If AA has a 95% failure rate why haven't we looked for and found another way to treat people that works better
Question:
Answers:
Timing had a lot to do with it.
In the early 1800s, Dr. Benjamin Rush proposed hospital care for drunkards; this led to the establishment of asylums, for it was believed that alcoholism itself could be considered a form of mental illness. Asylums were opened throughout the United States and Europe from the mid 1800s until the first World War. Circumstances and shifting economies saw the closure of many of these hospitals, and by the end of the war, many were changed over to the care of returning veterans. In a short time, the depression closed the rest. Due to political and economic influences, public opinion became that alcoholism was more of a moral failure on the part of the individual than as any form of illness. Prohibition came and went.
In the late thirties, the climate was right for a grassroots organization to take hold.
AA received a lot of good press over the following decades, much of it was self-reporting, praises raised by anonymous members in the press.
AA has always been friendly with the courts, but coercion didn't get into full swing until the 70s.
Doctors don't like dealing with drunks, too little success, but the demand was there. Rehabs sprung up, just about all they did was grab people in the program as (cheap) counselors and package 30 days of drying out and a crash course in AA as a miracle cure. Rehabs could charge top dollar because it was mostly insurance companies and the government footing the bill.
Treatment centers became big business, big enough to influence politicians, some of whom may be closet steppers themselves. Maybe they had monetary interests in rehabs or maybe they just had some drunk uncle they thought AA had saved. Whatever reasons made them friendly towards AA, it looked good in the eyes of the voters. Mandating people to AA gave the illusion that something was being done without costing as much as locking them up. It's been my theory that the politicians liked the new class of drone workers that rehabs turned out, unquestioning and willing to work cheaply and be grateful for it.
AA has become a sacred institution, they have opposed scientific research and attempted to silence or smear anyone who spoke out against it. For far too long it has been politically incorrect to question the program.
By trying to add so many new faces quickly, a whole new sub-class of people was born, people forced into the rooms and none too happy about it. With the birth of the internet, these people found they were not the only ones, and found a voice.
Other Answers:
Okay, you're so smart, start up a program of your own and show us all how to do it.
Alcohol is a physical addiction and, as such, I doubt a cure can be found as everyone is different. AA fails because the person fails. The alcoholic really doesn't want to quit or, at the first sign of stress, rushes back to the bottle for comfort. Those who do make it, make it because they really want to be dry.they want it so badly that they don't rush back to the bottle.
FYI, there is an easy "cure".the alcoholic is sedated deeply and goes through withdrawal while unconscious.so no suffering is remembered or possibly even experienced. The problem is that it is SO easy, the alcoholic just goes back to drinking. (This is also used for drug addicts). Success is far more likely if the person has to go through withdrawal.the memories of the dt's sometimes help the person stay dry.
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