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AA works for some but not all - and considering how powerful addiction is over ANYTHING that tries to help, it's a damn good thing it does work for some. Frankly, I think the people who AA doesn't work for don't really want help. They know they need it, even occasionally want it, but can't make it far enough to maintain some sort of regular recovery. Even in AA, relapses are not uncommon - such is the power of the addiction.
I've always thought that part of the problem with people getting help is the stigma associated with addiction. If someone gets cancer, they usually (not all, but usually) go to a doctor to get treatment. More often than not, an addict doesn't respond in the same logical way. Part of the issue is that addiction not only messes with the body, but messes with the ability to think coherently. It is a mental disease as well as a physical disease. We have a long history in the US of treating things that effect one's mind not as something to be treated pro actively, but as something sad and untreatable. Alcoholism and addiction is just as treatable as cancer, but the type of treatment is very different.
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