12-Step Programs Offer Broad Benefits

12-Step Programs Offer Broad Benefits, Study Says

A study of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step oriented self-help programs finds that they can help most people recover from alcoholism, even those who are not religious or have mental-health problems.

The Pacific Institute on Research and Education (PIRE) reported that researchers tracked a group of 227 alcoholics over three years and found that those who had attended AA or other self-help programs after treatment had higher rates of abstinence, and drank less if they did relapse. The results cut across gender and religious lines and held regardless of psychiatric history or whether the patient had previously attended AA or other similar programs.

“Here’s a widespread, chronic disorder that seems to respond well to an inexpensive resource — mutual-help groups such as AA,” said study co-author Robert Stout, Ph.D., director of the Decision Sciences Institute at PIRE. “Not only do we need to get more addicts engaged in these groups, but we also need to gather evidence on this issue and make sure that the public, policy-makers and practitioners know about it.”

Added co-author John F. Kelly: “There is a clear dose-response relationship: If you don’t go to any meetings, you have the worst outcomes. If you go to a few, you have a little bit better outcome, and if you go to a lot, you have an even better outcome.” Kelly is the associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Addiction Research Program.

The study was published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

From Join Together

See also;

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• AA and Treatment Work Better Together
• AA Offers Recovery Not Religion
• Al-Anon May be able to help
• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News

Quitting drinking, with help from friends

New Delhi: Alcoholics who want to quit drinking have only place where they can meet with like-minded people: Alcoholics Anonymous.

At an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting in Delhi, people will tell you that they have been “sober” for six months, or six years and even 16 years but it would take is just one drink to set them back on a path to disaster.

Alcoholics Anonymous gives the courage and willpower not to drink again, they say. “One alcoholic talking to another—that’s what works. That’s what happened in 1935 when our two co-founders met. When one alcoholic talks to another, he stays sober. The guy who’s ripe and ready will come and stay with AA,” says one member.

There are around 2 million AA members worldwide but the numbers in India are shockingly low. AA has been in the country for 26 years but it has just 5,000 to 8,000 thousand members in the country, most of them men.

There is a reason for that: alcoholism is largely under-detected in urban India and rarely even acknowledged as a disease.

AA doesn’t recruit members but provides support and survival strategies to people who walk in and want to quit drinking. “AA taught me to start loving myself and taking care of myself. Their programmes help me become aware of my own problems,” says a member.

Unfortunately, not everyone is ready for help. “I have seen lots of people die even after coming to AA, as they were not able to do what it takes to stop drinking. I know somebody who died two weeks ago,” says a recovering alcoholic.

Full story at IBN Live, India

See also;

• 12 Step Sponsor
• 12-Step Treatment More Effective than Alternative
• A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved
• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News

Tips for Teens: The Truth About Alcohol

Specially designed to appeal to teenagers, Tips for Teens pamphlets provide relevant facts about substance abuse, offering vital statistics, answers to frequently asked questions, and website addresses and toll-free numbers so teens can get information.

Alcohol affects your brain.

Drinking alcohol leads to a loss of coordination, poor judgment, slowed reflexes, distorted vision, memory lapses, and even blackouts.

Alcohol affects your body.

Alcohol can damage every organ in your body. It is absorbed directly into your bloodstream and can increase your risk for a variety of life-threatening diseases, including cancer.

Alcohol affects your self-control.

Alcohol depresses your central nervous system, lowers your inhibitions, and impairs your judgment. Drinking can lead to risky behaviors, such as driving when you shouldn’t, or having unprotected sex.

Alcohol can kill you.

Drinking large amounts of alcohol at one time or very rapidly can cause alcohol poisoning, which can lead to coma or even death. Driving and drinking also can be deadly. In 2003, 31 percent of drivers age 15 to 20 who died in traffic accidents had been drinking alcohol.

Alcohol can hurt you–even if you’re not the one drinking.

If you’re around people who are drinking, you have an increased risk of being seriously injured, involved in car crashes, or affected by violence. At the very least, you may have to deal with people who are sick, out of control, or unable to take care of themselves.

Before you risk it

Know the law. It is illegal to buy or possess alcohol if you are under age 21 in America or 18 in some countries.

Get the facts. One drink can make you fail a breath test. In most countries drunk drivers can lose their driver’s license, be subject to a heavy fine, or have their car permanently taken away.

Stay informed. “Binge” drinking means having five or more drinks on one occasion. Studies show that more than 35 percent of adults with an alcohol problem developed symptoms–such as binge drinking–by age 19.

