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[TlalocW]

92. My two cents

I'm glad AA helped your friends, but their success rate eventually approaches somewhere between 6% to 8%... or that's about as good as independent groups can tell since AA doesn't publish their success rates.

The whole powerless, needing a higher power thing is demeaning. It's what churches do, and AA is strongly fundy even though they try to present themselves otherwise - they convince you that you're lame, and then offer you a crutch. I'm not saying that people with addictions don't need help, but to try and break people down like that is ridiculous and harmful. The world is full of scam artists - preachers, faith-healers, psychics, AA - who in order to run their scams, rely on your not realizing that we all have an inner strength that we can call on with (or without) help and encouragement from loved ones.

The premise and the methodology has not fundamentally changed since AA first started. If it were truly based on any kind of scientific background, it would change as we learned more about addiction. Would you go to a dentist who had not progressed past the knowledge, tools, and methods of 1935?

Addiction is a disease. I don't necessarily agree with this. I'm not saying it's not traumatizing and hard work to overcome, but I don't think it is. But if it were, why are we treating it with a 12-step program? You don't do that with cancer or diabetes, etc. There are drugs that can help people overcome addiction, but that's looked down upon by AA because it circumvents their whole "powerless" thing. My mom smoked most of her life, completely addicted to it. Then she had a small stroke in her early 60s and went into the hospital for two weeks where she was on various medicines that helped with the after effects of the stroke but also sedatives, etc to help keep her calm. When she left the hospital, she no longer smoked. She might have had a craving, but she never lit up again. Were we upset that she didn't admit her powerlessness before finding a higher power? Nope, we were just happy she didn't smoke anymore, and that extended her time with us, giving us another 20+ years with her.

TlalocW