The only way to know whether a remedy works is having a large scale research with many people. From my experience of counselling addicts and alcoholics, the vast majority benefit from going on a hypoglycemic diet, (glycerine as a temporary remedy for cravings), avoiding allergies and detoxifying from Heavy Metals.
Those who failed may have been suffering from far more serious diseases such as Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder or the many other Silent Diseases that can be responsible for people self-medicating themselves.