“AA didn’t fail me. Midtown did.”

“AA didn’t fail me. Midtown did.” @alabamaamanda’s conclusion is direct. In the written caption to her December 20, 2024 Instagram reel, she describes seven years in a group she says used recovery to exercise control. She supports AA while condemning what she experienced in Midtown.

The restrictions she describes

According to her caption, the rules included:

• Being barred from attending other AA meetings.
• Discouragement from seeking medical care or therapy.
• Restrictions on most medications and treating mental-health difficulties as personal or spiritual failings.
• Shunning people who questioned leadership.

She also alleges that older men acting as sponsors groomed and manipulated young women, including her. She describes continuing effects on her sense of herself, her relationships, and her faith. These are allegations from her public account; this site has not independently established the events.

Answer the allegations

A defense of AA does not answer an allegation about misconduct within a particular group. Her account calls attention to specific practices: isolation, interference with care, sexual manipulation, and punishment for dissent. Address those practices directly.

No sponsor should demand control over another person’s relationships or make obedience the price of support. A member’s right to ask questions and seek outside help must survive disagreement with the group.

Hear her words

Read the full caption and watch @alabamaamanda’s original reel. Follow the source before repeating a claim, and preserve her distinction between AA and the conduct she attributes to Midtown.

Source note: This post summarizes the reel’s written caption. It is not a transcript of the video or an independent investigation of the events described.

Put the record to work

Read the warning signs of coercive control. Share the source links. If you have firsthand information, send an account or correction or email midtowncult@proton.me. Tell us whether your message is private or may be considered for publication.