Kissy kissy kissy
Posted on 07/25/2006 10:52:10 PM PDT by neverdem
When Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs are examined in controlled studies, a new review reports, scientists find no proof that they are superior to any other intervention in reducing alcohol dependence or alcohol-related problems.
The researchers, led by Marica Ferri of the Italian Agency for Public Health in Rome, found little to suggest that 12-step programs reduced the severity of addiction any more than any other intervention. And no data showed that 12-step interventions were any more — or any less — successful in increasing the number of people who stayed in treatment or reducing the number who relapsed after being sober.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a self-help group that offers emotional support for alcohol abstinence and holds that alcoholism is a spiritual and a medical disease.
In some of the studies reviewed, A.A. was compared with other psychological treatments including cognitive-behavioral therapy, which encourages the conscious identification of high-risk situations for alcohol use; motivational enhancement therapy, based on principles of social and cognitive psychology; and relapse prevention therapy, a variation on the cognitive-behavioral approach. It was also compared with other spiritual and nonspiritual 12-step programs.
One study compared brief advice to attend A.A. meetings to motivational methods for encouraging 12-step involvement. Another evaluated the effectiveness of hospital-based 12-step programs, compared with community-based 12-step efforts.
The paper was published last week in The Cochrane Library, a journal devoted to systematic reviews of health care interventions. In all, the researchers examined eight trials involving 3,417 men and women ages 18 and older.
None of the studies compared A.A. with no treatment at all, and the researchers said that made it more difficult to draw conclusions about effectiveness. About one-fifth of alcoholics achieve long-term sobriety without treatment.
There is no single known cause of alcoholism, but the researchers wrote that...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
lol
I would like to personally commend you for your courage and refusal to give up under the most trying of circumstances.
I never went through anything close to what you did but I am SO glad I am away from that whole drinking-drugs-destructive behavior syndrome.
I can't even say I've found"peace".But I have accepted who I am with warts and all and don't need anyone else's validation for my existence on this planet.
There has been lots of bitching and moaning from libs that AA is religious and that the courts should not mandate a person to attend. If I'm correct, some cities have agreed to this.
Congrats on 5 years! Thank you for your honest post,
"But I've known, down to my core, that there is nothing left for me "back there" with the drinking and the drugs. There's nothing to go back to. There's only God. I just keep trudging along following Him now, good mood or bad, happy or depressed, whether I feel like it or not. I try not to think about it too much. I just do it."
Perfectly said. One of my favorite quotes I learned early on: "My will is what I wanted. God's will is what I got."
well, i'm a conservative so all things being equal I think we'd be better off with no government involvemen=t. then again aren't their stories in the bigboiok about the originals persuading a judge to let them hqave a crack at a repeat offender and him becoming one of the original 100. Heard a guy say once, "If you're worried that you don't want to stop drinking, don't worry - you won't."
That's true. But, my experience is that I cannot work on those if I don't stay clean.
Great article.
I haven't heard of Antabuse being given anymore - is there a more modern version of it in use these days?
ver true.
I did sit in on one AA meeting, went with my husband. No one acknowledged our presence, not even a mere nod of hello, which I guess is how it goes to allow the alcoholic to join in when ready. I knew from listening to those in the group that my husband wasn't going to relate to what they were saying, all spoke of 'the bottle' and of drug use when he was 'just' a beer drinker. He tried another meeting elsewhere alone but to no avail. He went back to drinking after 7 months sober for another long tumultuous 8 years.
Law school class I haven't done but agree with you there, since ignorance of the law isn't accepted as an excuse in a courtroom!
"Some non-addicts with pens, newspapers, and keyboards seem to feel a Surge of Power by preening and parading in their non-addicted holiness, vaunting themselves over those unfortunate enough to become addicted. If they could see their own blackened hearts in contrast to a contrite alcoholic who is gutting it out every day, working the program, not drinking, what a revelation that would be."
