AA. Most of them are on the fringes if it though.

If giving up something is the main part of your identity, however serious and real addiction is, I dont think your choosing other hobbies and interests enough or really living

I've been sober for 2 years now, never been to an AA meeting. I do have multiple friends who are AA. Even though I connect with them because we don't drink and do healthy related activities together, I always feel there is something off about AA, they seem to be forced to believe that they are "sick" or "damaged" in order to be able to resist alcohol, instead of pointing the finger to alcohol and the culture around it, they point the finger at themselves. I mean, I understand that the main purpose works, many of them been sober for more than a decade, but the method just doesn't give me the correct vibe.

She has no idea about what really happens in AA.

I really tried with AA but it just started feeling a little creepy. It also didn't keep me sober. Today is day 9 without alcohol after a year long relapse.

I drank the AA kool-aid and I am actually happy. I did change most of my friends because they are drinking and doing drugs and that's about it. They work to pay the bars. They have very little money even though they all make 6 figures. In 2 years I have gone from broken and hopeless to having money and options for spending it. I am going to Europe for the first time in my life and I am looking forward to meeting overseas members of AA and going to meetings. AA works if you work it. At least it has for me. The life I had been leading was miserable and pointless.

Hell yes!! Went to those places not my thing it's a different kind of cult and I do see the people and have friends that it has worked for but they're not healthy in any way shape or form😢😢😢😢😢😢

Love these comments! Good to see other people have saw through the bullshit and stopped praying to a doorknob for sobriety 😂👌 If you know you know!!!!

As Jordan Peterson says, you need something better in your life. AA isn't the only way, although they say it is.

Sober people do not discuss the faults of others. They stick to their own. Can't get anybody drunk, can't get anybody sober.

Great video! It is very Insightful and shows different points of view on a complex issue! Love this stuff!

I go to AA . Been recovered/ sober along time. Yes we say recovered in our text book. The men in AA who guided me through our program in the book taught me that we dont have the marker cornered on getting sober/recovered. They taught me that the fellowship is the fellowship which is different from the program/ meetings. Fellowships in AA can absolutly become spirituallly sick if they do not adhere to the traditions of AA and take group inventories and that has nothing to do with time without alcohol. My hope is that everyone continue to grow spiritually and sometimes that means we gotta step back from groups that become sick.blessings to all.

As a long-term member of aa I advise you to NOT share .Don't get a sponsor because they are likely to be incompetent and do not do step 12.

Finally people are raising their voices, these 12 programs are very dangerous, i was part of it for years

Seriously, I was duped into believing I was an alcoholic because I was addicted to weed, and I get anxiety after drinking. I never thought about alcohol so much as after I went to these goddamned meetings. I've have never had a drink after a night out, and I haven't exceeded a bottle of wine in the past year during an evening. Getting shoved into a room with people talking about drinking Listerine and stuff is so far away from something I would even consider, like its not even on my map. Then we have the constant blathering on about God and crap, literally 50% of the 12 steps is religious crap. Nobody there is a psychiatrist, doctor, or have read any other literature than the crap that AA shoves down your throat. They keep on insisting that alcoholism is a disease, which is so far from the truth its ridiculous. Addiction is a mental disorder, not a disease. Having close to 0 self esteem is part of how you relapse to whatever you are addicted to, and then having a whole room of people applauding you simply for showing up can indeed be intoxicating, especially if you are lonely, depressed, anxious and have hit rock bottom. Cut out all people who use in your life, if they do not respect your sobriety, and when it comes to drugs, remove all those people from your life. AA isn't going to make you not drink, that is completely up to you, and nobody else.

100% YES!!!

In clicking this video, I was hoping to see two people having a conversation: hear their voices, see their faces, to get their total meaning. Instead, I saw a stream of random images, with occasional floating-font notes. The resultant disparity creates dissonance between auditory + visual processing. To me, the message is totally muddled. Yech. As to AA being a "cult", that term "cult" is an unfair label. It’s especially unfair because AA does *NOT* make demands like: group-only social contact, selling all your worldly goods "for the cause", oathes of fealty, etc. . . AA works because it deals with fundamental elements of human nature. Its bedrock principles are honesty, humility, and a recognition that we humans are social creatures with a need for person-to-person connection. Note: each AA group has its own character. It is, after all, a group of people. Fair warning: like any group, beware of human frailties (gossip, hostility, manipulation, desire for power + control). From the Big Book: "we are not saints".

