Secret of AA: After 75 Years, We Don't Know How It Works
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The resolve is striking, though not entirely surprising. AA has been inspiring this sort of ardent devotion for 75 years. It was in June 1935, amid the gloom of the Great Depression, that a failed stockbroker and reformed lush named Bill Wilson founded the organization after meeting God in a hospital room. He codified his method in the 12 steps, the rules at the heart of AA. Entirely lacking in medical training, Wilson created the steps by cribbing ideas from religion and philosophy, then massaging them into a pithy list with a structure inspired by the Bible.
The 200-word instruction set has since become the cornerstone of addiction treatment in this country, where an estimated 23 million people grapple with severe alcohol or drug abuse—more than twice the number of Americans afflicted with cancer. Some 1.2 million people belong to one of AA's 55,000 meeting groups in the US, while countless others embark on the steps at one of the nation's 11,000 professional treatment centers. Anyone who seeks help in curbing a drug or alcohol problem is bound to encounter Wilson's system on the road to recovery.
It's all quite an achievement for a onetime broken-down drunk. And Wilson's success is even more impressive when you consider that AA and its steps have become ubiquitous despite the fact that no one is quite sure how—or, for that matter, how well—they work. The organization is notoriously difficult to study, thanks to its insistence on anonymity and its fluid membership. And AA's method, which requires "surrender" to a vaguely defined "higher power," involves the kind of spiritual revelations that neuroscientists have only begun to explore.
What we do know, however, is that despite all we've learned over the past few decades about psychology, neurology, and human behavior, contemporary medicine has yet to devise anything that works markedly better. "In my 20 years of treating addicts, I've never seen anything else that comes close to the 12 steps," says Drew Pinsky, the addiction-medicine specialist who hosts VH1's Celebrity Rehab. "In my world, if someone says they don't want to do the 12 steps, I know they aren't going to get better."
Wilson may have operated on intuition, but somehow he managed to tap into mechanisms that counter the complex psychological and neurological processes through which addiction wreaks havoc. And while AA's ability to accomplish this remarkable feat is not yet understood, modern research into behavior dynamics and neuroscience is beginning to provide some tantalizing clues.
One thing is certain, though: AA doesn't work for everybody. In fact, it doesn't work for the vast majority of people who try it. And understanding more about who it does help, and why, is likely our best shot at finally developing a system that improves on Wilson's amateur scheme for living without the bottle.
Much more (Long article, but a favorite of mine): https://www.wired.com/2010/06/ff-alcoholics-anonymous/
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I started learning what to do and the slogans I learned helped a lot in the beginning ("move a muscle, change a thought" ), but One Day at a Time was the key. I figured I could make it through 24 hours - and that's when I started putting time together. That was 10 years ago last April. 
I made a long-ago post in this very forum there when I was discouraged, I remember saying that I wasn't doing very well - it did take me a long time. That's why I always say, if I can put time together, anybody can! Thanks! 
But I was very fortunate to have found the right sponsor - at my second meeting. She must have seen something in me - my "gift of desperation," maybe? ) - and she reached out to me and told me what to do. Even so, it took me awhile, but she stuck right with me, she was an incredible human being, no doubt about it, and helped so many people.
And I got stuck on the Steps where most people don't, the Higher Power belief, but all I was asked was if I had an open mind and I certainly do - I'm a liberal Democrat after all! And it didn't hurt that my sponsor was Jewish, so any religious component was up to me - but what confuses a lot of people I've noticed is the conflation of religion and spirituality. I'm not religious, but the "power of the rooms," people helping and supporting each other, is what has worked for me. If religion works for some people, good for them, but that's not really what it's about.
And I lost my sponsor a year ago this month. She wasn't all that well when I met her, but defied the odds and almost made 16 years when she doubted she'd make it to "two digits," as she used to say. Her birthday was also a week ago today. I miss her a lot and have yet to find a new sponsor which I know I need to do (she had a sponsor and her sponsor has a sponsor), but she was pretty special and I haven't yet found someone who I feel that connection to and could measure up to my friend, Sue. 
She stuck with me in the beginning and supported me through so much - when I lost my mother, she sat with me in the hospital room! I kept telling her she didn't need to stay, I knew she wasn't well, but she said that she was staying as long as I did. And I hope that I helped her out a few times too (she lost her dog that I loved ).
And I have heard about that happening - I can think of a couple of people I knew who sponsored people who relapsed themselves. One was a guy who probably didn't have enough time to be working with others, but he's back as far as I know. And another was a woman I admired a lot, long time friend of my sponsor, and she apparently has no intention of coming back - and took another girl I liked a lot (her sponsee) with her. 
It is hard, I know, to find someone you connect to. But in the beginning it really does help to get to know others who you can relate to - and realize that you aren't alone. That's what kept me coming back - there were all these really nice women who seemed to be doing well and they had the same issues that I did! 
And it's never too late to start over. I also have one friend who's not in AA, but in OA (Overeaters Anonymous) and she swears by phone meetings, she often just listens. There are also online meetings too - but I recognize that finding that one person you can relate to is important, since that's what made the difference for me. I also know those who find a "temporary sponsor," just to get started. And others who have had numerous sponsors - I was just lucky to find the right one right away.
