Hmm, I seem to remember reading (can’t find the source right now) the six-month success rate is about 5%, while “Just quitting” is about 6%. So it’s a coin-flip.

Have you read the article? It mentions the various difficulties in ascertaining an AA success rate, and how the success rate of willing participants has been documented as everything from 5% to 75%, so there’s no telling what the success rate really is. But most evidence, according to THIS article, would indicate that folks who go in regularly and repeatedly do better than folks who don’t go in at all or who dabble in AA.

But I have problems with AA, I do. Specifically the God shit and their resistance to medications like Campral and Topamax and others that can alleviate cravings for alcohol. My personal feeling is that anything we have in our arsenal to help a person get past the cravings, throw it at them. Anything less is like we’re holding life vests and we’re watching dudes struggling in the ocean, and we’re shouting at them to swim harder. “You’re not trying enough!”

As it happens, the article mentions this too, which I was relieved to see.