Its not meant to be on par with medical methods for treatment though. Its not fair to set that as the bar for what we consider effective or not. This is a really nuanced conversation I sadly do not have time to have right now but the influence that program has had on society puts it easily within the top 10 of most positive impacts in the previous century. Millions have found recovery through various 12 step programs (and their spinoffs).
In no universe does any group purporting to help people get to measure itself by a different standard than everyone else. If AA is at all worthwhile they should neither fear medical research into their efficacy nor protest when the measured result is sufficiently lower than their own unprofessional claims.
Let me re-state and expand my complaint : the way AA sells itself does more harm than good. Peer support groups with or without religious overtones are definitely helpful to those they work for, and their fiscal efficiency does make them a great first-try resource for anyone seeking to reduce alcohol consumption. But they do not work for everyone, and the way AA asserts that this failure is always a moral fault of the individual discourages some from seeking other forms of treatment.
I am not even questioning the efficacy of the program for regular adherents, as was done before the 2020 NIH meta-study. My chief and sole complaint is that the way AA portrays itself specifically and “alcoholics” in general can and does lead some adults suffering from alcohol abuse to abandon any hope of cessation rather than seeking alternative forms of assistance that appear at least as successful for those who continue treatment.
Its not meant to be on par with medical methods for treatment though. Its not fair to set that as the bar for what we consider effective or not. This is a really nuanced conversation I sadly do not have time to have right now but the influence that program has had on society puts it easily within the top 10 of most positive impacts in the previous century. Millions have found recovery through various 12 step programs (and their spinoffs).
In no universe does any group purporting to help people get to measure itself by a different standard than everyone else. If AA is at all worthwhile they should neither fear medical research into their efficacy nor protest when the measured result is sufficiently lower than their own unprofessional claims.
Let me re-state and expand my complaint : the way AA sells itself does more harm than good. Peer support groups with or without religious overtones are definitely helpful to those they work for, and their fiscal efficiency does make them a great first-try resource for anyone seeking to reduce alcohol consumption. But they do not work for everyone, and the way AA asserts that this failure is always a moral fault of the individual discourages some from seeking other forms of treatment.
I am not even questioning the efficacy of the program for regular adherents, as was done before the 2020 NIH meta-study. My chief and sole complaint is that the way AA portrays itself specifically and “alcoholics” in general can and does lead some adults suffering from alcohol abuse to abandon any hope of cessation rather than seeking alternative forms of assistance that appear at least as successful for those who continue treatment.