Anecdotal, but from my own experiences with recovering (and not recovering) addicts in my family, the AA/NA approach seems to only redirect addiction away from the drugs or alcohol outlet, instead of "curing the disease" of addiction itself.
All the recovering addicts I know are still addicted to something in one way or another. The new addiction may or may not be a healthy one. For instance, running 100+ miles a week, every week - while objectively better than drinking yourself out of a job and home - isn't exactly "healthy".
I also notice a higher level of selfish behavior among the recovering addicts I know. It takes an insane amount of pathological selfishness to neglect your responsibilities, especially children, for the bottle. AA doesn't seem to address the selfishness as much as just to get folks to stop drinking.
All of this is preferable to having a raging drug or alcohol addict in the family, but it's far from a perfect solution IMHO.
All the recovering addicts I know are still addicted to something in one way or another. The new addiction may or may not be a healthy one. For instance, running 100+ miles a week, every week - while objectively better than drinking yourself out of a job and home - isn't exactly "healthy".
I also notice a higher level of selfish behavior among the recovering addicts I know. It takes an insane amount of pathological selfishness to neglect your responsibilities, especially children, for the bottle. AA doesn't seem to address the selfishness as much as just to get folks to stop drinking.
All of this is preferable to having a raging drug or alcohol addict in the family, but it's far from a perfect solution IMHO.