Why do people say Alcoholics Anonymous doesn't work?!
Please give me your views on A.A.?
Thanks
Answers: It helped my grandfather stay sober for 15 years, with only one brief relapse. And even though I was forced to attend meetings by a probation officer, it helped me some as well. 'The A.A. Big book', and the '24 Hour a Day' book both are also helpful for me.
Please give me your views on A.A.?
Thanks
AA is a tool to help people who WANT to get sober. It's not a cure all go to a meeting and your cured. Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic it is something you have to keep in check every day of your life or you will relapse. AA gives you all the tools known to man to keep your mind strong but sometimes that isn't enough for some people.
I didn't know people said that. I know a lot of people who have been helped by it.
It worked for my father mate, and kept him sober for the rest of his life.
I don't know much more than that I am afraid, but it kept my parents marriage intact.
AA is like any other self-help group or program - it only works for you if (a) you want it to work, and (b) you work at it. By the same token, if you're positive it won't work, then it won't. Speaking specifically of AA -- there are definitely people who should not ever pick up another drink, because for whatever reason, they're completely unable to drink just one and walk away. But unfortunately, there are a lot of people who can't or won't accept the idea that they can never drink again, ever.
There's a strong familial association with alcoholism - whether it's genetic or environmental is probably anybody's guess. Your grandfather was an alcoholic. You've had something happen in your life that's gotten you a probation officer and forced AA meetings. I don't know you, so I shouldn't give advice, but it can never hurt to stay sober. If AA helps, stick with it. If it doesn't, find a program that does.
I haven't been to an AA meeting, but I have heard this as well.
I don't understand why your query is such a mystery.
OBVIOUSLY the people who are saying it doesn't work,.....it didn't work for THEM.
It works for those WILLING to change - that's why ADMITTING you have a problem is the FIRST of the 12 steps ;);););)
"Even the most ardent true believers who will be honest about it recognize that A.A. and N.A. have at least 90% failure rates. And the real numbers are more like 95% or 98% or 100% failure rates. It depends on who is doing the counting, how they are counting, and what they are counting or measuring." There is a long article about this here: http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effe...
I'm not saying A.A. is bad, but this is why people say that it doesn't work. Sorry.
I was in and out of AA for almost two decades, never could put together more than a few months of sobriety at a time. I bought into the powerlessness of the first step.
"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. " Problem was, I had no "Higher Power" to step in and fix me
"2) Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." (Note: It does not say "as I understand Him", it's "as we understood Him". Your version of God has to be the same as everyone else or you will be told you are doing it wrong. Happened time and time again with me.)
It wasn't until I quit trying to force myself into a narrow-focused RELIGIOUS group, took responsibility for my addiction and my recovery that I was able to quit in 2001.
Nicolas gave a great link to the Orange Papers. If you poke around a bit in there you'll find:
1) Dr. Brandsma found that A.A. increased the rate of binge drinking, and
2) Dr. Ditman found that A.A. increased the rate of rearrests for public drunkenness, and
3) Dr. Walsh found that "free A.A." made later hospitalization more expensive, and
4) Doctors Orford and Edwards found that having a doctor talk to the patient for just one hour was just as effective as a whole year of A.A.-based treatment.
5) Dr. George E. Vaillant, the A.A. Trustee, found that AA treatment was completely ineffective, and raised the death rate in alcoholics. No other way of treating alcoholics produced such a high death rate as did Alcoholics Anonymous.
1) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effe...
2) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effe...
3) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effe...
4) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effe...
5) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effe...
Wow, EVERY decent study has shown that AA has a great reputation. but doesn't do a very good job. Most people get sober BEFORE they get to AA, they stick around and AA steals all the credit, but if they relapse, AA puts all the blame on them.
You know how things are always in the last place you look? That's because once you find it, you stop looking. If someone gets sober, attends AA and stays sober, they are likely to give AA the credit becuse that's where they were when they started getting comfortable sober.
About 5% of the people who go to AA stay sober, same as no treatment at all, but with a higher chance of ending up binge drinking and a higher MORTALITY rate, I couldn't in good conscience suggest it for anyone.
I work in the mental health field, AA has an even lower success rate for people who have coexisting mental health issues. According to NAMI, over half of all substance abusers have a mental illness and about have of people with a mental illness have a substance abuse problem. Because of AA's suicide rate, I would never suggest AA for one of my clients.
You'll notice the folks who push AA keep saying "the person has to want it". This is so when the person fails (as 95% do in the first year), they can blame the victim of not trying hard enough. WHAT OTHER TREATMENT PROGRAM DOES THIS? That's what you get from faith healing.
Sure there are good people in AA. They've been
misled. Unfortunately, they give AA an air of legitimacy.
AA doesn't work. It is a very dangerous religious cult and the suicide rate is very high. What AA does is tell you that you cannot do it without them and then they take away your power and as in the Case of two great uncles of mine and a cousin by marriage that could not accept AA teaching they died drunk. I was told over and over that if I did not get with the program that is do everything they told me to and give my power over to them that I would die drunk.
I knew I could quit but thought the help might help but instead it nearly killed me. I was told to flush my medication down the toilet and that if I took anything for pain I was not sober. It is fake healing at it's worse. I was even told to reject Jesus i was unfaithful Christian at the time one reason I drank and to pledge allegiance to AA
I could go on and on but it is a religious cult that tells you one thing to get you in there and then when they think you are hooked forces another on you. By their own admission it does not work their own surveys say so
I went to AA nearly died but left and have been sober on my own which they said I could not do for 15 years.
BB