I attend a 12-step meeting for a different addiction. I have friends in AA, NA, and various other groups as well. We all have had the experience that being a part of a meeting, having people there that we are regularly accountable to and who give us support, is crucial.
The steps are not just about alcohol or addiction. When they talk about taking a fearless moral inventory, when they talk about making amends, when they talk about rigorous honesty, they are providing a new way of living that is a basis for maintaining a healthy attitude which keeps me free from turning to that addiction.
Trying to fight temptation by "white-knuckling it" usually does not work. Instead, the key for me is to cultivate a whole different mind-set, and that is what entering into the "culture" of regular meeting attendance and working the steps brings about. I then become the kind of person who is more likely to remain sober.
That's been my experience at any rate. I wish you the best.
