Alternative medicine is a major public health risk. Untested and discredited treatments are promoted for just about any health problem you can imagine. Those who are most desperate are often the target of alt-med treatments, swooping in to provide an “alternative” or “complimentary” cure when real medicine, unfortunately, has been unsuccessful. There is one area, however, where the quack alternative treatment has established itself as the standard treatment: 12-step programs in the area of addiction.
Alcoholics Anonymous is the original 12 Step program, which has spawn a whole industry of recovery programs that basically copy-paste the 12 steps to deal with any addictive behaviour—-Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Workaholics Anonymous, Clutterers Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, Online Gamers Anonymous, Smokers Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous—-the list goes on. There are also groups like Al-anon, where you don’t have to be an addict yourself, only someone being affected by one.
AA has been extremely successful in promoting itself as the most successful treatment for alcoholism. It markets itself as a non-denominational support group for alcohol abuse. Once inside the walls of its meetings, however, it’s clear that members are to understand that AA is the only treatment for alcoholism. It isn’t officially stated (in fact, the opening remarks are careful to say that the program is “widely regarded” as the most successful treatment), but if it isn’t implied in nearly every member’s ‘share’—-their anecdotal evidence that life without AA means relapse and death—-it is certainly the message of the AA bible “Alcoholics Anonymous”, referred to as The Big Book.
What is often said in the meetings and what is written in The Big Book contradict the public image of AA as a support group for those who wish to quite drinking. What the general public doesn’t know about AA is that it is a religious group which teaches its members that alcoholism is a spiritual disease with no cure and only by giving yourself up to God can one stay sober.
“Unless each A.A. member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant.”
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, William G. Wilson, page 174.
Though it is argued that the Twelve Steps refer to a “power great than ourselves” and that ‘power’ can be anything you want, it is clear in the reading material that you are supposed to want that power to be God.
We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.
The Big Book, 3rd & 4th Editions, William G. Wilson, Page 46.
It is also clear that the goal of AA isn’t to stop abusing alcohol, but to serve God.
“At the moment we are trying to put our lives in order. But this is not an end in itself. Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God…”
The Big Book, William G. Wilson, page 77.
(My bold)
The magical thinking in AA is no different than that found in other alternative medicine. Like any typical spiritual healer, who will tell you that ‘negative energy’ is the cause of your cancer, AA attributes alcoholism to sins and moral shortcomings instead of alcohol consumption. In AA, being sober doesn’t mean simply not drinking. You are only sober if you have turned your will over to a power greater than yourself. Those who haven’t done this are labelled “dry drunks”. When their quack treatments don’t work, alternative medicine proponents will blame the patient. In the world of AA, if you overcome your addiction without the program (especially if you learn to drink in moderation), you were never an alcoholic in the first place.
But the most important feature of AA, true of any other alternative medicine, is that it doesn’t work. Those of us who advocate science based medicine make evidence of efficacy a requirement. The 12 Step industry deserves the same skepticism that we would apply to any other faith healing group…and people suffering from substance abuse and addiction deserve more than the “support” of a spiritual cult.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Without elaboration, THANK YOU! for that insightful and well researched post.
March 15th, 2010 at 1:42 am
Yes.
March 15th, 2010 at 2:28 am
Hey Sara,
did you write this?
July 10th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
After 75 years the time surely has come to unveil this hoax that infects the human condition and promotes an intellectual cancer with a destiny to inhibit the thoughts and actions of free individuals.
Was Patrick Henry not divine to the greater cause of our purpose when his voice rose to our hearts and minds.”Give me liberty or give me death.”
The contrast of this purpose in AA dogma is clear in so many ways.And please let me be brief and to the point as the issues are complex and deserving of much greater discourse.
First who is Bill Wilson anyway?Listen Moses and Charlie Manson both spoke to God? What higher power or powers did they talk to? By the way there is growing evidence God(s) are women anyway.
The Big Book…often treated as the third testament. So poorly written and illogically connected with incongruent anecdotes that it severes any relationship with the science of statistical study.In so doing defies the inate common senses and reasonings of the human mind.
To add,this is not the first time such programming has been used in recent history. Turn to Nazi Germany and the comparisons are irrefutable.
Repeat the lie again again and again and it becomes the truth.Millions of Germans can attest to the evil power of this method.
Oh yea, Robert S MacNamara knew it too just ask 62,000 American boys
As I greatly admire the wisdom of the founding fathers of America in building the three cornerstone documents of a great nation.They understood the future would unfold in many ways and its constitution would need to be amended to account for new realities and the democratic will of”we the people” This humble sense gave the nation the opportunity to mature and grow wiser in time.Arrogance in thinking lost to the understanding of the limits of our judgements in a moment of time.
AA has no constitution that allows for the adjustment needed in current or future realities. Born in its axiomatic 12 steps and traditions dooms AA to a DARWINIAN failure. History shows that creatures,entities and nations that fail to adapt meet a certain demise. The arrogance of the so-called founders of AA planted the seeds of its demise at its birth.
This in turn leads to one of the most insane hypothesis of their program.I will not bother with mathematical perspective here albeit one could have some fun overlaying algebra on the 12 steps. Rather let us examine the hypothesis ” there are 12 steps to recovery”
First what is so magical about the number 12? How do we know there are not 16,23 or 45? The answer is there is no emphirical support for any number nor deductive scientific reasoning for 12 or less or more.We also all must be fools to believe that in 75 years no new steps have been found. To say they got it all right on the first go around redefines two words. Stupidity and arrogance.
They forgot that you cannot fool all the people all of the time.Has a ring to it…
Without much effort it is easy to imagine adding steps involving,nutrition,fitness,cognitive behavior and community work and so on. Also maybe the most important step would be to contribute and raise funds to cure the Disease. Much work in genetics and micro neuro bioligy is being done.Lets direct our resources to using the powerful tools of medical science to find a cure for this disease.
Many other ailments have greater medical resources allocated to them. But the costs of this disease are perhaps exponential in cost and impact on the human condition compared to all others. AFTER 75 YEARS it is time for western medicine to seriously attack one the greatest costs to our society. To deny this is to deny existence itself.
Yet it will take more than medicine alone as broader interests and hard legislation and enforcement are needed. OUR culture must change and AA dogma must open its structure to reality if it desires to help.
For in the last analysis the real and only true purpose of AA is to go out of business.In that 100 years from today its success will be based on having no members.For this is the true torch that the spirits of the universe and humanity pass on to us.The challenge in holding this torch reaches for beyond the words of denial
IT IS TIME FOR A CURE and to those who say it cannot be done we should only ask why not? For we do look at things the way are and ask why. Again we just ask why not?
The torch has been passed.