Know the risks. Alcohol is a drug. Mixing it with any other drug can be extremely dangerous. Alcohol and acetaminophen–a common ingredient in OTC pain and fever reducers–can damage your liver. Alcohol mixed with other drugs can cause nausea, vomiting, fainting, heart problems, and difficulty breathing. Mixing alcohol and drugs also can lead to coma and death.

Keep your edge. Alcohol is a depressant, or downer, because it reduces brain activity. If you are depressed before you start drinking, alcohol can make you feel worse.

Look around you. Most teens aren’t drinking alcohol. Research shows that 71 percent of people 12-20 haven’t had a drink in the past month.

Know the signs

How can you tell if a friend has a drinking problem? Sometimes it’s tough to tell. But there are signs you can look for. If your friend has one or more of the following warning signs, he or she may have a problem with alcohol:

• Getting drunk on a regular basis
• Lying about how much alcohol he or she is using
• Believing that alcohol is necessary to have fun
• Having frequent hangovers
• Feeling run-down, depressed, or even suicidal
• Having “blackouts”–forgetting what he or she did while drinking

What can you do to help someone who has a drinking problem? Be a real friend. You might even save a life. Encourage your friend to stop or seek professional help.

FAQ’s

Q. Aren’t beer and wine “safer” than liquor?
A. No. One 12-ounce bottle of beer or a 5-ounce glass of wine (about a half-cup) has as much alcohol as a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor. Alcohol can make you drunk and cause you problems no matter how you consume it.

Q. Why can’t teens drink if their parents can?
A. Teens’ brains and bodies are still developing; alcohol use can cause learning problems or lead to adult alcoholism.5 People who begin drinking by age 15 are five times more likely to abuse or become dependent on alcohol than those who begin drinking after age 20.6

Q. How can I say no to alcohol? I’m afraid I won’t fit in.
A. It’s easier to refuse than you think. Try: “No thanks,” “I don’t drink,” or “I’m not interested.” Remember that the majority of teens don’t drink alcohol. You’re in good company when you’re one of them.

The bottom line: If you know someone who has a problem with alcohol, urge him or her to stop or get help. If you drink–stop! The longer you ignore the real facts, the more chances you take with your life.

It’s never too late. Talk to your parents, a doctor, a counselor, a teacher, or another adult you trust.

Do it today!

More information at http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/PH323/

Publisher; The USA’s SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse on Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI)

See also;

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News

10 Principles of Addiction and Recovery

Alcoholism and addiction have several common threads with reciprocal recovery principles.

In their book, “Rethinking Substance Abuse,” editors William R. Miller and Kathleen M. Carroll to sum up what has been learned about the science of addiction. These are;

• Drug Use is Chosen Behavior in the Beginning – for experimenting, peer pressure or otherwise its chosen at first.
• Drug Problems Emerge Gradually – it takes time to become addicted.
• Once Well Established, Drug Problems Tend to Become Self-Perpetuating – once the brain alters it number of drug receptor cells drug craving demands more of the same.
• Motivation is Central to Prevention and Intervention - actively doing something toward change may be more important than the particular actions that are taken.
• Drug Use Responds to Reinforcement. If you crave and use the drug use is reinforced.
• Drug Problems Do Not Occur in Isolation, but as Part of behavior clusters such as mood disorders, school or work problems, legal problems, ill-health and family problems.
• There Are Identifiable and Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors for Problem Drug Use – inherited and learned behaviour.
• Drug Problems Occur within a Family Context – either dysfunctional family culture, genetics or parental drug use.
• Drug Problems Are Affected by a Larger Social Context – social isolation is both a promoter and consequence; while bonding with someone else or a Higher Power may reverse the problem.
• Relationship Matters in rehabilitation. That’s why Alcoholics Anonymous relies on a spiritual connection with another person or a Higher Power.

See also;

• ABC’s of Recovery
• Alcohol intervention may help.
• Alcoholic Insanity
• Alcoholic Recovery for Gay and Lesbian People
• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News

Find Your Stretch Zone

Learn new habits, change your brain.

At the core of recovery from addiction, alcoholism and codependency is the ability to learn new ways of thinking, new habits to replace the old. This story confirms, what many in recovery know that;

1. New ways and spiritual change can occur, and
2. Old habits are just waiting to be activated - if we allow them.

The Alcoholics Anonymous book says “we deal with alcohol-cunning, baffling, powerful!”, and many have added ‘very patient’ (p 58).

The New York Times story says;

HABITS are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative connotation.

So it seems antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.

But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the hippocampus, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.

Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova have found what they call three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs.

Full story at The New York Times

See also;

• ABC’s of Recovery
• Chalk Talk on Addiction Video
• Developing Spirituality
• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News