Its possible cultivating those beliefs, even if false, is a powerful tool in overcoming addiction. It may actually be the case that cultivating some belief in a higher reason / order to the universe is beneficial in recovery. There are dedicated circuits in the brain for religious / spiritual thinking and feeling, and when activated may play a role.
As a counter-point, its possible to imagine a scientific discovery that while true, would cause mass suicide and depression upon discovery (e.g. an asteroid will hit the planet in 10 days). While implausible, suppose that we "found scientific proof" the god exists and is the christian god, and eternal life / punishment awaits us after death. This knowledge / belief would probably radically alter the behaviors of society (lower crime, suicide, depression, etc).
Another good example is a healthy self confidence. For most people, this is incredibly beneficial (stave off depression, get a stable life, eat right, avoid addiction), but could be seen as a false belief. Most people's contributions don't "matter" in any real cosmic sense, their lives won't be remarkable, and they aren't more talented / qualified than most people. The insignificant experience we gain in a few years on this tiny dust speck isn't enough to make confident opinions on life or the universe. Most people are cogs in the machine, generating waste heat, and their death would hardly be noticed, and soon forgotten. But embracing those facts as "true" would have a markedly negative effect for most people, so perhaps its better to falsely believe the opposites of these (and we have dedicated circuitry to help us do just that, ignore all evidence to the contrary).
My basic takeaway is that this entire AA thing is an experiment to ask that very question: does cultivating this set of thought patterns prove effective? Is it more effective than the thought patterns of other approaches? Even if the beliefs are "forced" or "false", are they effective?
EDIT: wording.