AA Works - 100% of the Time

AA Works - 100% of the Time

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? On Sober.Coffee, hosts Mike and Glenn tackle that question head-on by asking another one: does AA actually work? This chat has the feel of two mates talking over a morning brew, but the subject gets serious quickly. They point out that, because Alcoholics Anonymous is truly anonymous, any hard statistics about success rates are "bullshit" guesses.

Instead, they focus on lived experience and what happens when someone fully commits to the programme. Glenn makes a bold claim: "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path," quoting directly from the AA Big Book and treating it as his data point. He backs it up with a snapshot from his own group – a photo taken seven years ago showing 17 men active in AA.

Today, every one of those men is still sober. For Glenn, that picture is his "100%" stat. The conversation contrasts half-hearted attempts with genuine surrender. Glenn talks about years spent yo-yoing through over 80 detoxes, loaded up on medication and refusing to be honest, saying, "I wasn’t schizophrenic.

I was a drunk." Mike shares how everything changed when he stopped just attending meetings to appease his wife and instead walked into AA in 2018 "ready and willing to listen and participate". You’ll hear them stress the importance of honesty with sponsors, doing the steps, showing up consistently, and trying things like 90 meetings in 90 days to build new habits. They’re clear: when someone blames AA, it’s often masking ego, dishonesty, or half-measures.

As Mike puts it, buying a gym membership and never going doesn’t prove the gym doesn’t work. If you’ve ever wondered whether AA is worth your effort, this short, straight-talking coffee chat may leave you asking a different question: are you ready to give it a genuine go?