I would ask then, would not their (AAers) equal propensity to disavow or refuse to hear at all, any negative criticisms of their 'cult'--however well-founded (reports of sexual predation; foregoing medication, therapy, family, relationships; financial and labour exploitation by sponsors, etc.)--bring the general integrity of AA into question? It would seem to clearly belie their much-vaunted claim of open-mindedness. Most AA types I've met, have struck me immediately as being gross hypocrites and masses of contradiction, merely resorting to the spouting of insipid bromides and platitudes, when challenged--if not direct insults.

I've been sober for 11 years. I attend 2 meetings a week. I sponsor. I do believe it can be addictive. But AA is not a cult. You aren't dragged back if you wish to leave

I saw this right away as soon as I tried aa. It was so clear to me that people in aa benefit from the dopamine hit on meetings and the “community “ - the vigorous clapping, the reliving of things and sharing. The enthusiasm and pity on current drinkers and newcomers. It’s just… a lot.

So sad so many folks have had bad experiences:( Been such a positive force in my life. Not the only way just the way for me. Lots of good friends in and out of AA.

I went aa and na for many years but ir didn't work for me I took on my own path I pray and worship God off my own understanding I was bouncing off walls at meetings people were leading me astray I did it all alone in end one day at a time recovery is possible I had people using Me for money and taken advantage so I now do my own recovery.

If it's a cult, then who is it's leader?

I don't go no more I go online for resources and pray and do other things for my recovery.

If it's a cult it is the most disorganized, discombobulated cult in the world. Like every other organization it has it's good and bad points. It's not for everyone and should not be considered the only way to get sober and maintain that soberity.

I love AA, but mostly because I hit a range of mtgs. Tbh, I've gotten some of the most spiritual support from atheist groups. 😊 All I can say re: cult is that it seems a bit like semantics. I'm grateful to hear about ANYONE getting sober. Quibbling over modalities, on my part, would be disingenuous. Regardless of whether it's a disease or not, I was on my way to death via drinking and drugs. I met folks who had been thru the same exact thing, followed their suggested 'program' and haven't wanted to use - and haven't - for 26 years. Fwiw, I tried rehabs and other things. AA just worked for me. And I'm glad that I never knew about the low odds of getting and staying sober. Maybe it would have discouraged me! Take care to all.

Why would anyone go to the trouble to make content critical of AA? Seems weird. Are there people who get recovery wrong? Probably, for sure. Would everyone be better off if they didn’t go at all and just kept drinking and using? No. The tools are there within the program. It’s a safe place for slow learners. If you can get it together another way, hat’s off to ya. Whatever works

Is AA a cult? Yes and No. AA as a whole is NOT a cult. AA is not a closed form of organization, however there are some groups that are run like a cult. They have dress codes and other re"suggestions" they impose on their members. Some oldtimers will put themselves above others in the group. AS a whole AA does not close their members off from the rest of the world, instead gives people an opportunity find support around people who had similar experiences.

