"Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is doing it, and right is right, even if nobody is doing it." – Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
The Myth; Alcoholism as a Disease
The "recovery" community's adoption of the disease concept began with an early AA member named Marty Mann. Her efforts, combined with a scientist named E.M. Jellinek, began national acceptance of the disease concept. It was Jellinek's "scientific" study that opened the door for the medical communities' support. E.M. Jellinek's study was funded by the efforts of Marty Mann. The surveys he based his conclusions on were from a hand picked group of alcoholics. There were 158 questionnaires handed out and 60 of them were suspiciously not included. His conclusion was based on less than 100 hand picked alcoholics chosen by Marty Mann.
Ms. Mann, had a personal agenda to remove the stigma about the homeless and dirty alcoholic or "bowery drunk" in order to gain financial support from the wealthy. The first step was Jellinek publishing his findings in his book "The Stages of Alcoholism." In 1956 the American Medical Association (AMA) proclaimed alcoholism an "illness." Then, in 1966, the AMA proclaimed alcoholism a disease.
Marty Mann used her position as founder of the NCA (National Counsel for Alcoholism) to promote the disease concept through Jellinek and with the founder of the NIAAA (National Institute for Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse) who worked with Marty Mann during the institute's early development. The founder of NIAAA, a reputable and wealthy philanthropist, R. Brinkley Smithers, was also a major contributor to and promoter of the disease concept. It was his money that funded most of Jellinek's work at Yale. At that time, Smithers had already launched a treatment program for which he was lobbying for and eventually gained, insurance payments (hence the 28 day program). Acceptance by the medical community was the only way this could happen; alcoholism had to be a medical problem in order for medical insurance to pay for programs. Today, the treatment industry is a multi-billion dollar industry; however it has out-grown the willingness of most plans to cover multiple treatment attendance after a relapse, which is woven in to the standard of the 12-step model including traditional christian drug treatment centers.
Subsequently, Jellinek's study was determined to be flawed according to Yale University. Moreover and apparently at the request of Yale University, Jellinek, himself, retracted all of his conclusions, stopping just short of admitting that his research was fraudulent. Later, the schools where Jellinek claimed to have matriculated had no record of him receiving any degrees. The point is not to malign E.M. Jellinek or Yale University, but to provide a historical account with respect to the origin of "alcoholism, the disease." Recent studies have begun to recognize that the disease concept in fact perpetuates the abuse.
Data Shows 12-Step Treatment Not Successful
In 1990, the Alcoholic's 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 under a year, 95% of the people seeking help from AA leave the program. Using the AA GSO statistics, and including the program dropouts, the success rate of AA, as a whole "…the total averages of sobriety for the total AA membership become 3.7% for one year [of sobriety], and 2.5% over five years." (Kolenda, 2003, Golden Text Publishing Company) 97% of the estimated 12,000 substance abuse treatment centers in the United States are 12-Step based programs designed to be continued through AA meetings for life. Regardless of the success / or cost of the initial 12–step based treatment program, the success rate of AA eventually becomes the actual success rate. That is why most programs will not track their results after 1 year.
Successful Studies
Deborah Dawson of the NIAAA, an epidemiologist, analyzed 4,585 interviews from those who at one time had been alcohol dependent. Dawson's study conclusively showed that untreated alcoholics are approximately 2 times more likely to get sober and stay sober than alcoholics subjected to treatment. In 1995 William R. Miller and his colleagues rated forty-three kinds of treatment by combining the results of 211 controlled trials that had compared the effectiveness of a treatment [method] with either no treatment or with other alcoholism therapies. The treatment with by far the best score was 'brief intervention'-followed by social-skills training and motivational enhancements.
The Jude Thaddeus Program is a 6-week social based program that emphasizes the process of social-skills training and motivational enhancements, learning through doing, experiencing, and providing positive role models. Over the last 15 years an independent study has determined that an average of 68% of the guests who complete the Jude Thaddeus Program enjoy a life free from substance abuse.
