Eight years in an AA group she calls a cult: @complexis’s account

A personal account shared on TikTok by @complexis.

What happens when a group becomes the setting for nearly every part of a person’s life—family relationships, friendships, dating, and decisions about whom to trust?

In a series of public TikTok posts, @complexis shares an account of an AA group she describes as a cult. Her captions connect the story to the Midtown group. In the on-screen introduction to one June 2023 video, she describes spending eight years in that environment. Watch her account on TikTok.

Her videos give readers a way to encounter that experience in her own voice. The descriptions below are attributed to @complexis’s posts; the linked videos are the primary sources for her account.

Rules that reached into everyday relationships

In another June 2023 post, @complexis presents an on-screen list of rules she says applied in the group. Among the visible examples are restrictions on spending time with family without another group member present, dating only within the group, and an emphasis on following a sponsor’s direction. Watch the video about the group’s rules.

Those examples bring a particular question into focus: how much room does a person have to maintain relationships and make choices outside the group?

That is a useful question to carry into her account. A rule about whom someone can date or when they can see family reaches well beyond what happens during a meeting. It can shape the relationships available to them and the perspectives they encounter. Readers can consider that distinction while listening to what @complexis describes.

Making room for her own telling

@complexis’s June 2023 caption frames her story around growing up within the group and its involvement with young people. That framing invites attention to the role a group can occupy during someone’s formative years. It also gives readers a reason to listen to the person telling the story, rather than reducing an experience to a label. Watch the June 2023 account.

The third link below is a later follow-up, posted in December 2023. Keeping these posts together allows readers to explore her account directly and in the order they find most useful.

Watch the three original videos

These are ordinary links to TikTok. No videos are embedded on this site.

1. Her account of eight years in the group — June 13, 2023. Watch on TikTok
2. Rules she describes within the group — June 13, 2023. Watch on TikTok
3. A later follow-up — December 15, 2023. Watch on TikTok

Read and reflect at your own pace

You do not need to watch all three videos at once or compare your experience with anyone else’s. You can pause, return later, or discuss what you hear with someone you trust.

For more from this site, explore Understanding the patterns, browse the resource library, or contact the administrator to suggest a correction or share a perspective.

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Editorial note: This post draws on the creator’s public captions and visible on-screen text. The spoken audio has not been fully transcribed or independently verified. A transcript review is needed before expanding this into a detailed account of what she says in each video.