Originally Posted by
nandm 
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Ironically I have heard those statistics over and over but have searched for the source in vain. The only place I can find much about them has been on anti A.A. sites. Which leads me to question the validity of the statistics. Who were the people polled? (I know I wasn't one of them). When was the poll done? Since A.A. does not keep formal records on its members (anomynity) then how can anyone determine the rate of success or failure, people only attending one meeting, leaving after a year or so?
Excellent points, nandm. Even if people leave AA after a year, there's no way of knowing if they fall off the wagon. And if a lot of people go, figure its not for them, and don't come back - that's hardly a self-evident failure.
Not saying AA's perfect - and I'm only really a toe-dipper into the fellowship anyway, but a lot of anti-AA stuff which claims to be objective or reasonable is just thinly disguised ax-grinding. (I don't mean this thread at all.) There are things about (and people in) AA that makes me want to bang my head off the wall, but there are a lot of things and people that are wise and noble and helpful to everyone.