AA gets downgraded

At least one scientist says Alcoholics Anonymous is a sham...

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/23/291405829/with-sobering-science-doctor-debunks-12-step-recovery

What other organization can claim a 5-10 percent success rate and be considered worthwhile?

 

10 per cent of the time it works every time

 

Have you ever been nine-stepped? One of the more awkward moments of my life but I guess my friend was into what he was doing.

 

You get as much out of it as you put in, which for a lot of people is not much.

 

That's making amends right? I had the friend from childhood reach out to me last year after 27 years. That was nuts...

 

Yep. Mine was just one night of awkwardness and we moved past it, but still an odd feeling to be the recipient.

 

Mine was through Facebook and he told me later I was the last person he reached out to because my his estimation, I was the first person he "wronged" over his drinking. We've stayed in touch and his on-again/off-again wife sent me a really nice note later saying that he's been night and day different since I "forgave" him. That made me feel good.

 

Step 9 >>>>> Step 5.

Step 5 is a demon bitch.

 

My knee jerk reaction is to call into question the numbers they cite. They might be right, but in so much as AA isn't forced on its members but rather on an individual's commitment to working the program. I've heard plenty of stories of people who enter AA, give it a whirl for a bit, then go back out only to give it a try again later and have it stick.
I still doubt the numbers cited for an organization that stresses anonymity and to my knowledge doesn't actually track the progress of members. I'd be curious how the failure rate breaks down between those who are only there to meet a court requirement, those who give it a genuine go and those who start the program, leave and then rejoin it later. On the other hand, I am biased because I have a loved one who is in the 5 to 10 percent and been sober for 22 years. I still wish the article noted how the stats were derived. I bet they're in the book, but it would have been helpful to include to get a frame of reference if this is a genuine scientific look at AA or someone who doesn't like the concept and tweaked the numbers.

 

Reading through the steps, the thought occurred to me: what if you're an atheist?

 

Every reference to "God" is qualified with "as you understand him/her/it."

 

There is no way to accurately quantify any measure of "success" with these programs. Not one.

I suppose, however, that if you were to count the people who completed the program and SAY they've never relapsed, you'd get to between 5 and 10 percent.