Why does AA work?
Answer:
Some people do get better in AA, but for each person you know who got better through AA, many more failed and some got worse.
AA has about a 5% success rate, so does quitting on your own.
People exposed to AA are 5 times as likely to end up binge drinking as those who attempt quitting using no recovery method and nine times as likely as those who had rational behavior therapy (Brandsma study).
People in AA have a death rate in the first year of treatment six times higher than those with no treatment. George Vaillant, Harvard professor, researcher, and member od AA's Board of Trustees came up with that firgure while trying to prove that AA works. He said, "Not only had we failed to alter the natural history of alcoholism, but our death rate of three percent a year was appalling."
"Another estimate is that at least 50% of alcoholics eventually free themselves although only 10% are ever treated. One recent study found that 80% of all alcoholics who recover for a year or more do so on their own, some after being unsuccessfully treated. When a group of these self-treated alcoholics was interviewed, 57% said they simply decided that alcohol was bad for them. Twenty-nine percent said health problems, frightening experiences, accidents, or blackouts persuaded them to quit. Others used such phrases as "Things were building up" or "I was sick and tired of it." Support from a husband or wife was important in sustaining the resolution."
Treatment of Drug Abuse and Addiction -- Part III, The Harvard Mental Health Letter, October 1995
Birds of a feather flock together. They feel more comfortable with others with a similar problem
The network of support and the higher power. When others have been there and know what it is to be like that.
It helps to have a crutch. That's all. People can't do it alone and need something/body to lean on. As you see the misery in the other people, your basic human nature takes ahold and you naturally want to help them, which flips your focus to them, so you no longer feel sorry for yourself. Once you start helping them you start to feel better about yourself. That's why so many long time friendships are made in AA. If you can't make Friends in AA, you will not make it.
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