AA Dropouts

[Guest guest]

I have heard that there is some convincing evidence that AA (12-step)

involvement not only is ineffective but that it actually creates

dependence patterns that cause those who return to drinking to be

waaay worse then they ever were before the steps. Does anybody out

there have any stats on how much more severe the drinking of a former

stepper is than that of anybody who tried to quite through non-XA

methods?

I guess it's kind of like being told you have a brain tumor. The Dr.

says that if they operate there's only a 1 in 20 chance that the

operation will work. (those are AA's " success " stats, I believe) The

Dr. continues to explain " if you don't do anything at all, you will

probably experience some deterioration in your mental and physical

capacities over time and ultimately the tumor will take some years

off of your life. You will, however have a few more good years. If

you take the operation, with the 1 in 20 chance, and it doesn't work,

your condition will rapidly decline and you may be dead within a

year. " Who in their right mind would risk the operation?

I think this is a fairly good analogy of the danger of AA. Not

just " try it for a while, if it doesn't work, quit. " There's some

actual psychic damage being inflicted here. I want to find out the

actual magnitude of accelerated decline that the stepper who returns

to drinking faces, vs the person who tries to quit on their own.

Thanks,