There's a well known quote that encapsulate the situation for me: "Most people use statistics as a drunken man uses a lamppost - for support rather than illumination." The basic dynamic of any addiction is essentially one of "support" - whether that's supporting a way of feeling through a substance or behavior, or social support even if it is only in so far as recovery is concerned, and outside of the social hit of being validated from members who adhere to the script and identity, perhaps only reluctantly if at all. Of course support in this context can also be support in recovering from the particular addiction the particular group is addressing whether that's alcoholism or some other single behavior, but then there's the piece about illumination. People want it to work, but the question is do you need the comprehensive understanding and the insight pointed to by the word illumination, or does one not even care what the truth of the situation is and are just satisfied with being identified with the group and engaging in a lot of affirmation and confirmation bias so long as "it works"? The issue with this second attitude is what works is only a first order effect, even pro-AA/12 Step people will admit you don't automatically become a better person in every single way and context just from the program, though obviously it helps if one is not inebriated all the time but that's not looked at in a comprehensive or specific way, just generally better. (although there will be plenty of talk of miracles) Also when one solves one problem on a relatively superficial level sometimes it brings up other issues. Why are there non-substance programs on other issues that AA people end up getting involved in? But going back to the quote the drunkenness of the man leaning against the lamppost is using the post part only for support, rather than using the light to see. For those seeking to see the physical structure of the post is only incidental, you wouldn't even be able to see where the post is if the light wasn't on. Finally, I would hope to have a little more than "it works because it's a cult" from a professional like Lembke. The idea that it's better to be addicted to AA than to alcohol is also a first order concern and rather superficial. It may make sense in terms of early recovery but it doesn't qualify for a developmental trajectory. While I understand this is an excerpt from a longer conversation the way it is cropped out makes it sound like a false dilemma. Do we really have to engage in some form of the "healthier addiction" to replace another? And for those that believe AA and 12 Step can be more, do they agree it is only a healthier addiction or can the program be worked in a different way?

I'm in my 50s and yes I'm an alcoholic and addict. The reason is because going through this world sober or even trying to get help...sucks. Thought I might try AA but after reading the comments. I think I will just have another margarita.

I disagree that it's a "good idea" to become addicted to the cult of AA because there are so many aspects that can be psychologically harmful because of the fear-mongering and shame/guilt induced religious aspects. Maybe it's a bit better than being addicted to meth and living on the streets, but there are reasons beneath the surface of addiction that are able to be resolved in a way that dependence on anything outside of oneself can be achieved. AA does not present any other options other than itself to be happy in life if you are someone who has suffered from addiction. The limitation in that is damaging and can cause individuals to remain stuck at a level of self-development that may never allow them to live fully empowered lives. I spent years in the program to only discover how it was keeping me from really healing myself and the underlying causes of my addictive behaviors and tendencies. I feel like I got lucky, because there is no exit strategy from the cult of AA.

I have been in AA for two years without a slip. I go to a meeting every week sometimes two depending. That works for me. Being around a group of people that suffered and didn’t know how to quit. I tried to quit on my own over and over and it never worked. If it was a cult or religious based I would not attend. My life has been forever changed in so many amazing ways. Will I attend the rest of my life? That’s hard to say. Some do, some don’t.

If your not alcoholic u wont get it you have to ba an ally 24yrs sober with going to aa

To me it's a cult. Great if it works for you but know going in, AA's "success rate" is abysmal.

So I will say this not everyone is real in AA meetings people that 13 step or people that stays away from there responsibilities because of meetings are not doing 12 step the right way...its supposed to teach how to help others and find a comfort in a higher power...when people find loop holes and the eaiser way they go that way. Were addicts and Alcoholics and most still act out as there stuck in there addictions . And these people make others hate AA being selfish and manipulative for there gain is not 12step and anything told to you is a suggestion not and order .

Just quit drinking. If AA helps you that's good. What is gained by attacking someone else's freedom to join a club in which people value sobriety?

AA,,is a spiritual not a religious program.. AA is for those who want it not need it. (btw...AA is not a cult.)

Yes they are very cult minded

On a personal note, I have followed Andrew for quite a while. His physiology lectures are great, but when he gets personal with guests or other podcasts it becomes clear that this is a human that is struggling with his own addiction challenges with substances and sex.

Thank you! I got clean with MAT and therapy. I am mentally ill. I know that first. My sons dad got clean no MAT only traditionally AA, sponsor, group, 12 steps, halfway house etc. As soon as his job wanted him to go to another city for a few weeks he relapsed. I just don’t believe in it myself you get addicted to the meetings instead of actually curing the problem. The “one solution” and “big book” is so cult like I just couldn’t do it that way. I like going to meetings but I don’t need them

Im not a fan of AA. It is limiting and predatorial. Been sober few years and leaving AA was best choice I ever made have the best life ever.