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Always knew I liked you, Gretchen M. And just look at what you wrote!
You're right, of course. A great deal of the criticism/ hostility towards AA involves the concept of "a Higher Power." My, my, my, how that shakes the very underpinnings of the atheists, some agnostics, and all of the politically-driven G-d haters. They also like to use AA's "Higher Power" as proof positive that the program is some kind of religion. Make that, a scary religion. Which it is not. There's a vast difference between a spiritual program and a religion. We keep the lines straight between those concepts, our critics do not.
Unscrupulous therapists resent AA because people get and stay sober without paying them a dime. AA also blows apart many of the "theories" about alcoholism. I refer to the theories about alcoholism that are as incorrect today as they were the day they were written. People who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves are threatened by the 12-Steps for obvious reasons.
And then we have, let's call them, the Superiors. The bunch who insist alcoholism is not a disease. Who say alcoholics "choose" to become addicted. Who feel the disease is nothing more than an excuse for moral misdeeds and willful misconduct. Who do, in fact, feel mightily Superior because they are not -- drum roll -- alcoholics. What miserable wretches they must be. Okay, are.
The irony of it all is that I'm happy for the people who can drink successfully. Good for them. I can't, never could and never will. So be it. My life is good. I'm happy. AA promises that if one works the program hard enough and long enough they will arrive at a place where they'll be "happy, joyous and free." AA doesn't lie. I experience exactly those things more days than I do not.
Isn't it a shame that the anti-recovering alcoholic bunch can't find it in their hearts to be happy for those of us who have found peace and freedom in sobriety. Makes one wonder who's healthy and who is not. Doesn't it?
Deeply.
"If it were a cult wouldn't sponsees actually do what their sponsors suggest?"
Ditto on the sponsor/cult business. And whoever heard of a cult that sells a book (at cost) that anyone can buy that totally outlines their entire program? Doesn't happen. AA's not a cult.
AA also flunks cult because the majority of the meetings are open to anyone who chooses to attend. Not to mention that AA doesn't have a leader, doesn't own property, is self-supporting, and has meetings in nearly every country in the world.
Some cult. Can't even get the basics right > giggle, giggle.
You made me cry. You honestly did. Thank you very, very much for what you wrote. It was dear of you and it touched me deeply.
I was very inspired by what you wrote, and whenever that happens, I always write to the poster that I love them -- because their minds are beautiful. I'm glad I brought a small amount of joy to you today. Stay blessed.
bttt
Kissy kissy kissy
Man! You should confer a degree on me just for reading the whole post!
:)
"Why should abstinence by the goal? Why not moderation? That has always been a question I've had about AA. When abstinence is the goal, one slip and you are a failure."
Aside from addiction that every one keeps talking about, some people just cannot handle alcohol. It's like they are allergic to it. It makes them do really stupid things. They may not drink all the time, but when they do drink, or at least quite often when they drink, they drink and drink and get way too drunk to the point where they'll often do things they regret. It will be different for everyone but a lot of people will do stupid things like get in a car and drive, cheat on their spouses, get in fights, pass out and/or make fools of themselves in public, say things they regret saying, etc. You'll find a lot of people in AA who are not necessarily hardcore addicts who drink 24 hours a day, but instead are just people I'd call "allergic" to alcohol. It just affects them differently, causes a major breakdown in the ability to use good judgment. I see a lot of people like this in my work as a public defender. Drinking just keeps getting them in trouble. They may not be constant drinkers. They may even be only be relatively occasional drinkers, but they still can't handle it. They don't think of themselves as addicts, because they aren't addicts. They hate to think that they can't handle their alcohol, because that makes them feel weak. I tell them to just get over that. Everyone is built differently. Some people are allergic to peanuts, some to cats. Some are lactose intolerant. These people are allergic to alcohol. It makes them break out in stupid. They just need to leave the booze alone. Not very scientific I know, but I think there is something to it.
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