The support of others is a key to recovery - having people who understand to talk to and knowing you're not alone - but having a sponsor to guide you is what worked the most for me. I have known people who tried to go it alone - thinking they can work the Steps and jump ahead - and it always backfires. Having someone with experience to guide and support me is what worked for me. I haven't done it perfectly by a long shot, but I've been sober now for over 10 years - when I couldn't have made it through 10 days on my own - because I learned that no matter what happens, I can make it through today.
Is that people give up too soon and if they have a "slip," they're too embarrassed to come back. That's what I try to emphasize because I work with a beginners' group - it's not a destination, it's a journey and no matter what happens, you're always welcomed back. 
I've been around long enough (2008) that I've collected certain things others have said that have stuck with me. One I learned from a woman with 32 years - she said that she belongs to "The No Matter What Club," no matter what happens, it's not a reason to pick up. And I shared that at a beginners' meeting I go to - and this one kid, who celebrated his year, remembered and quoted what I'd said! I shared that with my friend with 32 years - that's what we do, pay it forward and help each other.
There are people who embrace religion in their lives and good for them if it works for them. But when we discuss it, it's generally acknowledged that it can be whatever works for you, nature is often mentioned, for me at this point it's the power of the rooms that has worked. There is something about everyone working for a common purpose, supporting each other in sobriety, that makes meetings work for me.
And I often think of the time AA was founded. We often read about Model Ts and WWII, and the influence of religion in society at large has changed too. Back in the day people knew the difference between Presbyterians and Methodists, for example. That meant a lot back then. I don't know what the difference is and I don't know many people now who belong to a church.
Like I said, if that's what works for someone, that's terrific, but it hasn't worked for me. I look at AA as a GOD (group of drunks) supporting and learning from each other. My Jewish sponsor never had a problem with the way it's worked for me, but then she wasn't very religious either.
I have one AA friend with 35 years who will walk out if they close with the Lord's Prayer (she's Jewish - though not religious). I figure it's up to whoever leads the meeting to choose what works for them. My sponsor who is also Jewish and also not particularly religious solved the problem by using the Responsibility Declaration which I like a lot. We even use it at the District Meetings because of her influence.
I am Responsible.
When Anyone, Anywhere
Reaches Out For Help,
I Want The Hand Of A.A.
Always To Be There.
And For That,
I Am Responsible !
The meetings that I've been to don't usually talk about religion. It's a spiritual program, not a religious one. And there are people who do say that they choose to call their Higher Power "God," but that's a personal choice and if that's what works for them, it's fine with me - whatever works. One thing I learned early on was to "take what you want and leave the rest."
At one of my first meetings I told a long-timer who highlighted parts of my Big Book that referred to God that I wasn't religious. And I was asked if I was "open minded," which I try to be - and I also take into account that many of the writings are from the 1930s when organized religion played a much bigger part in society. They also talk about Model Ts and WWII, as well - and I appreciate the times in which they were written.
When I first started going to AA meetings in 2008, the discussions were strictly limited to alcohol. But that's changed, as well. So many these days say that "drugs are a part of my story," and I don't have an issue with that, either. Many now identify as "addicts," but if the rooms of AA - as opposed to NA - are working for them, I certainly don't judge.
That and "It works if you work it." (The Steps) When I first joined AA over 10 years ago, we rarely heard about drugs. I remember one time when I was at a meeting, talking to someone just outside the door, when a long timer (30+ years) I knew came rushing out of the room and didn't answer me when I asked him was going on. It turns out that the poor girl who was leading the meeting mentioned that drugs were a part of her story.
These days, it's completely different. I still go to AA meetings since drugs aren't a part of my story, but now it's more common than not to hear drugs mentioned by people who lead the meeting or share. Some say that they're an alcoholic and an addict, some even just say they're addicts, though many say that they started out using alcohol.
We have both NA and HA (heroin) meetings around here, but AA is still the most prevalent. And having gone to other types of meetings, most use the AA Big Book. A friend of mine said recently that "a drug is a drug is a drug" and I happen to agree. Anything that helps is just fine with me, but the key, like you said, is to "keep coming back!"
First part of the Serenity Prayer.....
Higher power grant me the serenity to help me accept the things I cannot change...
Call the H.P. whatever you want..Love, God, Quiet Power of Kindness, etc..(sometimes I think of God as just the quiet feeling I get in the forest on a beautiful day, or maybe that feeling I get when I watch the sunrise in the morning.
Call it what you want to call it. Forget the H.P. Call it the kindness of the groups that we go to...
Just going to meetings makes a difference for me. Sometimes it helps me get through the very worst. Been going to meetings for 40 years. By not being alone, the meetings probably saved my life...Been to OA, EA, AA, CODA. Sometimes I go to different meetings. Most of the times, I feel better after the meeting.
On one particular day, I went to a meeting and was feeling very sad. My girl friend was dying of cancer and was very close to death. On that day, there were 2 other people at the meeting who were dealing with death. One person was in town for a funeral, and another was dealing with the death of a daughter from suicide. It made a difference that I wasn't alone with those feelings. (my girlfriend who I was deeply in love with, died the next day)