Is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) effective?
A. In 1990, the Alcoholics Anonymous General Services Office or AA GSO, the governing organization overseeing all “autonomous” meetings, published an internal memo for the employees of its offices. It was an analysis of a survey period between 1977 and 1989. “After just one month in the Fellowship, 81% of the new members have already dropped out. After three months, 90% have left, and 95% have discontinued attendance inside one year!” (Kolenda, 2003, Golden Text Publishing Company) That means that in less than a year, 95% of the people seeking help from AA leave the program. Regardless of the apparent success rate or cost of the initial 12-step-based treatment program you may be looking at, the 5% success rate of AA after a year eventually becomes the actual program success rate.