I keep going to meetings to share my experience strength and hope for the newcomer because in the end that's our primary purpose, is sharing the message of hope to the next addict or alcoholic that still suffers , some people do forget where they came from and look down on the new people, just don't let shitty people keep u from sharing the message to someone who needs it

I think of AA as any other group that goes to church. The Steps give addicts/alcoholics hope. I am not heavily into AA but it has helped tremendously. I do believe the people that run sober living, IOP's, recovery centers and get together for events ALL THE TIME to promote their facility, etc. are extremely superficial and more about who you know. It's a desire to belong to this cool inner-circle where everyone knows them for what they have achieved. Not for the 'anonymity' and recovery of the little guy.

Some People have the need to connect peer to peer especially if you’re an extrovert. For extrovert like me isolating myself makes my depression worse and drinking CAN be related to depression. Calling it a cult is a stretch imo.

AA is NOT A CULT! U can leave/quit at any time or day u want to. Happens all the time! No one can force u to stay at an AA meeting. A real cult would NEVER allow this to happen!

I go to meetings currently because I’m more or less mandated too but I think the program is a joke they say you’re powerless against drugs or alcohol they say it’s a disease why don’t they just put up a big thing that says I’m going to make every excuse in the world.now they repeat the same stuff the meetings are depressing I have never really had a super good sponsor I think the whole thing is a joke.

AA is what you make it. Take what you need. And leave the rest. Its that simple!

This misses the whole point of aa as a spiritual programme. 12 step programmes, as anything can be used as an addiction. For sure. But that is not the point of these programmes. Spiritual awakening and liberation is. Not replacing addiction with another addiction.

Cults are usually defined as an organisation which cuts you off from 'wordly people' and outside information. In AA we're encouraged to rebuild the bridges we've burnt. People will encourage you to 'get a job', or 'go back to school'. If someone wants to leave, they leave; no repercussions. They always get a warm welcome should they wish to return. It's not really a cult, but I do like the kudos being in a 'cult' confers. 🙂

Rehab only puts you onto several drugs! Another addiction; psychiatrists put you on drugs too. The drugs made me crazy. Thank God i quit

Yes I've been sober for 23 years. And yes there are people who have no life outside of AA and I think it's so sad. I love AA I love the program. I love my church. My life it's not centered in AA. My life is better because of AA but my life does not revolve around AA

works for some, I think that people need to find what works best for them, if it doesn't work for you just move on and find something that works for you,

Omg it is a community. Have any of you guys done the steps? I dont think you have and it shows.

I have been to rehabs and I immediately got the cult vibes. The cliques, the your not fully in recovery while taking suboxone short term. The first aa meeting I was brought to I identified as an addict and was immediately harped on about "we say alcoholic here" was jarring and only having 10 days clean and my first rehab it wasn't inviting at all. Now not all meetings are the same. But I honestly think you can get something out of it, but eventually it's just like I wanna live a sober life without identifying as an addict my whole life, and just constantly hearing the war stories just gets old. I did the first 4 steps and that was it. I have relapsed a couple times but I have been sober about 6 years. I don't remember the exact date or even month I got clean just another thing they want you to remember. I think it's fine for some people and does not work for a majority.

Your wrong you can be addictive to the word of God that's the best addiction ever ma'am 🙏

AA the drug of magical thinking. I laugh when i recall a member making out God suspended the laws of Physics in her area and that was how she made it on time to the meeting. It was almost a Beam me and my car up Scottie😂. No such thing as perhaps she got green traffic lights all the way. Perhaps the traffic was lighter. Perhaps the traffic was moving faster. Perhaps she got alot of chances to overtake other drivers. NO GOD DID IT FOR HER. She has 6 yrs sobriety and a deluded mind from this cult.

