AA didn't work well for me. There was too much talk about drinking - it just made me want to drink. I wanted to forget that part of my life and move on, and I did.
However, AA does work for some people. My experience was different from OP's. The people who I saw in AA who had been there for, say, a year or more were happy, vibrant people.
Regarding AA's success rate, note that anyone can walk into AA. There's no screening process. Someone said above, and I agree, that most addicts need to hit bottom before they are ready for recovery. What constitutes bottom varies and there's no way to determine if a person has hit it, so AA just lets anyone in, knowing that many of them aren't ready to recover. IIRC a frequently used meeting opener includes the line "if you want what we have..." Most people who walk into AA don't really want the AA life yet. They want out of their problems, but still want to drink.
It's not a total waste for those people, including people sentenced to attend by a judge. While it's unlikely to work for them at that time, still, they've now been there, and if they are ready to recover some time in the future, it's easier to go to a meeting having attended some before.
I haven't read the big book in years, but as I recall it had fantastic insights into the mind of the addict.
However, AA does work for some people. My experience was different from OP's. The people who I saw in AA who had been there for, say, a year or more were happy, vibrant people.
Regarding AA's success rate, note that anyone can walk into AA. There's no screening process. Someone said above, and I agree, that most addicts need to hit bottom before they are ready for recovery. What constitutes bottom varies and there's no way to determine if a person has hit it, so AA just lets anyone in, knowing that many of them aren't ready to recover. IIRC a frequently used meeting opener includes the line "if you want what we have..." Most people who walk into AA don't really want the AA life yet. They want out of their problems, but still want to drink.
It's not a total waste for those people, including people sentenced to attend by a judge. While it's unlikely to work for them at that time, still, they've now been there, and if they are ready to recover some time in the future, it's easier to go to a meeting having attended some before.
I haven't read the big book in years, but as I recall it had fantastic insights into the mind of the addict.
