"less than average" is pretty scary when you consider that AA's success rate is under 20%. Part of that is because of their goal of total abstinence though. I tried AA a few years ago, but I don't believe I am powerless and don't believe in a higher power. I only went to a few meetings. They tried to be accommodating and had some watered down steps for atheists but it still had a cult like vibe and I felt a lot of pressure to become a believer. I quit drinking for about 18 months and was at some meetings from about months 2 through 4. After the 18 months of abstinence, I went another 5 years or so of infrequent responsible social drinking before it became a problem again.
A few years ago, I started treating it like self administered medicine. It was partly because I was in denial about BP for a long, long time and managed to get a diagnosis of depression and ADHD instead. So when I had insomnia (actually hypomania), the sleep meds didn't work. I was unusually clever when I had trouble sleeping so I knew when it said "alcohol may intensify this effect" that was actually a tip, not a warning.
I make good money, but I drank cheap stuff because sneaky, sneaky. My wife does the finances. Some nights I would have a can of the 24 oz 12% ABV (more recently they changed to 14% because more is better) Loko or a 750 ml bottle of cheap Chardonnay, which is also generally 12% ABV. I would buy them individually so I would not have another handy.
Then I happened across Big Sipper wine. 5L box for about $12. If I shrank my dose slightly, I would be able to get 7 out of it. Or I could make it a little bigger and get 6. You can probably guess which I chose and what happened next, though maybe not as bad as you might think. I would usually get 4 and a couple of times only 3.
I worked the ADHD angle for Adderall and then worked the doctor - "the Adderall XR keeps me awake at night; can you give me immediate release? The immediate release is great except a lot of days I start losing focus again after lunch..." I saw a thread over in relationships where a guy was worried about taking a 12mg tab before going out and another 6mg later. I was taking 30 or 40mg with breakfast before work.
I recently decided I really need to address the BP properly when one of my kids was diagnosed. I went to a new pdoc - surprise! I still have it. Mood stabilizers instead of anti-depressants help a lot. The pdoc picked up on the giant red flag on my med list right away. The conversation went something like this - "WTF?" - "I got nuthin'" - and that's the end of that. Actually, stepping down to switch she considered maybe keeping me on a low dose, but that's not going to happen.
Then in the interest of total openness, I came clean about other prescriptions in the recent past for pain and "really bad coughs". The conversation with my primary was hard. She is younger and treats me with respect. I teared up while telling her and when I looked up, she was crying too. I will never switch primaries unless forced to by circumstances.
I came clean with my wife and she locked up remaining meds. She tends to be passive aggressive and the trust issue is one of the most powerful weapons she has ever had. So she is proud I came clean, but...