It’s a Cult

I always knew talking about a problem like this won't solve the problem, but it definitely makes it easier to cope with. But it's imperative to find a plan that works for you and work that plan. There's isn't problem with cherry picking what AA has to offer There's really is to many people addicted to AA

I notice (which seems the case, with most of these such videos) that they purposely avoid discussing how irritating most regular people find these recovery types, with their obsession with their 'recovery.' It's not society's responsibility, to accommodate these types, but quite the converse, that these individuals need learn to be conformant to the conventions of society. But then, these addiction treatment industry types don't want to say anything disparaging, lest they bite the hand that feeds them, That probably explains AA's sacrosanct status. But in reality, it's not that AA is really given a fuck about, but merely that its continued existence, is financially conducive. An excellent example, would be where no one condemns rehabs existing, but just as long as it doesn't exist, next door to them. But then I think, all so-called addiction treatment is charlatanism, anyway, and merely a revenue source. Of course, it'll be propagandized, no end.

Ok so. Whats the difference between addictions and habits?

Have you read the big book? I didn't think so.

The word "cult" is a gotcha word. Anything can be classified a "cult"

So being addicted to a group who supports you rather than drugs and alcohol is negative, come on.

Comments are biased especially when presenters do not have all the answers concerning addiction .trying to fit people into lame theories is BS😂

Judging by the comments it sounds like AA in the United States is in bad shape. I did my recovery in London and I had a wonderful time of it. In this country no one is ordered to attend AA by courts. That's a fucking terrible idea. The original AA program was developed among late stage alcoholics for whom there was no other known treatment, meetings were invitation only and new members were recruited from hospitals. The spiritual techniques in the Big Book are very drastic and require absolute commitment in order for them to work. Contrary to popular belief, AA is not talk therapy. The core of the program is spiritual: the age old goal of achieving union with God aka divinization or theosis. The idea is for the alcoholic to become a new creation. Even after reading the Big Book, many people do not sufficiently appreciate the drastic nature of the program, which developed out of the first century Christianity practiced by the Oxford Group. The reason AA members continue going to meetings is to pass on what they have received to the newcomer. There is a saying: "in order to keep it, you have to give it away." This is how things work in the spiritual economy.

Here's the rub. AA is not any more effective than anything else

I’m 4 years sober now but still waiting to pay me back 50k

I would totally disagree with your assessment of AA being a cult. I does have cult like figures. But what you neglected to mention is the 12 Traditions. I have been sober for over 40 years. I gave up smoking 37 years ago and I don’t take any drugs whatsoever. My addiction to Tea is one of my vices. Trust me I am human with my own faults and failures. One AA meeting per week. And I ain’t poplar and I certainly don’t sponsor any one because sponsorship is misunderstood and misused

It’s basically a cult. Maybe it doesn’t tick every box on the “cult checklist,” but rarely does anything tick every box in its respective category. It’s a common defense to say, for instance, “X isn’t a genocide because it didn’t meet Y criteria,” when in reality X was a terrible, man-made tragedy that targeted a specific ethnic group at a specific place and time. At the end of the day, who cares if it ticked every box? The result was pain and suffering which could have been avoided. In this way, AA might as well be called a cult. It controls people’s lives, isolates them from their greater communities, feeds them lies about themselves and others, etc. who cares if they don’t have a centralized structure or a charismatic leader? The effect on individual members is the same regardless.

There is a lot of nonsense told about all that drug and alcohol addicted people and the AA cult. There are many people leaving those strange kind of cults like AA - for sure.

Does AA truly meet the criteria of a cult?

aa success rate for over 1 year sobriety is around 2 %..........................aa works for a few but for most not

That's very true, all they talk about is there story!! They turned to self love.

She sounds like typical know it all with no reference point

I’d say AA is cult like but they lack a central leader and cults really need that. I don’t go to AA anymore and I don’t drink either. I don’t hangout with people who drink too much and we go half a year without even mentioning it. When I was in AA we never shut up about alcohol. It was all we talked about. I think hearing about it constantly made me more likely to drink. I quit drinking because I hate alcohol. I’m not tempted to do something I hate.

Narcissists anonymous!!

Yes 🙌 it happened to me.

Or...a group of alcoholics get togther to discuss living life on lifes terms without drinking if it causes them problems.