12 Steps to Dead - Softcover

Ankermann, Rolf

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0988796430 ISBN 13: 9780988796430

Publisher: Intuitive Action LLC, 2015

Synopsis

For Stevie McGrath, it was all about the music. At least that’s what he kept telling himself for the last 28 years as he drank and drugged away the pain and memories of that trauma filled night. When the band told him to clean up his act or get out, he turned to the rooms of AA to help him get through. He thought he was going to be fine until he was forced to revisit those dark secrets. They should have left it alone. Christopher Adams had it all, the seven figure Wall Street career, the beautiful wife, two perfect kids and the tail wagging dog. The question was, why was he drinking it all away? Having gotten on the CEO of Squire Investments’ last nerve, Chris was given the choice of immediately entering The Serenity Surrender Center’s 30 day rehab program or of joining the ranks of the unemployed. He chose the former and lived to regret it. Sharon Cooper was an aspiring actress and model. The challenge of getting jobs and the pressure to maintain her perfect good looks, however, was starting to take its toll. She was acutely aware that her stress reduction method of drinking and taking pain meds certainly wasn’t helping that cause. At the urging of her good friend Stevie, she checked out a 12 Step meeting where she was told that there were caring, nonjudgmental folks just waiting to help support her. She had no idea what she was in for. All three of these lifelong friends had reached a crossroads in their lives and had no way of knowing that a harsh and brutal turning point would culminate at the same intersection. It was a tumultuous encounter in which only two would come out alive.

About this title

About the Author

When Rolf Ankermann wrote his non-fiction book, The Freedom to Recover, his intent was to expose AA’s lack of efficacy in terms of helping people address and overcome their alcohol dependencies. The organization’s premise that one must declare themselves as being powerless over alcohol and that in order to get well that they must surrender both their will and their lives to some higher power of their own choosing, is both ineffective and downright damaging. At best, the 12 Step methodology offers a placebo effect for those that buy in and believe that either God, the AA group itself or some other declared higher power, will miraculously cure them if they worship and pray to it as told to do in the program’s dogmatic Steps. The truth of the matter is that these disempowering mandates go counter to the logical and common sense conclusion that positive cognitive behavioral changes can only occur when one believes in his or her ability to effect such changes in their own lives. Rolf’s opinion which is shared by many is that alcoholism is not a disease but rather, it’s a response to other underlying issues. The physical addiction that develops over years of heavy use is very real, however, once one makes the DECISION to go through the withdrawal process, what’s left to figure out and subsequently overcome, is why one resorted to self-medicating away their pain in the first place. Mr. Ankermann’s novel, 12 Steps to Dead, takes on and exposes many of the attributes of the AA fellowship that has left many who have been exposed to its teachings, with feelings of guilt, failure and depression. This program with no oversight, can lead vulnerable people into a state of hopelessness and sometimes, sadly, much worse. AA meetings are a virtual feeding ground for predatory beings looking to take advantage of people. Being told that you are diseased for life, that you are full of character defects (sins) and that you must continually relive your sordid past looking for your “part” in it all, can lead to some unpleasant results. Finally, being told that you will die if you leave the “fellowship” can very easily lead one to believe they are trapped and to just give up. AA is a “recovery program” with no exit plan that espouses the idea that the best that one can hope to achieve is to live out their life as a “recovering alcoholic” “one day at a time” for eternity.

Edition details

• Publisher: Intuitive Action LLC
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0988796430
• ISBN 13: 9780988796430
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 322
• Editor: Wendrow Jill