One Question With AA

[devonian]

I think the succes rate for people who work the program precisely as laid out in the book is close to 75%. 50% recover immediately, and an additional 25% after relapse. But the success rate of those who simply attend are close to zero. Unfortunately, the majority of people who go to AA never work the program, or worse, never hear the precise instructions of the program.

 

[brinny]

Quite a few are court-ordered to attend. In that case, there's not much motivation. They just wanna get a brownie point for attending to shut the judge or parole officer up.

 

[mark kennedy]

I was having some personal problems so I decided to go to Mental Health, I'm in the Army and it's one of the benefits of service. Anyway, I asked my councilor (a psychologist) what he thought of AA. I had been going to meetings for almost 6 months and I was curious what the professional community thought of it. He said that 40% of alcoholics who recover do some kind of a 12 step program. He gave me a copy of what he called the 'definitive' article on AA, the premise of the article was almost humorous. What I think they were saying is that they didn't know how it worked, they just knew it worked.

It should be noted that the founders of AA were alcoholics of the 'hopeless variety'. Mental institutions and hospitals wanted nothing to do with them because they were obnoxious and intent on going out and doing it all over again. I don't know if court ordered AA meetings help a lot of people but I've meet people who started as a court judgment and later returned when they really wanted and needed help.

In my estimation it is the most successful recovery program around and, well, it worked for me.

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[GeordieTosh]

Unfortunately I do believe that the current recovery rate in AA is very low. But that is not because the 12 steps do not work, it is because few people apply the 12 steps thoroughly and honestly. It's like buying bought a bottle of aspirin and never taking the aspirin. Many people who attend AA meetings, never even try to apply the solution, but they say that AA doesn't work.

Spot on.

And the 5% figure is incorrectly taken from an old survey where people were asked what date they came into A.A. and what date was their final drink.

It was found that 95% of alkies drink again after their first meeting. But that doesn't prove A.A. doesn't work, and as most alkies know, it takes a little bit of time for A.A. to catch up with us.

And A.A. meetings is not A.A.; the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is A.A.; the 12 Steps.

 

[If Not For Grace]

One thing about AA or _A of anykind-it does "no Harm"

 

[blue fire]

Well 5% the same as spontaneous recovery. 1 in 20 recover who really wise up and say anuff, hard to believe that could be the same as AA. I believe there both lower then that . But I also believe the recovery rate way higher for those who really try. The program would be the first 164 pages of the book alcholic anonymous out line it and the first 125 pages of 12 in 12. Well at least the origanal 12 step program. And what it says about the recovery rate in those books stands true today for those who really try. Try as in willing to go to any length to recover.