Debunking Myths About 12-Step Programs

Great post, Karl.

hi! I'm a fellow writer on Healthy Place. I'd love to get your info- I've often read that 12 step programs have a very low success rate. Do you research information on this?

"Yikes!" to how people like Julie are looking to you as an AA spokesperson. Your situation reminds me a bit of the man they talk about at the end of the Tradition 6 chapter in the 12 and 12 book.
But most of all, in my humble opinion, the use of your full name and face in this blog on this public site along with your disclosure of being an AA member is in direct conflict with the suggestions of Tradition 12:
"At this altitude (press, radio, films, television), anonymity - 100 percent anonymity - was the only possible answer. Here, principles would have to come before personalities, without exception."
I assume you have thought of these things, prayed about them, talked to your sponsor about them....or maybe not.
For the good of AA, but more so because I am a not-cured alcoholic :), I had to say something to you about this. And hopefully, I am not harassing you, because I hate making amends to people - lol.

Karl. I've read quite a bit of your posts and they always seem to relate back to 12 Step programs. I would love to hear your thoughts on the proven fact that AA has a success rate of between 3 and 5 per cent, when the spontaneous remission rate for addiction is five per cent.
As an addictions counsellor myself, and former member of AA and NA, I see the negative impact of this approach to recovery every day. I don't think you are doing anyone any favours by constantly recommending a program that works less often than simply doing nothing at all.

Hi Karl,
Thank you for your thoughtful and kind response. I definitely agree that the more supports the better!
On this matter, however, I think we will have to agree to disagree! haha The joys of this field; everyone has a different opinion, but it is important to discuss with those who may not share your point of view.
Keep up the good work.
Chris

If 12 Step works for you, it works for you. If it doesn't, you have to find something else. For the people who need what a 12 Step program offers, there is nothing better, but for many people the approach just doesn't work. I agree with Karl that as one of many options available to people it serves a great purpose. One of the shortcomings of 12 Step programs that gets overlooked by people who cite their low success rates is that you have to be their voluntarily and mentally buy into it in order for it to work, which means that they are not ideal programs for people who are sent on a court order. Unfortunately, many people who are not ready to address their problems are sent against their will to 12 Step programs, which is a near guarantee for failure.

I am one that has to go to an AA meeting five times a week for 5 YEARS! No I didn't kill anyone and it was a one time mistake. I went into those basements with an open mind. You see I have done my homework and the "Program" is completely a cult in my humble opinion and I was a part of a similar religious cult as a child. When you specifically say that "once we planted this in the newcomer's mind and did so repeatedly" and when you "strongly suggest" that that person ALWAYS introduces themselves as "an alcoholic" and when this "Program" has protectors who will openly tell you that it's not the steps that are failing if the "Program" doesn't work then it's all on you, the defective character of a morally failing person. We wouldn't do this to any other disease process, ever. The "Program" is blocking real treatment. Someone I love is dying because she was told the "Program" is her only treatment. She is a paranoid schizophrenic. The "Program" is hurting people and with up to 40 percent at times people being legally or medically mandated to go, I am going to prove its a cult. It's hurting people, badly

You have a problem? Great - I can help you. Just join my group and we'll show you how your problem is rooted in selfishness, which only a Higher Power (tm) can cure. Once you "get it", you will understand that you can never be cured, but if you stick around and make our little group the center of your life, you might get lucky and have a life-long remission. But always remember, even the smallest deviation from the group think could result in a tragic "slip" and relapse, from which another recovery may not be possible. Anger, resentment, selfishness, even thinking for yourself - any of these things can result in a tragic slip leading to "jails, institutions and death".
Who would sign up for this? Sick and vulnerable people - that's who.
I went to AA for 2 years, and then stayed sober (or "dry drunk" as AA's would call me) for 18 more years. After my divorce I drank again, and I can certainly say that this was a conscious choice on my part. 5 months later, the "fun" is over and I realize that drinking (for me) is simply not safe and I am trying to medicate underlying mental health issues with a numbing substance - alcohol.
Sober 7 days now, I will prove that - once again - a person can refrain from substance use for prolonged periods without membership and complete and lifelong dependence on a group. Also, I will prove that a slip is not a death sentence, or a reason to feel shame or be shamed by others.
I don't really care what AA book-bashers think of my way of not drinking. They even shame others with long-term sobriety, calling them "dry drunks" on "bad spiritual ground" who are doing it wrong and don't have *quality* sobriety. ("Quality Sobriety" is how AA members shame eachother when they can't use a persons track record against them).
12-Step has become an industry. Be wary of those who run big dollar 12-step recovery centers who bewail the benefits of the 12 steps.
You can stop using/drinking if you want to and you don't need a 12-step program to do it. In fact, 12-step programs inherently lack the REAL psychological testing and treatment that addresses the *underlying* causes of a persons vulnerability to substance use. My first "slip" in 20+ years has to do with the process of loss, grief, guilt, shame and isolation that resulted from my divorce. Now that I have stopped drinking I need to find a constructive way to deal with my divorce and start putting it behind me and planning the next stage of my life.
Sitting in a church basement for the rest of my life with people giving each-other the hairy-eyeball and comparing each-others "quality of sobriety"? I'd honestly rather be dead.
I'll happily be a "dry drunk" and simply quit drinking. I don't need cult membership for that or adapt this "powerlessness" (read: learned helplessness) trip.

[…] and myths about recovery programs are rampant. They are further fueled by the vast numbers of non-addicts who cannot understand the […]