What is Alcoholics Anonymous?
'''Alcoholics Anonymous''' (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship.<ref>{{cite document|title=AA Preamble|publisher=Alcoholics Anonymous|url=http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/smf-92_en.pdf|access-date=Sep 5, 2020}}</ref> Its purpose is to help [[alcoholism|alcoholics]] quit drinking and help people stay [[sober]]. AA gives men and women a place to come together and share their experiences, recover from [[alcoholism]] and maintain sobriety. Its concept revolves around that [[premise]] that alcoholism is an [[Disease|illness]] that can be managed, but not controlled.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Glaser|first=Story by Gabrielle|title=The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous|work=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-irrationality-of-alcoholics-anonymous/386255/|access-date=2020-12-28|issn=1072-7825}}</ref> AA was founded by Bill Wilson and his physician, Doctor Bob Smith in 1935 and eventually grew to include two more groups by 1939. That same year, Wilson published Alcoholics Anonymous, a text which explained its philosophy and methods. We know it today as the [[12 Steps of recovery]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 12 Steps Of AA {{!}} Alcoholics Anonymous Program|url=https://www.alcohol.org/alcoholics-anonymous/|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Alcohol.org|language=en-US}}</ref> Over the years, the 12 Steps have been adapted by other self-help and addiction recovery groups, such as [[Gamblers Anonymous]] and [[Narcotics Anonymous]], to those struggling with other forms of addiction. Additionally, many groups have changed the explicitly [[Christian]] overtones of the original 12 Steps to reflect more secular or [[Agnosticism|agnostic]] philosophies. ==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Medical and health organizations]] [[Category:Addiction]]