This got me thinking about what the actual influence of statistics would have been on me when I was checking out the easier softer ways. There weren't that many options back then. Three hospitals, Cherry Farm, Sunnyside, and Queen Mary, the latter having a 12 step based program along with psycho therapy etc, and was recognised as a very successful model at the time. Then there was the Salvation Army Bridge program. The counselling with NSAD which included such options as trying controlled drinking plans, and of course there was AA. The Bridge gave me a similar feeling based on an interview I had with them a year or two previously.
I immediately ruled out the two that appeared to be the most successful, Queen Mary, and AA because my perception was that these two really knew what they were doing.
Why did I rule out the options that looked like they would work the best? Because it seemed to me that these programmes had the ability to see right through me. They seemed to require a level of honesty that terrified me. Imagine psychotherapists dredging through my secret issues. Imagine telling another human being the whole story, never mind God! The prospect of people finding out exactly what I was like completely freaked me out. There were so many things in my past that I hoped would never see the light of day.
So, in spite of the perception that some methods would work better than others, I chose what appeared to me to be the easiest path, where I felt I could con my way through, say just enough, do just enough, to convince the staff I was doing ok. There was no way in hell I was going to take on anything that might expose the truth about me.
So I guess the facts were not of much interest to me. I was mainly interested in getting through whatever treatment there was with minimum effort and discomfort. The longer term outcomes did not figure because I did not think in those terms. I was only concerned with the immediate issues around my own comfort and well being.