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 ...
I have learned to surrender to God...Thy Will Be Done...
..and almost immediately I have a sense of calm and peace.
It's out of my hands, I have no control over it...
Consider my little story... tinfoil or active imagination.... but it's true...
I was flying home Sunday night from California...and two Mideast types were sitting in front of me and next to me...
..The one next to me acted strange...had tried to convince me my aisle seat belonged to him...and other things...
He made me very nervous-(I was tired & spent anyway)....the plane was full....and I had no where to go and no concrete reasoning for my anxiety.
So I panicked and had a sense of dread....I truly imagined him cutting my throat...
..so after I quietly cried a bit, I prayed for help, peace....and if this was my time, that I would be strong, and courageous.
After that, I calmed down....the guy turned out to be a non-threat...(or at least he didn't do anything overt)...
..and I got through the 4 hour flight to Atlanta.
I've taken a round about way to respond to your...
Realizing your are powerlessness, and surrendering, is the most powerful act a person can do....
Laz...Some people live their whole lives not understanding this!!!!
Bless you that you do!
EXCELLENT post!!!!
"Really? Great!"
Absolutely. Truly appreciate what you wrote. And I very much like the Narcotics Anonymous quote you sent. I've never been to one of your meetings but I know you also have a terrific program.....no matter what they report in the pathetic, treasonous NYTimes.
May you also stay blessed. Sounds as though you're well grounded in sobriety and I'm glad. The neatest people are sober and clearly you're one of them. Us. Well, you know. Take good care.
Thank you, my new friend. Hope we'll cross paths again.
You're very welcome. I was quite taken with what you wrote and the way you wrote it. Maybe you should write an editorial on that piece for the NYTimes. You could definitely let them have it in style!
Thanks for your comment re: AA. It saved my Grandfather's life and allowed him to do great things for our family and others. The day we buried my Grandfather, several grown kids of former alcholics showed up to praise him for saving them from a horrible childhood growing up with drunken parents. He used to get calls in the middle of the night from those he was sponsoring and off he would go to help keep them sober, or help to keep them from hurting their wife or kids.
I think the MSM hate AA and would love to discredit the good it has done because of it's strong reference to a higher power (or GOD). They just can't deal with anything that smacks of religion.
Truth clarified sometimes hurts.
bump
As far as whether someone has a problem with alcohol or needs AA...the only significant use of the word alcoholic is self-referential.
Reinforcement...Hooker "in his cups" at Chancellorsville...French was the same way.
However, we can't ignore Grant, of whom Lincoln was supposed to have said "Find out what he is drinking, and order it for all my generals."
And there was Churchill: daily bottle of scotch before dinner, bottle of brandy after.
Read later bump! ;-)
Thank God there were folks like your grandfather who helped those of us new in sobriety. His gratitude is obvious in how he was of service to those who needed him. God rest his soul.
Sure there is. Its called "Death". (btw, love your kickass about page!)
Thank you for your comment. We truly miss having him with us.
OK, you may be an EA!
I remember that, Gwen. I was that guy. People tell me I have a MiddleEastern look to me.
I was going to jump up and yell
........but you already looked so upset I thought you'd have a heart attack for sure.
;^)
Marica Ferri of the Italian Agency for Public Health in Rome, who found little to suggest that 12-step programs reduced the severity of addiction any more than any other intervention, was unavailable at the time to take any of those middle-of-the-night calls, and could not be reached for comment.
Cordially,
Actually, truth is always salvivic...because Truth is a Person.
But thanks for the insight.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.