How successful is the alcoholics anonymous program

Alcoholics Anonymous is a group founded on a firm resolve to treat and fight Alcoholism. Founded more than 80 years ago, the organization is the oldest, most popular, and most successful in the world. It has reached every country and has millions of members who are actively fighting Alcoholism and helping others with the same problem. Since the midth century, the organization has revolutionized the treatment of Alcoholism by formulating new treatments, from behavioral therapies to drugs.

AA programs offer hope to many people around the world since it is everywhere and nearly cost-free. Researchers have been looking into the effectiveness of the AA approach to cure alcohol addiction.

These discoveries may be essential in assisting other substance users. It guides you on discovering your weaknesses and accepting that you have lost control over alcohol and other drugs and that this has made your life unmanageable. Recovering from Alcohol addiction is a slow and gradual process that requires patience and determination.

Though the AA program teaches the belief in a higher power, it is not a religious organization. There are no limitations to what the higher power can be.

The program is always open to everyone, and there is no formal requirement for membership. The tales and routines are aimed at encouraging their members to overcome their addiction and maintain their recovery. These meetings can also serve as a social activity which can be used as an alternative to drinking. The part of the brain that craves alcohol will continue to crave alcohol no matter how long a person has been sober.

Many alcoholics attend AA meetings even after ten to twenty years of sobriety. They know that if they need a meeting, they can find a meeting. But Scientific American reports that about 40 percent of AA members drop out during the first year. The data they examined suggests that AA may be helpful in conjunction with professional treatment. However, it can also be harmful, particularly if an AA group is confrontational. An alcoholic may become resistant to change when attacked by the people he expects to help him.

Drug courts believe in AA; physicians and counselors routinely recommend it, and the general public believes in it. But how successful is AA in breaking the cycle of addiction? The evidence is mounting that the success rate of AA is between 5 and 10 percent. Alcoholics Anonymous surveys its members every few years. Their survey of 6, members in the U.

After evaluating 35 studies — involving the work of scientists and the outcomes of 10, participants — Keith Humphreys , PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and his fellow investigators determined that AA was nearly always found to be more effective than psychotherapy in achieving abstinence.

In addition, most studies showed that AA participation lowered health care costs. Cochrane requires its authors to undertake a rigorous process that ensures the studies represented in its summaries are high-quality and the review of evidence is unbiased. Although AA is well-known and used by millions around the world, mental health professionals are sometimes skeptical of its effectiveness, Humphreys said. Psychologists and psychiatrists, trained to provide cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy to treat patients with alcohol-use disorder, can have a hard time admitting that the lay people who run AA groups do a better job of keeping people on the wagon.

Keith Humphreys, a co-author of the review, said that although AA is well-known and used by millions around the world, mental health professionals are sometimes skeptical of its effectiveness.

Paul Sakuma. AA began in when two men in Akron, Ohio, were searching for a way to stay sober; they found it by forming a support group. The AA model — open to all and free — has spread around the globe, and AA now boasts over 2 million members in nations and more than , groups.

Though the fellowship has been around for more than eight decades, researchers have only recently developed good methods to measure its effectiveness, Humphreys said.