Suggested Reading
Dr. J.N., New York, NY, January, 2000 "High Bottom
Drunk may prove to be the definitive work on addiction and recovery,
and I think I've read them all. HBD should be required reading for
everyone who is old enough to pour a drink or roll a joint."
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D.C. AA Chapter a Cult continued
Members allegedly told her to cut ties with anyone outside the group, deleted the phone book from her cell phone, and pressed her to stop taking medication for her bipolar disorder. Clancy said that the younger members of the group were expected to perform menial labor for older members, and were encouraged to sleep with them, as well.
Clancy said she only realized how dysfunctional the Midtown program was when she left and began attending another AA meeting. She joined a large group of former Midtown members called the Concerned Friends Group that has blasted Midtown for misusing the AA name and has sought to expel the group from the churches where its meetings are held. Concerned Friends members also have complained to police, but an investigation found no evidence of criminal acts.
Criticism of the Midtown group has been somewhat muted, however, by the combination of stigma and AA's tradition of anonymity, which has made some former members reluctant to publicly condemn the group. Likewise, no current members of Midtown agreed to be interviewed by Newsweek on the record, although they defended the program and said critics were either jealous, vengeful, or deluded.
Former members like Lauren Dougherty have been more outspoken. She said she attended Midtown meetings 11 years ago as a teenager and was assigned an AA sponsor rather than choosing one. Dougherty said that members told her to cut off friends from her old life, even those who did not drink, and to get an "AA boyfriend." The final straw was when she was pressured to have sex with other members, she said.
Kristen, 26, another former Midtown member, said her sponsor cursed her out when she announced that she was leaving the group. "You will drink," Kristen recalled the older man telling her. "You will fail. You will die."
"I was so tired of being afraid all the time," she said. "I'd rather die than be in Midtown again."
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